Abstract
Taiwan is a “state” centering on the main Taiwanese island and is effectively controlled by the Republic of China (ROC) government. Major nations do not have official diplomatic relations with Taiwan and treat it as a “region” because the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) considers Taiwan to be part of “China.” The Chinese Civil War caused a separation between Mainland China and Taiwan. China has not given up on the use of force as a means for achieving the political unification of Taiwan with the Chinese mainland. In the Asia–Pacific region, the Taiwan Strait continues to be a “hot spot,” or an area of potential conflict, on par with the Korean Peninsula. The United States, which is exercising vigilance regarding China’s “anti-access/area denial” (A2/AD) strategy, has strong strategic incentives for preventing China from forcibly annexing Taiwan, believing that Chinese military action against Taiwan would cause significant harm to the interests of the U.S. allies and to the viability of a U.S.-led regional order. This chapter looks at the policies of the United States regarding the defense of Taiwan and attempts to analyse the roles of INDOPACOM, which is playing a particularly important part in such defense.
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Notes
- 1.
Joint History Office, “The History of the Unified Command Plan 1946–1993,” Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 1995, p. 2.
- 2.
Chen (2014).
- 3.
Robson (2016).
- 4.
Chi (2006).
- 5.
Yin (1999).
- 6.
“Statement of Admiral Harry B. Harris Jr., U.S. Navy Commander, U.S. Pacific Command before the Senate Armed Services Committee on U.S. Pacific Command Posture,” April 24, 2017. https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/hearings/17-04-27-united-states-pacific-command-and-united-states-forces-korea. Accessed on September 22, 2017.
- 7.
“Pentagon Report on Implementation of Taiwan Relations Act,” December 19, 2000. https://web-archive-2017.ait.org.tw/en/20001219-pentagon-report-on-implementation-of-taiwan-relations-act.html. Accessed on September 25, 2017.
- 8.
Snyder (2006).
- 9.
Goldstein and Schriver (2001).
- 10.
Kerry Dumbaugh, “Taiwan: Texts of the Taiwan Relations Act, the U.S.–China Communiques, and the ‘Six Assurances,’” CRS Report for Congress, July 13, 1998. Part in parentheses has been inserted by the author.
- 11.
“U.S. Secretary of State Reaffirms Six Assurances to Taiwan,” Central News Agency, February 9, 2017. http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aipl/201702090006.aspx. Accessed on September 27, 2017.
- 12.
Ibid., Goldstein and Schriver, pp. 162–164.
- 13.
Kan (2014).
- 14.
“Monterrey Talks End with Me Fighting for Submarine Technology Transfer,” The Liberty Times, August 14, 2017 (in Chinese).
- 15.
Ibid., Kan, p. 2.
- 16.
“Taiwan's Air Force Returns 20 F16s to U.S. Bases to Strengthen Air Power”, Chungan Net, January 4, 2005. http://mil.big5.anhuinews.com/system/2005/01/05/001095685.shtml. Accessed on September 29, 2017 (in Chinese).
- 17.
“F-16 Fighter Plane Crashes in the U.S. U.S. media: Taiwan Flight Ffficer Fears Death”, Central News Agency, January 22, 2016 (in Chinese).
- 18.
Ibid., Kan, pp. 3–4.
- 19.
Easton and Schriver (2014).
- 20.
Heard by author from an official of the ROC Ministry of National Defense (April 2017).
- 21.
Ibid., Kan, pp. 5–7.
- 22.
Sutter (1999).
- 23.
The Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of China “Report on the Military Strength of the Chinese Communist Party in 104,” September 1, 2015 (acquired by author in September 2015) (in Chinese).
- 24.
Easton (2014).
- 25.
“North Korea's Long-range Radar Mastery,” Korean Central News Agency, December 12, 2012 (in Chinese).
- 26.
Shlapak et al. (2009).
- 27.
“Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China 2017,” Annual Report to Congress, Office of the Secretary of Defense, May 15, 2017, p. 95.
- 28.
“It's Too Fierce! Air Force Airport Runway Repair Drill Blows a Hole in the Runway,” The Liberty Times, May 3, 2015 (in Chinese).
- 29.
John Stillion, and Scott Perdue, “Air Combat Past, Present and Future,” August 2008. http://www.straittalk88.com/uploads/5/5/8/6/55860615/twstrait_02261999.pdf. Accessed on September 30, 2017.
- 30.
“News Release: Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States Taiwan Advanced Tactical Data Link System (TATDALS) and Link-11 Integration,” Defense Security Cooperation Agency, December 15, 2015. http://www.dsca.mil/sites/default/files/mas/tecro_15-45.pdf. Accessed on September 30, 2017.
- 31.
Ming (2017a).
- 32.
Heard by author from official of American Institute in Taiwan (July 2017).
- 33.
Ming (2017b).
- 34.
Mo Jian, “It is Difficult, even Dangerous, for U.S. Ships to Berth in Taiwan,” The Liberty Times, July 12, 2017 (in Chinese).
- 35.
“U.S. Ship Docked at Kaohsiung Port, AIT Launched Tender Pre-tender Operation for Maritime Transport and Replenishment,” China Times, September 8, 2017 (in Chinese).
- 36.
“I've been Invited to Participate in U.S. Army Anti-submarine Drills,” The Liberty Times, September 11, 2017 (in Chinese).
- 37.
Ming (2017c).
- 38.
“Harris Worried about Taiwan's Lack of Combat Power,” The Liberty Times, August 14, 2017 (in Chinese).
- 39.
Bolton (2017).
- 40.
For example, Mearsheimer (2014).
- 41.
The Liberty Times, op. cit. August 14, 2017.
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Tanaka, Y. (2022). Taiwan and Pacific Command. In: Tsuchiya, M., Roy, D. (eds) U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. Evidence-Based Approaches to Peace and Conflict Studies, vol 12. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5268-5_8
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