The US policy of ‘strategic ambiguity’ might lack satisfying certainty but it has worked as a method for keeping the peace
Defending the status quo can be a lonely position, especially in an age where the political tempo is set by populists and demagogues. But in diplomacy the best option is often keeping things as they are, even if that means tolerating inconsistency and uncertainty. Such is the situation in the Taiwan strait, where artful imprecision prevents war.
The visit to Taiwan by Nancy Pelosi has upset the balance. The speaker of the House of Representatives is the most senior US politician to set foot on the island since 1997. As an assertion of solidarity in the face of China’s territorial ambitions across the strait, Ms Pelosi’s trip looks like a breach of Washington’s “strategic ambiguity” on Taiwan’s status: it is not formally recognised as an independent state, but treated (and armed for self-defence) as a sovereign country.
