TAIPEI — As Congress grapples with how best to support Taiwan in the years ahead against China’s growing bellicosity, the one action many experts and lawmakers believe could most reduce the risk of war is one of the more politically and diplomatically difficult ones for the Biden administration to undertake.
It’s assumed that deepening Taiwan’s economic ties first to the West and then the global economy through trade deals with the United States, as well as with other Asian countries and Europe, would significantly raise the stakes for China. The thinking is that could convince Beijing against any military attack on the self-governing island because of the likely risk of being punished by Western sanctions.
Given how dependent on foreign trade China continues to be, particularly for imports of natural gas, food and advanced technologies like semiconductors, it is hoped that fear of a lasting and severe sanctions response would act as a deterrent on Beijing and indefinitely preserve the status quo in cross-strait relations.
