Accession Number:

AD1147805

Title:

Restoring a Peaceful Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait with Pacific Partnership

Descriptive Note:

[Technical Report, Research Paper]

Corporate Author:

Naval War College

Personal Author(s):

• Dowling, Jonathan

Report Date:

2021-05-15

Pagination or Media Count:

18

Abstract:

To restore and maintain a peaceful status quo across the Taiwan Strait, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command USINDOPACOM should invite Taiwan to join the Pacific Partnership mission as soon as practicable. Pacific Partnership is the largest annual multinational humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Pacific. With each iteration, the mission team works collectively with host and partner nations to enhance regional interoperability and disaster response capabilities, increase security and stability in the region, and foster new and enduring friendships in the Indo-Pacific. Taiwan joining Pacific Partnership now makes sense for three primary reasons. First, Congress recently encouraged the Department of Defense DoD to expand cooperation with Taiwan and other regional partners in disaster response planning and preparedness. Second, the New Southbound Policy provides Taiwan with the ideal framework to participate in the Pacific Partnership mission. And third, countering Chinas increasing reliance on media warfare, Taiwan can positively influence the information environment by publishing Pacific Partnerships successes in multiple languages across the Indo-Pacific. Although China may object to Taiwan joining Pacific Partnership, it will not likely start a war over a mission that provides humanitarian assistance and disaster response collaboration across the region. Instead, by inviting Taiwan to join Pacific Partnership, USINDOPACOM will help ensure that Taiwan remains secure, confident, free from coercion, and able to peacefully and productively engage the mainland on its own terms. Such action, if tactfully executed, will help restore a more peaceful relations.

Descriptors:

Subject Categories:

• Military Operations, Strategy and Tactics
• Government and Political Science

Distribution Statement:

[A, Approved For Public Release]