Senior Colonel Zhou Bo (ret.), a senior fellow at the Center for International Security and Strategy of Tsinghua University and a China Forum expert, spoke on China-US relations and Taiwan in a recent interview to CNBC’s Squawk Box Asia. An article titled “China would only use force as a ‘last resort’ for Taiwan reunification, former PLA official says,” along with the video of the interview, were published on CNBC.com on May 24.

When asked whether the US would be prepared to defend Taiwan if attacked on his first trip to Japan since taking office on May 23, US President Joe Biden replied, “Yes.” “The idea that that (Taiwan) can be taken by force, just taken by force. It’s just not appropriate,” he added. This appeared to break Washington’s long-held tradition of “strategic ambiguity” on Taiwan, but a White House official said Biden’s comments did not reflect a policy shift.

In response, Zhou Bo said in the interview that force would not be used easily because “we have the most sincere wishes to be reunited with our compatriots in Taiwan through peaceful means.” He cited China’s Anti-Secession Law for the conditions under which Beijing would use force. “Unless and until Taiwan declares independence, unless and until an external force separates Taiwan from China, or unless and until the possibility of peaceful reunification is totally exhausted,” he said, “otherwise we would not be using force.”

Read the article here: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/25/force-a-last-resort-for-china-on-taiwan-reunification-former-pla-official-says.html