US’ transactional Taiwan policy puts Indo-Pacific at risk, ex-US officials warn

Washington’s policy towards Taiwan is increasingly tied to its relationship with Beijing, according to former American officials who also warn that the war on Iran is weakening US military readiness for a potential conflict in the Taiwan Strait.During a fireside chat in an annual symposium hosted by the Global Taiwan Institute in Washington on Wednesday, Brent Christensen, former director of the Taipei Office of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), said Washington’s policy towards the self-ruled island had seen a “discontinuity”, becoming “less independent” from its China policy in the current administration.Christensen said that while the security relationship between the US and Taiwan remained “very robust”, there was “a huge increase in US demands for burden sharing, or for Taiwan to do more of its own production of weapon systems and increase defence spending”.US accuses mainland China of targeting Taiwan leader’s family in surveillance caseHe also said there was a big increase in demand for Taiwan’s hi-tech investment in the United States.Building on Christensen’s argument, Laura Rosenberger, a prominent China hawk who served at the National Security Council in former president Joe Biden’s administration and was chairwoman of the AIT under Biden, said she was “concerned” about the characterisation of arms sales as a “negotiating chip” with Beijing, indicating a “fundamental departure” from traditional US policy framework on Taiwan.