In the age of increasing conflicts between Ukraine and the Middle East and different attempts made by US and European countries to solve these crises show a worrying reality. China might see a chance to take Taiwan by force closing quickly.

The winning party of Taiwan’s recent presidential election was the Democratic People’s Party. They won by 2 candidates that China might have preferred to win, despite China’s efforts to meddle in the election. This is the indicator to the nation China that peaceful reunification with Taiwan is becoming less likely.

Furthermore, China is a nation that is in great trouble with economic and population-related complications. Due to all of these, China is not in the condition to use force against Taiwan. Furthermore, this nation soon faces strong opposition from the US. The United States is the nation that emphasizes  competing with China, and European countries, which are becoming more cautious about their business relationships with China. 

The government of China has a big advantage due to the current situation of the world. As the US along with its allies are busy dealing with other parts of the world. Europe is focused on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Furthermore, the US is also caught up in the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. At the same time, troublemakers in the Middle East like Yemen’s Houthi rebels and various Shia militias are challenging America’s ability to keep things under control.

So China might think that it’s a good time to take action against Taiwan. The United States is totally in favor of Taiwan and they want to keep them safe for many reasons. Taiwan is a key player in the region because it’s a democracy and shows what a free China could be like. It has also stayed true to democratic values since it held its first elections in 1996, even though China has tried to undermine them.

Taiwan is also crucial for technology. Its big tech company, TSMC, makes 90% of the world’s advanced semiconductors. These tiny chips are important for all sorts of things, from AI to military technology. If China took control of Taiwan and blocked the U.S. from accessing these semiconductors, it would be a big problem for national security.

If the United States doesn’t make it clear that it will stand up to Chinese aggression against Taiwan, or doesn’t take strong action if China does become aggressive, it could make other allies in the Indo-Pacific region, like Japan and South Korea, doubt whether America would help them in similar situations. They might start wondering if the U.S. would back them up if China started causing trouble in their countries.

This is why defending Taiwan is so important for the U.S. Experts have been thinking about the best way to do this, like giving Taiwan a lot of weapons to make it hard for China to invade, or even creating a formal military partnership between the U.S. and Taiwan. However, one thing that needs to happen first is that the U.S. must strengthen its own defense industry. It needs to be able to produce and deliver more military equipment to support Taiwan and others.

This means that the United State should increase its factories and infrastructure to make more military gear. It is also less complicated to sell the weapons to Taiwan. Right now, about $19 billion worth of military deliveries to Taiwan are stuck in delays, which could make China think it has the upper hand. 

Lastly, the U.S. should focus on what works best, not just what costs the most. For example, drones that are less expensive can sometimes be more useful on the battlefield than larger, pricier weapons. This should be kept in mind when planning how to defend Taiwan.

Congress knows very well that it is not easy getting weapons to Taiwan from the United States. In the last few years, they’ve tried to fix it with new laws, the Taiwan Policy Act of 2022 and the Taiwan International Solidarity Act of 2023. However, these attempts have hit a roadblock because of political disagreements in Congress. At the same time there are other laws, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal years 2023 and 2024. It talks about how to assist Taiwan with military training and cybersecurity. 

This makes Taiwan a big issue for the upcoming elections. Both President Biden and his Republican rival, Donald Trump, agree that it’s important to compete with China, but neither has said much about boosting the U.S. defense industry to support Taiwan. They should focus on it because no matter who wins the election, Taiwan will still be a crucial point in China’s plans for expansion.