Pottinger Urges Global Vigilance on Beijing, Dismisses Doubts on US Support

Former U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor Matthew Pottinger delivered important remarks regarding Taiwan today, Taipei time, bluntly stating that "peace through strength" is an absolute prerequisite for maintaining Taiwan's freedom and prosperity. Pointing to the current geopolitical context, Pottinger noted that in recent years, Taiwan has continuously and concretely scaled up its investments in military defense, defense-related industries, and all-society national resilience. Facing various political narratives circulating widely in public opinion spaces that attempt to shake public morale, Pottinger not only publicly refuted the "doubt about the U.S." theory—which intentionally creates a crisis of trust between the United States and Taiwan—but also pushed back against the "doubt about Taiwan" theory, which talks down Taiwan's resolve for self-defense. He further emphasized that amidst complex and volatile cross-strait and international situations, what the international community and Taiwan truly need and must firmly uphold is actually the "doubt about the Chinese Communist Party" theory. In other words, people must maintain a high degree of skepticism and vigilance toward any political commitments made by the Chinese Communist Party.

From the macro perspectives of historical development and geopolitics, the strategic concept of "peace through strength" has steadily gained traction in the Indo-Pacific region in recent years. Pottinger's remarks precisely echo the core mindset that the democratic camp should adopt when countering authoritarian expansion. In the years following the end of the Cold War, many Western countries held overly optimistic expectations about economic globalization, believing that trade and exchanges would naturally promote democratization and peaceful evolution in authoritarian nations. However, Beijing's military expansion in the South China Sea, comprehensive tightening of Hong Kong's democratic autonomy, and persistent military intimidation and gray-zone harassment against Taiwan over the past decade have completely shattered this wishful thinking of peace. Pottinger's emphasis on backing peace with strength at this moment is based on a profound reflection on historical lessons, arguing that war can only be effectively deterred when Beijing assesses that the costs of aggression are too high.

Pottinger offered high praise and substantial evaluation of Taiwan's internal defense preparations and societal resilience. In recent years, facing increasingly severe external military pressure, Taiwan has indeed promoted a series of deepened defense reforms. In addition to gradually increasing the proportion of the defense budget relative to gross domestic product, Taiwan has also reinstated compulsory military service, strengthened combat training for reserve forces, and actively promoted defense self-reliance by fostering a local defense industry chain through policies such as domestically built ships and aircraft. Furthermore, given that modern warfare has long transcended the scope of traditional military conflicts, the Taiwanese government and civil society are also comprehensively strengthening all-society defense resilience, including critical infrastructure protection, cybersecurity, disinformation prevention, and civilian disaster relief. Pottinger pointed out these concrete developments to prove to the international community that Taiwan is not taking security for granted, but is instead actively acting as a practitioner of regional security.

However, while Taiwan promotes defense reforms and deepens its democratic defense mechanisms, domestic and international public opinion fields are also accompanied by massive cognitive warfare and psychological operations. Pottinger's specific and stern refutations of the "doubt about the U.S." and "doubt about Taiwan" theories carry a high degree of practical relevance. The so-called "doubt about the U.S." theory often magnifies the strategic competition and cooperation between the U.S. and China, and intentionally misinterprets the strategic ambiguity of U.S. policy toward Taiwan to create an atmosphere that the U.S. might abandon Taiwan at any time. Meanwhile, the "doubt about Taiwan" theory talks down Taiwan's will and capability for self-defense, thereby undermining public confidence. Pottinger directly pointed out that these narratives are essentially part of cognitive warfare, with the purpose of collapsing Taiwan's internal will to resist. He suggested replacing them with the "doubt about the Chinese Communist Party" theory, reminding all sectors that the Chinese Communist Party's past records of breaking faith in Tibet, Hong Kong, and numerous international treaties and commercial commitments represent the safest and most rational attitude for examining cross-strait relations.

Pottinger's public remarks today serve not only as a strong endorsement of Taiwan's current national security and defense policies, but also provide a clear coordinate of judgment for Taiwanese society when facing cognitive warfare. At a critical juncture when the global democratic and authoritarian camps continue to confront each other, Taiwan serves as the frontline of democratic defense, and its strategic value is no longer limited to its geographical location, but is further embodied in its adherence to and practice of democratic values. Pottinger called on all sectors to discard unnecessary internal suspicion and focus their attention on strengthening strength and maintaining reasonable vigilance against the authoritarian regime. This holds profound strategic guiding significance and benchmark practical influence for consolidating Taiwan's internal consensus and deepening substantive cooperation with like-minded democratic partners.