Deputy Representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in the U.S. Johnson Chiang (姜森) said Taiwan’s diplomatic allies have made significant contributions to stability in the Taiwan Strait and are strategically important to both Taiwan and the United States.

Chiang spoke Monday as the Washington-based Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub released a report analyzing China’s efforts to pressure countries into cutting diplomatic ties with Taiwan and outlining how U.S.–Taiwan cooperation could strengthen Taiwan’s international presence. 

The report was authored by Associate Director of the Atlantic Council Global China Hub Kitsch Liao (廖彥棻) and nonresident fellows Nik Foster and Santiago Villa. It was accompanied by an online seminar on how to deter Chinese coercion.

Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi, ranking member of the U.S. House Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, said in opening remarks that history shows a failure to sustain deterrence invites aggression, which can lead to conflict and war. He said deterrence must be maintained across economic, diplomatic, military, and technological domains, and stressed the need to stand with Taiwan to preserve the status quo until disputes with Beijing can be addressed peacefully.

Commenting on the report, Chiang said Taiwan’s 12 diplomatic partners help uphold cross-strait stability in their own ways, an outcome that benefits both Taiwan and the United States. He noted that most of those partners are in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the South Pacific, regions that align with current U.S. strategic priorities, particularly the Western Hemisphere and the Indo-Pacific.