Interior Alaska News

U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan, a member of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China and the Senate Armed Services Committee, highlighted Taiwan's upcoming presidential election as a significant vulnerability for China's leader Xi Jinping. In an interview on Fox News' The Journal Editorial Report, Sullivan noted that the election, scheduled for January 13, poses a challenge to Xi's dictatorship.

"This is their eighth presidential election, and this is a huge vulnerability to the premise of Xi Jinping's dictatorship," Sullivan stated. He expressed concerns that people in mainland China might question why they cannot experience similar democratic processes.

Sullivan stressed the importance of strengthening deterrence in the Taiwan Strait and advocated for increasing military support to Taiwan. "We need a lot more weapons systems, basic weapons systems that Taiwan can use to defend itself," he said. He mentioned specific weaponry like Harpoons and ATACMS as necessary for Taiwan's defense.

During the discussion with host Paul Gigot, Sullivan agreed with Gigot's observation about Taiwan being an example of Chinese democracy in action. Gigot pointed out that all parties in Taiwan are moving away from accommodation policies towards Beijing.

Sullivan also emphasized the role of strong sanctions as a deterrent against potential military aggression by China towards Taiwan. "Deterrence in the Taiwan Strait relies on both what the Taiwanese need to be able to defend themselves and our ability if called upon as the US military to help defend them," he concluded.