7 Two reasons that conventionalists currently dominate Taiwan’s defense debates are the KMT’s (currently the main opposition party) dominance of Taiwan’s defense ministry and the DPP’s (currently the ruling party) lack of defense expertise compared to the KMT. [...] The answer depends on the numbers, training, deployment, and equipping of each side’s forces in the future. [...] US assessments of China’s capabilities can be found in “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China: 2021,” Office of the Secretary of Defense, November 3, 2021: 115-123. [...] 14 The uncertainty over the US commitment is due to the US policy of strategic ambiguity, general unknowability about alliance commitments, and the unique political impediments to a clear Taiwan policy. [...] If Taiwan opted for porcupine defense, it may also be possible for US forces to stay east of Taiwan and intervene without coming within range of China’s missiles – a less costly and thus more credible commitment for Washington than sending forces into the Taiwan Strait.
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- United States of America
