US has no need to change its ‘strategic ambiguity’ about Taiwan, says ex-national security adviser H.R. McMaster
- H.R. McMaster tells Senate hearing he disagrees with an assessment by some analysts that the US should shift to ‘strategic clarity’ concerning Taiwan
- He also calls for a larger military presence in the region to counter Beijing’s operations there
One of America’s most prominent national security advisers told lawmakers on Tuesday that Washington does not need to change its “strategic ambiguity” policy towards Taiwan to a more explicit defence guarantee, while also calling for a larger military presence in the region to counter Beijing’s operations there more aggressively.
H.R. McMaster, the retired three-star Army general who served as an national security adviser to former president Donald Trump, testified in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that he disagreed with an assessment by Richard Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations, and some other policy analysts that a change to “strategic clarity” with regard to the self-governing island was needed.
“Strategic ambiguity is adequate, especially after we‘ve made public the six assurances to Taiwan, and I think if we act in the way that the Trump administration has acted, and the new Biden administration has acted, to assure Taiwan and to send a pretty clear message to China,” McMaster said, referring to commitments Washington made to Taipei to disregard Beijing when it comes to US arms sales to the island.
Beijing considers Taiwan a wayward province that must be reunited to the mainland fold eventually, by force if necessary.
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“The message to China ought to be, ‘Hey, you can assume that the United States won’t respond – but that was the assumption made in June of 1950, as well, when North Korea invaded South Korea,’ McMaster said.