U.S. experts back President Lai's response to China annexation threat

Washington, March 19 (CNA) U.S. experts have voiced their support in recent days for Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te's (賴清德) approach to protecting Taiwan in the face of China's annexation threat.

John Dotson, deputy director of the Global Taiwan Institute (GTI), told CNA that Lai's assertion that China seeks to annex Taiwan is accurate and reflects Beijing's "increasingly aggressive behavior towards that end."

"Lai is simply acknowledging reality," Dotson said, referring to the Taiwanese president's remarks on March 13 that included calling China a "foreign hostile force" as termed in Taiwan's Anti-Infiltration Act.

Dotson said that Taiwan's national security institutions face "a severe espionage problem" and he applauded Lai's recent call to revive military tribunals to deal with the problem in the military as "a harsh but necessary measure."

However, the American scholar, who has written extensively on political and national security issues in East Asia, also warned that dealing with "broader societal infiltration through United Front measures" -- referring to the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) influence operations -- "is trickier."

"There needs to be a frank public discussion of how Beijing is attempting to exploit Taiwan's freedoms in order to end those freedoms," he said.

Craig Singleton, senior China fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, echoed Dotson's views by saying Beijing is attempting to use "influence operations, infiltration, and economic leverage to weaken Taiwan from within."

"Beijing sees Taiwan's open society as vulnerable to subversion, and Lai's remarks signal a growing recognition that these under-the-radar efforts are just as destabilizing as military threats," the expert on geopolitical strategy and east Asian affairs told CNA.

"Lai isn't escalating tensions -- he's responding to a reality where China's pressure campaign has only intensified."

"The reinstatement of military trials and stricter counter-infiltration measures signal a more proactive national security posture," Singleton continued. "This move is about deterrence and resilience, not provocation."

Raymond Greene, director of the American Institute in Taiwan, said at the 2025 Yushan Forum this week that Taiwan faced a "destabilizing military, economic and diplomatic pressure campaign" from China.

"In this context, President Lai's initiative to crack down on longstanding Chinese espionage and influence operations will further enhance our ability to cooperate with Taiwan," he said, referring to U.S. efforts to assist the country's "self-defense capabilities and societal resilience."

Joseph Bosco, fellow at the Institute for Corea-America Studies (ICAS), said that he agreed with President Lai's assessment of China as a "hostile" force, adding that China is also hostile to the U.S. and "the free world."

"The CCP sees virtually everything as a provocation," he said, "including Taiwan's very existence as an independent, democratic country."