U.S. WEEKLY offers an in-depth analysis of various geopolitical processes that have direct effect on US’ domestic and foreign policies. This particular analytical column is possible thanks to the cooperation with polish media abroad: Dziennik Związkowy – Polish Daily News, Polishexpress of United Kingdom and WIrlandii.pl of Ireland

Date: 2 May 2023

U.S. Lawmakers Stage War-Game Conflict over Taiwan with China

A U.S. congressional war game simulating a Chinese invasion of Taiwan was launched. Members of the House of Representatives’ Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party played the role of presidential aides to test U.S. scenarios.

SOURCE: AP Photo/Ellen Knickmeyer

They used an open-source, unclassified war game developed by the Center for a New American Security, a think tank based in Washington. The United States has no formal ties with Taipei, but is its most important international backer and arms supplier. China’s President Xi Jinping has ordered his military to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027. In the game, Taiwan first makes intensified efforts to declare independence. The world reaches the brink of a U.S.-China war over Taiwan. China first deploys troops and materiel as well as brings in blood supplies for treating soldiers. Furthermore, Beijing imposes a de facto blockade on Taiwan that produces more than 60 percent of the world’s semiconductors. The United States, in turn, introduces trade restrictions on China, a move that sends shockwaves across the world’s economy. The lawmakers, who acted as security advisors, are tasked by the U.S. president to prevent Taiwan from being seized by China or defeating Beijing, in a different-case scenario.

The authors of the game did not include any channel of communication between the governments of the United States and China. So the players had to reach Chinese politicians through some U.S. companies based in China, including HP, Dell, and Apple.

In the war game, the conflict broke out on April 18, 2027. Beijing’s missiles and rockets cascade down on Taiwan and on U.S. forces as far away as Japan and Guam, killing many soldiers on both sides of the simulated conflict.

The war game highlighted some diplomatic, military, and economic shortcomings. Alarmed and alienated allies in the war game leave Americans to fight almost entirely alone in support of Taiwan as they suffered from trade restrictions. In addition, Chinese diplomats warned world leaders against stepping into the war.
Taiwan exhausted its inventory of munitions. Consequently, sanctions triggered a global economic crisis while an economic blockade on China dislodged the global supply chain.

“We are well within the window of maximum danger for a Chinese Communist Party invasion of Taiwan, and yesterday’s war game stressed the need to take action to deter CCP aggression and arm Taiwan to the teeth before any crisis begins,” the House of Representatives’ Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, led by Republican Mike Gallagher said in a statement. The official added Washington must clear a $19 billion weapons backlog to Taiwan, also calling for enhanced joint military training and the reinforced U.S. military in the region.

Dawid Krupa is a fourth-year law student at the Faculty of Law and Administration at Warsaw University. He has worked with various cultural institutions such as the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, the Warsaw Uprising Museum and the Forum for Dialogue Foundation. His interests include national politics, international relations, religious studies and gardening.

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