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Strategic Vision vol. 10, no. 50 (September, 2021)
Standing Strong
End of Afghanistan mission enables increased American support for Taiwan Aaron Jensen
T
he recent fall of Kabul to Taliban forces marked a dramatic end to 20 years of the US presence in Afghanistan. Images of the event have evoked comparisons to the fall of Saigon 46 years ago. Naturally, this event has spurred questions about the strength of America’s commitment to its allies. Predictably, Chinese state-run media outlets like the Global Times, an English-language outlet affiliated with the People’s Daily, have used this crisis as an opportunity to wage psychological warfare against the citizens of Taiwan and undermine confidence over US support to the island. An August 16, 2021, editorial called Afghanistan a “lesson for Taiwan’s DPP,” referring to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party. Another Global Times piece, pub-
lished the same day, argued that US military operations abroad are short-lived failures fueled by bureaucratic opportunism. It asserts that if Taiwan relies on the United States, then it will also be abandoned. In response, leaders in Washington were quick to affirm US support to Taiwan’s defense. US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said that the US commitment to Taiwan was as strong as ever and that Afghanistan and Taiwan were two fundamentally different questions in a different context. Going further, President Biden stressed that the United States had always honored its formal security agreements to defend its allies, and that it would do the same for Taiwan. Although a senior Biden administration official later said that the president appeared to have
photo: Donald Allen Passengers board a USAF C-17 Globemaster III in support of the Afghanistan evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport on August 24, 2021.
Aaron Jensen is the executive editor of Strategic Vision and a PhD candidate at National Chengchi University. He can be reached for comment at xiongmu@gmail.com