U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, (R-SD), said if China’s military invades Taiwan, China should expect a response from the global community similar to what Russia has faced since invading Ukraine.
“Taiwan is a critical trade and national security partner to the U.S., and we must support their commitment to democracy,” Johnson told State Newswire. “Should China attempt to forcefully ‘reunify’ with Taiwan, they should expect a strong global response. We can look to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as an example of how this scenario might play out. China shouldn’t take that gamble.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the sanctions imposed on Russia by the U.S. and its allies in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have taken a heavy toll, limiting Russia’s ability to replenish its weapons, Voice of America reported Nov. 30. Trade controls are making it difficult for Russia to import parts to repair or replace weapons that have been destroyed or abandoned, according to the report.
Johnson was responding to “Reunification” with Taiwan through Force Would Be a Pyrrhic Victory for China," released Nov. 22 by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and authored by Jude Blanchette, Freeman Chair in China Studies at CSIS, and Gerard DiPippo, Senior Fellow of the Economics Program at CSIS.
The report argues that if China were to use direct lethal force to defeat Taiwan’s army and remove the island’s civilian leadership, Beijing would face potentially severe costs, directly and indirectly, on multiple fronts. The report assumes in a simplified analysis that China would not use nuclear weapons, and limited intervention by U.S. military forces would not defeat China. It said that if China succeeds with “reunification” through force, Beijing will sacrifice progress made toward becoming a global superpower.
The report states that one consequence of “reunification” is that China would promptly be met with economic repercussions from the global community that would restrict China’s ability to import and export goods. Invading Taiwan would likely have a detrimental effect on Chinese currency values, on China’s domestic markets, and on business sentiment towards China, according to the report. “Meaningful” U.S. military intervention would drastically increase China’s costs. The military conflict would most likely take place close to China’s “most economically important and populated provinces.” If “reunification” succeeds, Chinese forces would occupy an island with “a hostile population” and “a shattered local economy, including its semiconductor sector.”
The Taiwan Relations Act, enacted in 1979, asserts that the U.S. aims to maintain peaceful trade and cultural relations with both Taiwan and China. “The United States shall provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character and shall maintain the capacity of the United States to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or social or economic system, of the people of Taiwan,” according to the Congressional Record.
South Dakota native Johnson is the state’s sole representative in the House of Representatives, according to his website. He serves on the Agriculture Committee, as Ranking Member of the Livestock & Foreign Agriculture Subcommittee and on the Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure.
