Monday, May 23, 2022

Why Biden’s off-the-cuff comment about defending Taiwan matters — Jonathan Guyer

Ukraine and Taiwan are entirely separate matters from the military point of view, so that comparisons are peripheral But the two are identical from the point of view of the national security of Russia and China, alone and together, in that the fall of one ensures the eventual fall of the other. 

Strategically, Taiwan is needed by the US to successfully prosecute a war against  China, as Ukraine was with respect to NATO engaging Russia. But their Russia and China present existential threats to the US or even threats to US national security. It is a stretch to argue that they impinge on vital US national interests.

Therefore, they are existential for both Russia and China but discretionary for the US. For the US, this is purely a matter of serving the interest of the ruling elite that wishes to extend and cement US Post-WWII global dominance and the economic benefit this bestows.

Whether the US can undertake this endeavor successfully is another issue.

Vox
Why Biden’s off-the-cuff comment about defending Taiwan matters
Jonathan Guyer

1 comment:

Peter Pan said...

If Taiwan's de-facto independence were an existential crisis for China, an invasion would have taken place decades ago.

Wake me when Taiwan starts shelling civilians on China's mainland.

The US will defend Taiwan to the last Ukrainian.

/off-the-cuff mode