Die USA wollen wissen, was Verbündete im Krieg gegen Taiwan tun würden

The Pentagon is pressing Japan and Australia to make clear what role they would play if the US and China went to war over Taiwan, in an effort that has frustrated the two most important American allies in the Indo-Pacific.

Elbridge Colby, under-secretary of defence for policy, has been pushing the issue in meetings with Japanese and Australian defence officials in recent months, said five people familiar with the discussions.

The push is his latest effort to convince US allies in the Indo-Pacific to enhance deterrence and prepare for a potential war over Taiwan.

A US defence official declined to comment about the request related to Taiwan, but stressed the “animating theme” of Colby’s discussions with allies was “to intensify and accelerate efforts to strengthen deterrence in a balanced, equitable way”.

The talks include efforts to persuade allies to raise defence spending amid rising concern about China’s threat to Taiwan. But the request for commitments related to a war over the island is a new demand from the US.

“Concrete operational planning and exercises that have direct application to a Taiwan contingency are moving forward with Japan and Australia,” said one person. “But this request caught Tokyo and Canberra by surprise because the US itself does not give a blank cheque guarantee to Taiwan.”

America can deal with it by themselves

I would kill and die in defense of Taiwan, I fully support total commitment to the preservation of its sovereignty. I can’t watch a liberal democracy be destroyed by a dictatorship again. I won’t watch the Free World be consumed by totalitarian imperialists.