By Wayne Chan, AsAmNews Humorist
With the recent incursion of over 150 military planes flying into Taiwan’s air defense zone, it’s no wonder that a reporter recently asked President Biden whether the United States would defend Taiwan in the case of an attack by China.
The president’s response? It was pretty straightforward, actually. “Yes”, he said, “We have a commitment.”
Pretty clear statement except…well, except that U.S. administration officials quickly stepped in to “clarify” the president’s comments by saying that there was no change in U.S. policy.
So, what exactly is the U.S.’s position on Taiwan?
As far as I can tell, it’s intentionally convoluted. The U.S. reserves the “option” of going to war to protect Taiwan, but not a firm commitment to do so. We won’t recognize Taiwan as a country, but we will sell arms to them to help defend themselves.
The U.S. formalized an agreement called the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) in 1979. Some refer to it as the TRA, others call the overall approach “strategic ambiguity”.
Personally, I think the best name for our current policy should be the “Meh” Accords, as in how we would likely react if China decided to invade.
I know what you’re going to say. “Well, what would you do instead, smartypants?” My answer? I don’t have the faintest idea. But I’m not running for office either. I don’t pretend to have the answer.
It might very well be that the “Meh” Accords are the best we can do. After all, China has made it clear that Taiwan declaring its independence would be an act of war. Maybe fence-sitting is the only realistic option.
It just seems to me that there are a lot of smart people out there, and someone should be able to come up with a solution that’s better than maybe we will, and maybe we won’t.
If you want to be an elected leader, then maybe the job requires you to do just that – lead. Otherwise, you could apply the same approach to any number of hot button issues.
• Conspiracy Theories – The world is NOT flat, but maybe it’s more oval-shaped.
• Anti-Vaxxers – I encourage you to get vaccinated, but if you choose not to, at least start using some extra strong breath mints.
• Pro-Life or Pro-choice – I’m Pro-puppy. Who doesn’t love puppies?
• Gun Control – No outright banning of guns, but instead of assault weapons, every citizen is entitled to one musket pistol or rifle.
You know, I might actually be able to get behind that last one.
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