As President Trump and his administration mix the messages about Taiwan, politician and author Chuck DeVore unmixedly explains “why America cannot afford to lose Taiwan to Communist China” (Fox News, May 24, 2026).
DeVore agrees that in light of Taiwan’s leading role in producing advanced semiconductors so crucial to the world and the U.S., a CCP takeover of Taiwan “would hand Beijing a stranglehold on supply chains worth trillions and cripple U.S. technological superiority.”
But he mostly focuses on three other considerations: Taiwan’s anchoring of the First Chain, the credibility of U.S. diplomacy, and the “powerful symbolism” of a democratic Taiwan just a few miles away from the antidemocratic People’s Republic of China. Although some of his statements raise questions, some version of DeVore’s three points must be part of the case for standing by the Republic of China.
Geography. “Taiwan anchors the First Island Chain—a string of natural barriers and island outposts stretching from Japan through Taiwan to the Philippines that keeps China’s navy bottled up in the near seas. Control of Taiwan would allow Beijing’s rapidly growing fleet to break into the open Pacific, directly threatening U.S. allies and bases from Guam onward.
“Lose Taiwan, and the strategic map of Asia tilts dramatically toward Communist China. Japan, South Korea and the Philippines would face immense pressure, with Beijing leveraging proximity, economic coercion and military intimidation to peel them away from Washington.”
Diplomacy. “The fall of Taiwan would trigger a diplomatic catastrophe, bringing with it a cascade of realignments favoring authoritarianism over freedom.”
“If Taiwan falls—whether by invasion, blockade, or [other] coercion—the signal to America’s Pacific partners would be unmistakable: Washington’s security guarantees are hollow. Those allies, already hedging their bets, would accelerate accommodation with Beijing, eroding the network of partnerships that has kept the region stable since 1945.”
Democracy. “The CCP insists that only authoritarian rule can govern Chinese society. Taiwan proves the opposite…. If Taiwan is Chinese, then it stands as proof that Chinese culture and prosperity can thrive under democracy, not dictatorship. Taiwan’s vibrant democracy exposes the lie at the heart of the CCP’s ‘reunification’ rhetoric. Taiwan is de facto an independent nation—a self-governing representative democracy with a strong rule of law….
“Taiwan’s fate is not merely about chips or even one island. It is about whether the world’s leading democracy will defend its national interests against the world’s most powerful authoritarian state…. America—and the West—cannot afford to lose Taiwan.”
Also see:
StoptheCCP.org: Video: “Why Should Americans Defend Taiwan?”
