Forging Consensus

Executive Summary

In mid-2023, the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) published Independent Task Force Report No. 81: U.S.-Taiwan Relations in a New Era - Responding to a More Assertive China. The report was the output of six months of work by 17 American experts (referred to later in this document as Taiwan Task Force) whose experience spans academia, diplomacy, national security, policy, and the private sector. In the report's executive summary, the authors stated, "The Task Force thus finds that it is vital for the United States to deter China from using force or coercion to achieve unification with Taiwan." In the context of national security threats, their designation of Taiwan as "vital" to the U.S. ranks it among the most significant to "safeguarding and enhancing Americans' survival and well-being in a free and secure nation."