Taiwan is prepared to fight its own war with communist China while expecting the United States to support it with weaponry, according to a senior Taiwanese official.
“We need the U.S. support to sell us the most advanced weapons, and also to help train our soldiers and they are doing that,” Szu-chien Hsu, deputy secretary general of Taiwan’s National Security Council and an adviser to the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, told Bloomberg on the sidelines of the Raisina Dialogue conference in New Delhi, India.
“We don’t expect the U.S. or anyone else to fight our war. We will fight our own war,” he said.
Taiwan, or the Republic of China (ROC), is the continuation of the exiled power that ruled mainland China before the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) took control and established the People’s Republic of China in 1949. While the CCP has never ruled Taiwan, it has repeatedly stated that it would absorb the self-ruled island, by force if necessary.
A Chinese amphibious attack across the Taiwan strait is unlikely to succeed, Hsu said, citing the island’s missile defense shield protecting its shores.
He said Beijing seeks to project itself as a global power capable of competing with the United States on the international stage, as demonstrated by its recent military exercises off the coast of Australia.
Hsu mentioned that U.S.-Taiwan security cooperation has strengthened in recent years, saying that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait are “very pertinent to the core national interest of the U.S. in this region.”
Hsu’s remarks come as Taiwanese President William Lai Ching-te announced on March 13 that the CCP is a foreign hostile force—marking the first time a Taiwanese president has made such a declaration. He also unveiled 17 countermeasures to combat the regime’s infiltration efforts.
The move has triggered a strong reaction from Beijing, which labeled Lai as a “destroyer of cross-Straits peace” and conducted military exercises near Taiwan, describing them as punishment for the perceived “separatism.”
The United States is trying to accelerate its delivery of arms to Taiwan, according to the director of the American Institute in Taiwan Raymond Greene, Washington’s de-facto ambassador to the island democracy.
“We are actively working to accelerate delivery timelines, particularly for equipment related to asymmetric warfare as this is especially crucial for Taiwan’s defense,” he told Liberty Times, a Taipei newspaper, in an article published on March 10.
“From a pragmatic perspective, I believe that the United States should increase and double its efforts to make Taiwan safer, strengthening Taiwan’s ability to defend itself, including enhancing its weapons systems and societal resilience.”
Greene stated that if the war in Ukraine comes to an end, the United States is expected to shift its focus back to Taiwan’s defense needs.
“Regarding how to make the United States and Taiwan stronger together, we believe that starting with the joint development of cutting-edge technologies, including AI and quantum technologies, is a good approach. This also includes building a democratic supply chain, as President Lai Ching-te said, one that excludes China, especially in areas like drones and robotics.”
