Sitting for an interview with Time magazine in May 2024, President Joe Biden was asked to clarify his position on US commitments to Taiwan. President Biden replied: “We are not seeking independence for Taiwan nor will we, in fact, not defend Taiwan if (…) China unilaterally tries to change the status.” When pressed further by the interviewer, President Biden asserted that he was “not ruling out using US military force” to come to the rescue of the island. This was not the first time that President Biden had signalled openly the strength of his commitment to the security of Taiwan; throughout his tenure, Biden had made similar, open promises on multiple occasions. Nor were these promises operating in a vacuum. Concerns in the US about a possible showdown in the Taiwan Strait had caused increasing alarm in Washington. In his testimony to the US Senate Armed Service Committee, Admiral Phil Davidson had warned: “I’m worried about [China] moving that target closer. (…) Taiwan is clearly ...
Taiwan’s Gateway Role in the US-led Regional Security Architecture: A Defence Interest Perspective
Abstract
After a few years of lull at the turn of the 2010s, the Taiwan Strait is today again the most important security flashpoint in the Indo-Pacific and the focus point of great power competition in the region. To a large extent, Washington’s enduring involvement in the security of Taiwan stems from its defence interests in the region. The United States understands the significant geostrategic value of Taiwan first of all due to the island’s position right in the middle of the first island chain. Second, Washington understands the interdependence of its security commitments in the Indo-Pacific region and that US credibility hinges on the enduring security of Taiwan. For Taiwan, the challenge has been to maintain this dual relevance and ensure that Washington continues to have a maximum stake in the defence of the island.
Editor’s notes
Manuscript received on 12 April 2025. Accepted on 23 December 2025.
Excerpt
Full text document will be published online on June 2027.
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References
Bibliographical reference
Yves-Heng Lim, “Taiwan’s Gateway Role in the US-led Regional Security Architecture: A Defence Interest Perspective”, China Perspectives, 145 | 2026, 19-28.
Electronic reference
Yves-Heng Lim, “Taiwan’s Gateway Role in the US-led Regional Security Architecture: A Defence Interest Perspective”, China Perspectives [Online], 145 | 2026, Online since 01 June 2027, connection on 13 July 2026. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/chinaperspectives/20725; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/16hk3
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Yves-Heng Lim
IDREF : https://idref.fr/130792578
ORCID : https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6206-4646
VIAF : http://viaf.org/viaf/262091964
ISNI : https://isni.org/isni/0000000381650664
Yves-Heng Lim is Senior Lecturer in Security Studies at the School of International Studies, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia (yves-heng.lim@mq.edu.au).
By this author
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Stanford, Stanford University Press, 2007, 272 pp.Published in China Perspectives, 2009/2 | 2009
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The text only may be used under licence CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. All other elements (illustrations, imported files) may be subject to specific use terms.
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