A visiting US expert and former official says the United States should strengthen maritime military exchanges with Taiwan.
Randall Schriver made the comments on Saturday in Taipei. Schriver is president and chief executive officer of the Virginia-based think tank Project 2049 Institute and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia. He is in Taipei to attend the International Conference on New Asian Dynamics and the Role of Taiwan.
When presenting his paper, Schriver said that Washington must stop isolating Taiwan from bilateral and multilateral exercises and security events as a way to appease Beijing. He said such a policy undermines American interests in Asia.
Schriver said the US Department of Defense should invite Taiwan to the Rim of the Pacific Exercise, the world’s largest international maritime warfare exercise.
Schriver stressed the importance of the US-Taiwan military and security relationship. He said the US has a critical role to play in deterring or limiting aggression against Taiwan. He also said Taiwan is “the single most valuable and underutilized asset that US has for adapting to the increasingly risky maritime environment in the Western Pacific.