So, rather than improving Taiwan's security situation, the new mechanisms under the TSEA could actually lead to an arms race that would move all parties one step farther from a peaceful cross-Strait resolution. We need to look objectively at the so-called Security Enhancement Act and whether it would really be in Taiwan's interests. Of course the issue is much broader than the U.S. and Taiwan, but if you read the headlines in some newspapers on some days you would think that TMD is a reality, that the U.S. and Taiwan have made decisions about provision and acquisition, and that it is Taiwan's only hope of protection. All three premises are false. TMD is still very much in the conceptualization and development stage.
Deployment is years away.
We do not preclude providing TMD to Taiwan, but it is premature to make that decision now. And we must remember above all, TMD or any other military solution will not be the only or even the most important factor in ensuring Taiwan's future security. Although the drafters of the Taiwan Relations Act recognized the potential military threat from the PRC, they did not intend for the American commitment to Taiwan to rely on weapons alone. U.S. security policy toward Taiwan, and indeed toward the entire Asia-Pacific region, is not just a question of military strength. Security is more than military capability.