Pentagon Defends Silence on China as Taiwan Strait Tensions Rise Across 100 Miles
Updated
Updated · Washington Times · Aug 14
Pentagon Defends Silence on China as Taiwan Strait Tensions Rise Across 100 Miles
3 articles · Updated · Washington Times · Aug 14
Summary
Elbridge Colby said the Pentagon is deliberately avoiding public denunciations of China over Taiwan and the South China Sea, arguing lower-key rhetoric reduces the risk of a major U.S.-China war.
In Manila this week, Colby framed the approach as replacing "moralizing speeches" with stronger military capabilities and a "denial defense" chain from Japan to the Philippines.
Taiwan remains the sharpest test: Colby said Washington still seeks a stable balance of power, even as Chinese military pressure has intensified since 2022 and U.S. commanders call some operations invasion rehearsals.
The strategy also sits alongside a review of a $14 billion Taiwan arms package after the Trump-Xi summit in May, while an earlier $11 billion package approved in December is still set to proceed.
Colby cast the shift as a break from Biden-era rhetoric, but the policy faces skepticism because Beijing has kept up regional coercion and rare-earth export curbs despite renewed U.S. engagement.