Taipei, July 18 (CNA) Former United States Secretary of Defense Mark Esper underscored Monday the importance of Taiwan building a strong deterrence to actually build better relations with China and strengthen its network of alliances.
In an interview with TV channel TVBS, Esper said it was a priority for Taiwan to bolster its capabilities and commitment to its defense to deter the potential exploitation of perceived weaknesses by authoritarian regimes like China.
Such a strategy that would see Taiwan build up its stockpiles and solidify its defense posture and alliance network, he said, would do more than simply deter aggression.
“I think an enhanced deterrence capability built on a strong defense, built on a signal of resolve from Taipei and from the Taiwanese people, actually positions you better to have improved relations with Beijing and certainly again, with other allies and partners in the region,” he said.
During the 45-minute discussion, Esper, along with Foreign Minister Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), reiterated the need to review the United States’ one-China policy to ensure its adequacy in the current context and remove strategic ambiguity.
Esper, who was secretary of defense from July 2019 to November 2020 in the Trump administration, argued previously on a visit to Taiwan in July 2022 that the changing balance of power in the region required a reassessment of the U.S. stance on the one-China policy.
In Monday’s interview, he said the growing power imbalance between Taiwan and China and China’s provocative actions, including recent incursions of Chinese military aircraft across the median line of the Taiwan Strait, was now the status quo after being changed by China.
“I think less strategic ambiguity would send a better and more determined signal to Beijing about American willingness to support Taiwan if it is attacked, unprovoked by Beijing,” Esper said.
Under the one-China policy, guided by the three U.S.-China Joint Communiques, the Six Assurances, and the Taiwan Relations Act, Washington has remained ambiguous over whether the U.S. would intervene in the event of a Chinese attack of Taiwan.
It has also discouraged any attempt by Taiwan or China to change the status quo unilaterally, but more policymakers in the U.S. have suggested, along with Esper, that this should change.
Whether that would happen if the U.S. elects a different president in 2024 is a big unknown, but Esper felt that if his old boss regained power, there could be serious consequences not just for Taiwan but for U.S. national security and international stability.
He suggested that a newly elected President Trump might seek to withdraw the U.S. from NATO, withdraw U.S. forces from Korea or Japan, and weaken the relationship with Taiwan.
“All those things would be bad, certainly for Taiwan, but also for United States national security and for international stability writ large,” he said.
Esper said his concern with Donald Trump was the former president’s focus on trade issues, including imposing tariffs on China, and his personal relationship with Chinese leader Xi Jinping (習近平).
He emphasized that it was the latter aspect that worried him, noting that Trump did not adopt a tougher stance on China until the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States in the spring of 2020.
Regardless of who the U.S. president is, Taiwan also has to show resolve to support a strong deterrence, Esper said, after being asked about the length of Taiwan’s mandatory military service.
It is currently four months but will be lengthened to a full year starting in 2024.
Opposition Kuomintang (KMT) presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih (侯友宜) recently proposed shortening it back to four months in the future if there was peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
Asked about Hou’s idea, Esper said such a move would send unfavorable messages to the U.S. and other international supporters of Taiwan.
He cited the example of Finland, which mandates conscription and recently joined NATO. He praised Finland’s commitment, with 80 percent of its young men participating in annual military drills.
Esper emphasized that countries like Finland serve as inspiration for the U.S. and other Western democracies in defending fellow young democracies, underscoring the significance of signaling resolve.