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Analyst urges US to
deepen Taiwan military relations
By William Lowther / Staff reporter in Washington
The US should deepen and broaden its military relations with Taiwan, a
conference on military growth in the Asia-Pacific region has been told.
Project 2049 Institute executive director Mark Stokes said that Taipei could
play a bigger role in US defense policy and make a significant contribution to
the Pentagonˇ¦s new Air Sea Battle strategy. As the US Department of Defense and
the administration of US President Barack Obama moves to rebalance its forces in
the Asia-Pacific region they should rebalance relations with Taiwan, Stokes
said.
Addressing an American Enterprise Institute conference on ˇ§Arms racing in Asia?
Whoˇ¦s winning, whoˇ¦s losing,ˇ¨ Stokes said Taiwan could ˇ§assist and contributeˇ¨
to solving US challenges.
The Washington conference was aimed at assessing the implications of major
military modernization efforts in Asia.
Stokes said that despite conflicts in the South China Sea, Taiwan remained the
primary ˇ§planning focusˇ¨ of Chinaˇ¦s Peopleˇ¦s Liberation Army (PLA).
ˇ§It is still at the center of the planning scenario that the PLA uses in order
to shape their future force structure,ˇ¨ Stokes said.
As a result, he added, Taiwan should be central to the planning of future US
force structure.
ˇ§It is not that the South China Sea is not important, but rocks and water, and
even navigation pale in comparison to the lives of 23 million people,ˇ¨ he said.
Of all the societies in the Asia-Pacific region, none understands China like
Taiwan, he said.
ˇ§If one wants to understand the thinking that goes on in Beijing, one needs to
look no further than Taiwan,ˇ¨ Stokes said.
The US Department of Defense should consider sending students to Taiwan National
Defense University, he said.
Stokes argued that Taiwan was one of the most innovative societies in the world,
and that it is ideally placed to help the US to be more innovative and to reduce
the cost of weapons systems.
Taiwan is also ideal as a ˇ§platform for situational awareness,ˇ¨ not just for
military purposes, but also for disaster warning, climate change and for
tracking objects in space, he said.
A lot of attention has been given to Chinese cyberespionage, and Taiwan remains
Beijingˇ¦s first and its most intense target of cyberespionage, he said. Over the
years Taiwanˇ¦s security services have accumulated great experience in dealing
with the problem and they could provide considerable help to the US, he added.
Stokes also said that Taiwan faces ˇ§the most stressing military challenge in the
world.ˇ¨
ˇ§If Taiwan, working together with the US, can address and meet this most
significant military challenge, then the odds are the US can meet such
challenges all over the world,ˇ¨ he said.
Stokes said that Taiwan is a ˇ§core interestˇ¨ of the US and is ˇ§fundamental to US
interests in the region.ˇ¨
ˇ§Deepening and broadening military relations with Taiwan need not complicate our
relationship with China,ˇ¨ he said.
However, Beijing should understand that as long as military coercion remained a
central part of its broader strategy to resolve political differences with
Taiwan, it was in the best interests of Washington to intensify its military
relations with Taipei, he said.
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