Taiwan National Day: Tsai Ing-wen Takes On The Giant with American Backing

Not long after Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taipei, the US State Department, headed by Antony Blinken, announced the sale of more than a billion dollars worth of military equipment to Taiwan, including advanced missiles.

Jacob Stokes, a fellow at the Indo-Pacific Security Program at the Center for a New American Security, another think tank in Washington, said that the bill sailed through Congress because politicians want to honor their obligations under the Taiwan Relations Act.

"The questions are really about the what and how the United States wants to incentivise Taiwan to increase its own military spending, given the severity of the threat from China and what is termed an asymmetric defense posture.

"The focus is on making a Chinese invasion very difficult, rather than to create a Taiwanse military which can match that of China in terms of size. It's similar to the response by the Ukrainian forces against the Russian forces in Ukraine."

But Mr Stokes also warns that the Chinese may take the view that Taiwan's lack of preparedness presents the People's Liberation Army with an opportunity to take advantage of its relative weakness.

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