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Abandoning Taiwan is
¡¥unthinkable,¡¦ ex-Obama administration official says
By Shih Hsiu-chuan / Staff reporter
Brookings Institution senior
fellow and former US National Security Council senior director for East Asian
affairs Jeffrey Bader delivers a speech on ¡§Obama¡¦s Asia Policy¡¨ at an event
organized by the Taipei Forum Foundation yesterday.
Photo: CNA
A former senior official in US President
Barack Obama¡¦s administration yesterday downplayed arguments in favor of
¡§abandoning Taipei¡¨ in Washington as he highlighted the importance of the US¡¦
commitment to Taiwan¡¦s security.
Taiwan¡¦s security is important for multiple reasons, because ¡§Taiwan should not
be compelled to a status against the wishes of its people¡¨ and the use of force
against Taiwan by China would have ¡§profound negative impacts¡¨ in the region,
Jeffrey Bader, former senior director for East Asian Affairs on the US National
Security Council (NSC), said in a speech titled: ¡§Obama¡¦s Asia Policy¡¨ at an
event held by the Taipei Forum Foundation in Taipei yesterday.
In response to a question from the audience for comment on ¡§a school of thought¡¨
that suggested Washington should abandon Taipei in return for a better
relationship with Beijing, Bader said he would call the idea of abandoning
Taiwan like something from a ¡§kids¡¦ playground¡¨ rather than something learned at
¡§school.¡¨
¡§There is a pretty strong consensus¡¨ in Washington ¡§about the importance of
Taiwan ¡X democracy, stability and the peaceful resolution [of cross-strait
differences],¡¨ said Bader, who added that his view significantly reflected those
of his former colleges in the NSC and the US Department of State.
The question of abandoning Taiwan is ¡§unthinkable,¡¨ he said.
Bader said Taiwan has demonstrated it is free and democratic.
¡§It would be completely contrary to US principles to accept the notion that free
people be forced to accept a status that is not their choice,¡¨ he said.
It is embodied in US law and the US-China joint communiques that Washington help
ensure a peaceful resolution of the Taiwan issue, Bader said.
¡§Peaceful resolution means no resolution can be imposed upon the people of
Taiwan contrary to their wishes,¡¨ he said.
The arguments calling for the US to abandon Taiwan would also have profoundly
negative impacts on the security of the region as it would ¡§send a resounding
signal¡¨ to Japan about the nature of China¡¦s rise and about the balance of
forces in the region, he said.
¡§We [the US] spent 67 years establishing our presence in the region with the
goal of protecting stability, freedom and prosperity. You can¡¦t simply remove a
gigantic brick or cornerstone ... and expect security and stability will
survive,¡¨ he said.
Bader said the notion of abandoning Taiwan was occasionally seen in newspaper
articles ¡§by people I have never heard of.¡¨
¡§The nice thing in a free country is that anyone can say anything, and they
usually do,¡¨ he said.
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