[ICS Webinar] US ‘Strategic Ambiguity’ on Taiwan: Three Versions of the Six Assurances

Russia invasion of Ukraine has stirred debate if China would move to forcibly reunifying Taiwan. NATO’s refusal to militarily defend the Ukrainians has catalysed questions about US ‘defence’ of Taiwan. In March, a high-profile American delegation visited Taipei to reassert US’s commitment towards Taiwan. During the past five decades, the tense cross-straits relationship has been managed in part by Washington’s policy of ‘strategic ambiguity’ with regard to the island’s status. More than ever, this legal-juridical stance on the Taiwan question warrants a revisit and scrutiny. In this webinar, S. Mahmud Ali examines key sections of the ‘Three Communique’s’, the Taiwan Relations Act, and the three distinct versions of the USA’s ‘Six Assurances’ to Taiwan. Mahmud will explain how the study of these historical documents reveal the complex context and perplexing processes that underpin the current acrimonious US-PRC debate over Taiwan. Mahmud will then discuss the complicated choices Washington and Beijing faces over the future of Taiwan’s sovereignty and its reunification.