Opinion: San Diegans Understand That Taiwan Deserves Unequivocal Support

By Raoul Lowery Contreras, Times of San Diego

May 30, 2022

The Washington establishment appears to be surprised because President Joe Biden is saying things they don’t want said.

The D.C. clique is one thing, but here in San Diego polling might indicate that there is much support for clearing the air about “strategic ambiguity.” I for one cheer Biden’s clarification that the United States will defend Taiwan.

Why? Because almost every Navy warship based in San Diego has visited the waters off China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Korea and Japan. The thousands of sailors and Marines on those ships have supportive families here in San Diego.

Moreover, most San Diegans realize that if war breaks out with China — or its ally Russia for that matter — our city would be a target.

So, we in particular need to pay attention to President Biden’s words and apparent change in policy on Taiwan in the face of Chinese threats.

Biden is expressing a change from “strategic ambiguity” regarding the U.S. defense of Taiwan. He clearly says that the U.S. military will defend Taiwan against attacks by mainland China.

His staff is pulling their hair out because “strategic ambiguity” has long been our official policy. It’s a policy of deliberate confusion that has existed since President Jimmy Carter recognized the communist Chinese government.

But democratic Taiwan and its 24 million people deserve our unequivocal support.

Since the end of World War II, American focus on Asia has waxed and waned. We fought in Korea and Vietnam, but Europe and the Middle East remained the major focus.

In some ways, we aided the emergence of the Chinese threat. Initially we supported the anti-communist Chinese who transferred their government to Taiwan. Then President Nixon and his National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger split the alliance between China and Russia by opening the door to Beijing. We chose giant communist China over tiny, democratic Taiwan.

Over the decades we sold arms to Taiwan, but were careful not to anger the Chinese. President Obama promised to “pivot to Asia,” but that never happened.

President Trump didn’t help either. He killed the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a laboriously negotiated trade agreement designed to encircle China, and offered soothing words to its autocratic leader Xi Jinping.

But now President Biden’s words clear up the long slight. The United States will use its military against any effort to conquer Taiwan.

That is not ambiguous. The President has spoken; we should hope the Chinese heard him.

Paying attention to the Chinese threat is vital to the United States. It may be more vital than anything that happens in Europe.

President Biden may appear to be a stumbling “Uncle Joe,” but on Asia and our competition with China, he is absolutely right.

Raoul Lowery Contreras is a Marine Corps veteran, political consultant and author of the new book White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPS) & Mexicans. His work has appeared in the New American News Service of the New York Times Syndicate.

Times of San Diego is an independent online news site covering the San Diego metropolitan area. Our journalists report on politics, crime, business, sports, education, arts, the military and everyday life in San Diego. No subscription is required, and you can sign up for a free daily newsletter with a summary of the latest news.