Lindsey Graham says he would be ‘open to using U.S. forces to defend Taiwan’
Ryan King
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Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) kept the use of military force to defend Taiwan on the table as tensions with China rise.
Underscoring the need for deterrence, Graham argued that the United States needs to ratchet up its efforts to prepare the democratic island for a possible attack from China and add more forces in the region.
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“The question for Congress, [is] should we have a defense agreement with the island of Taiwan? We don’t,” Graham told Fox News Sunday. “Yes, I’d be very much open to using U.S. forces to defend Taiwan because it’s in our national security interest to do so.”
Host Shannon Bream noted that House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX), who recently led a bipartisan delegation to Taiwan, discussed the possibility of dispatching troops to Taiwan with journalist Aishah Hasnie. McCaul similarly didn’t rule out the use of troops in Taiwan.
“Strategic ambiguity is not working. China, after Afghanistan, believes that the store is open, that you can go in and take whatever you want on Biden’s watch,” Graham also said.
Since the Chinese Civil War, Beijing has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan and demanded foreign nations adhere to its “One China” policy. On paper, the U.S. does not formally recognize Taiwan as a nation but maintains relations with it. Taiwan has its own government, currency, and military.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping has long talked about reunifying with Taiwan, raising concerns about a possible war. The U.S. has long held a policy of strategic ambiguity to leave open the possibility of defending Taiwan militarily.
“I believe in a One China Policy, but I would be willing to fight for Taiwan because Taiwan is a democracy. We’ve stood with them for decades,” Graham added. “I would increase training and get the F-16s they need in Taiwan. There’s a backlog. I would solve that backlog. I would move war forces to South Korea and Japan.”
“I would up our game. If you don’t up your game now, you are going to have a war.”
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Graham has long trafficked in more hawkish foreign policy circles. His remarks follow House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) recently met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, which rankled Beijing.
“Nobody wants World War III. But what kind of world do you want to live in? Do you want to live in a world where an island called Taiwan could be taken by China, 90% of the high-end chips are made in Taiwan? They would have a monopoly on the digital economy,” Graham added.