The United States should aggressively train Taiwanese forces “so they can fight like Ukrainians,” send F-16 jets to the island, install nuclear-tipped missiles in its submarines, and dispatch American troops to defend the nation, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told Fox News Sunday on April 9.
Graham said that Congress needs to ask itself, “‘Should we have a defense agreement with the island of Taiwan?’ We don’t,” he said. “But yes, I’d be very much open to using U.S. forces to defend Taiwan because it’s in our national security interest to do so.”
Graham said he believes the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Beijing is “setting the stage possibly for a blockade of Taiwan.”
“The Communist Chinese party is going to test us dramatically this year and next year before the election,” he said. “In 1961, the Russians tried to isolate West Berlin. So I’m fearful that the Chinese may be setting conditions to blockade Taiwan in the coming months or weeks, and we need to respond forcefully if they do that.”
Graham cited Taiwan’s role in producing microchips and the risk of the CCP—which is militarizing at a rapid rate—gaining “a monopoly on the digital economy” as a reason for defending the island.
Taiwan makes more than 60 percent of the world’s semiconductors and more than 90 percent of the most advanced versions.
Chips compose 15 percent of Taiwan’s GDP, and most semiconductors are produced by one company—the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation.
“What would I do to deter blockage Taiwan? I would let the Chinese know that if you blockade Taiwan, you’re gonna have a hard time getting oil from the Mid-East.
“I would increase training and get the F-16s they need in Taiwan,” Graham said. “There’s a backlog. I would solve that backlog.
“I would move war forces to South Korea and Japan,” Graham added. “I would put nuclear-tipped cruise missiles on all of our submarines all over the world like the Russians did.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping feel empowered by the chaotic withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan in 2021, Graham added.
