How far will we let China advance in its ongoing war in the Indo-Pacific, as we ‘prepare’ for war over Taiwan?
A key driver of U.S. policy in the Indo-Pacific is the set of security arrangements necessary to prevent the PRC from taking Taiwan by military force. The former commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Admiral Phil Davidson, helpfully defined in 2021 what he and Pentagon planners saw as a six-year timeframe (by 2027) that reflected Xi Jinping’s thinking about taking control of Taiwan. Davidson also warned that the U.S. should acknowledge Xi’s directives to his own planners about Taiwan as a critical step on the road to Xi’s objective “to supplant the United States and our leadership role in the ...
