By J. Michael Cole
For the more than three decades since the United States’ recognition of the People’s Republic of China, Washington has relied on strategic ambiguity (PDF) to deter China from using force against Taiwan. Although the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, passed by Congress after U.S. President Jimmy Carter established diplomatic relations with Beijing, calls for the U.S. to help Taiwan defend itself, in application the U.S. has often kept the two sides guessing at its willingness to intervene in a conflict, and if so, in what capacity.
Such ambiguity worked for three decades, but it won’t last for much longer.
As long as the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) remained the weaker party in the trilateral relationship, ambiguity was sufficient to deter China from launching an attack on Taiwan. With China’s emergence as an economic powerhouse, and its concurrent military buildup, that ambiguity has not only lost its effectiveness — it is now an invitation for adventurism.
Read the full story at The Diplomat