Reference News Network August 18 report: The U.S. "National Interest" magazine website published an article by Samir Tata on August 14, titled "Why a Taiwan Strait War Is Not in America's Interest." The article is translated as follows:

For the United States, going to war with China over the Taiwan issue is strategically and financially impractical.

President Trump recently refused to allow Taiwanese leader Lai Ching-te to transit through the United States and canceled the meeting between the defense officials of both sides, which is a positive signal.

The One-China Principle is the political foundation of Sino-U.S. relations, that is, Taiwan is part of China. This was clarified in the joint communiqué issued after President Nixon's historic visit to China in 1972.

The 1978 Sino-U.S. Joint Communiqué clearly stated that the United States acknowledges the People's Republic of China as the sole legitimate government of China.

In 1982, the U.S. and China also clarified the issue of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. The U.S. government stated that it does not seek to implement a long-term policy of selling weapons to Taiwan... and plans to gradually reduce arms sales to Taiwan.

First, no U.S. president has articulated any reason that would justify the United States sending troops to defend a non-state region like Taiwan, which would be in line with America's vital national interests. An important national interest must essentially meet certain conditions and be significant enough for a country to be willing to go to war, mobilize all its resources, and even deploy nuclear weapons for it.

In the above three foundational communiqués, Washington did not indicate that how China exercises sovereignty to achieve national reunification involves a major U.S. national interest, or that the choice of the people of Taiwan regarding the administrative entity of Taiwan involves a major U.S. national interest. In fact, when the United States decided to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, it had already withdrawn its diplomatic recognition of Taiwan and terminated the defense treaty with Taiwan.

Secondly, the U.S. use of military force against Iran and its unconditional support for Israel again show that, in terms of the priority of national interests, the Middle East is more important than the Pacific region. If the United States allocates a large portion of its military resources to the Middle East and Europe, will it still have the capacity to interfere with Beijing's military unification?

Moreover, the United States lacks the financial capacity to support multiple battlefields. The total debt of the U.S. government for the 2024 fiscal year is approximately $37 trillion, far exceeding its economic scale. Given that the interest payments now exceed defense spending, the U.S. defense commitment to Taiwan would be an unsustainable burden, potentially leading to a fiscal collapse and a devaluation of the dollar - a consequence that Washington cannot accept. (Translated by Pan Xiaoyan)

Original text: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7539762865805279753/

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