This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Friday, September 14th, 2007.

I'm Caleb Brown.

What is the future of U.S. relations with Taiwan?

And what are the risks of America's so-called strategic

ambiguity with regard to protecting Taiwan?

Cato Institute Foreign Policy analyst Justin Logan believes the U.S. should clarify that it will not be the military

savior of Taiwan against a China increasingly interested in the island nation.

In a new paper co-authored with Cato's Ted Galen Carpenter, Logan argues that Taiwan should no longer

be allowed to free ride on America's military might.

What is a history of the relationship between the United States and Taiwan?

Well, it's a very complicated one.

There has been, in 20th century, obviously, the Guomendong party fled the Chinese mainland

took root on Taiwan the Chinese Communist Party took over the Chinese mainland and ultimately the United States

switched diplomatic recognition from recognizing the Guo Mandong as the

party with the claim to govern China and recognize the Chinese Communist Party in the 70s.

Since then the United States has followed what it is called a policy of strategic ambiguity on the question of Taiwan not clarifying its views

on what's called the United States one China policy and that is to say that we

recognize one China but we don't go into very much

detail about what that one China is. And there was an assistant secretary of

state recently in congressional testimony, I believe in 2005, who said if he were in So there has been this policy aptly named of strategic ambiguity.

And originally what it was designed to do

was to induce caution on both sides of the dispute,

...