"We should all keep in mind that the United States abrogated a mutual defense treaty with the Republic of China in 1979 as part of the terms of normalization with the relations with the People's Republic of China. And if the United States were to actually abandon that commitment and say, oh, well, we really just would defend Taiwan now and we don't.....we're not going to continue with that understanding that we committed ourselves to in 1979.
I worry that the Chinese would conclude that the United States was essentially returning to a treaty-like alliance, like relationship with Taiwan. And so that's what I mean when I say that this could provoke the attack that we seek to deter. So strategic ambiguity, I think, remains in US interests and in Taiwan's interest. It's quite clear that the United States will come to Taiwan's defense. We don't need to say so."
Bonnie Glaser, German Marshall Fund Asia Program Director sits down with Taiwan Talks host Yin Khvat in Taipei.
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