What could Taiwan learn from the US withdrawal from Afghanistan?

Name: Biden defends US withdrawal after Taliban seizes Afghanistan
Uploaded: 2021-08-17T12:20:31.000Z
Duration: 2 min 32 s
Description: Biden defends US withdrawal after Taliban seizes Afghanistan

The circumstances may differ, but some observers say that Washington will ultimately look after its own interest

Within weeks of American troops ending their mission in Afghanistan, the country has fallen to the Taliban

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A US soldier points his gun towards an Afghan passenger at Kabul’s airport on Monday as thousands try to flee the Taliban’s feared hardline Islamist rule. Photo: AFP

Lawrence Chung

Published: 8:20pm, 17 Aug 2021Updated: 8:20pm, 17 Aug 2021

The US withdrawal from Afghanistan has raised concerns in Taiwan that Washington may one day abandon the self-ruled island in its defence against Beijing’s threats, potentially resulting in parallels with the Kabul regime and the Saigon government in 1975.

Observers said that although the United States pulling its troops out of Afghanistan and Vietnam should not be compared to its security commitment to Taiwan, the island’s government may need to think more deeply about whether to put its eggs in the US basket and continue its China-bashing policy.

US President Joe Biden pledged less than three weeks ago that the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan would never play out like events in the capital of US-backed South Vietnam 46 years ago, and that it was unlikely the Taliban would completely overrun the country.

But on Sunday, the world witnessed a hurried US evacuation of its personnel and desperate Afghans trying to flee Kabul, with some even seen clinging to a US plane taking off from the airport as the Taliban entered the capital city.

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Biden defends US withdrawal after Taliban seizes Afghanistan

There were echoes of the 1975 fall of Saigon following the Vietnam war, and it raised concerns in Taipei over how much trust the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government should place in Washington’s security commitment to Taiwan. Beijing claims sovereignty over Taiwan and has vowed to bring it under its control by force if necessary.

There was no immediate comment by President Tsai Ing-wen, but Premier Su Tseng-chang said on Tuesday that the island would not surrender like Afghanistan’s government did in the event of an attack.

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