China Articles - August 28, 2022

Friends,

I don’t have a regular newsletter issue for you, as I just returned from a week in Taiwan meeting with officials, legislators, and leaders from business and civil society. 

Meeting with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, and National Security Advisor Wellington Koo on August 23, 2022

The week was packed with meetings and I’m still processing what I learned from my hosts.  I promise to provide some more of my observations over the next few weeks, but my main take-aways are:

• The Chinese Communist Party’s threat to Taiwan is becoming more acute and the challenge of deterring a PRC invasion is becoming more difficult.

• The United States and the rest of the international community must prevent Taiwan from being isolated, this requires both symbolic and substantive assistance.

• The Taiwanese people are incredibly resilient, they possess a vibrant democracy, and they are served by impressive and dedicated individuals across their political spectrum.

Over the past year, I’ve become convinced that Beijing has shifted from a policy of deterring Taiwanese independence to a policy of compelling reunification on the Party’s timeline.  This may sound like a subtle shift, but it is significant since it means that the Party is no longer satisfied with the status quo and will increasingly employ pretexts to achieve their goal of complete annexation of the island.

My trip to Taiwan last week reinforced this conclusion.

Thanks for reading and I’ll be back next week with a regular issue.

Matt