Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

As the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission officially released its annual report to the US Congress on Wednesday, commissioner Dan Blumenthal said there was unanimous agreement that “something must be done” to improve Taiwan’s air defense capabilities.

Addressing a packed hearing room in the US Senate, Blumenthal said there was “no silver bullet” that could balance the military forces facing each other across the Taiwan Strait, but that Congress needed to review the situation in a comprehensive manner.

It is good that former US president Bill Clinton had an opportunity to visit Taiwan. The democratic nation’s political isolation has led to the peculiar phenomenon that only future and past US presidents — and secretaries of state or defense for that matter — can visit it.

But the matter raises an important question: Why can’t a current US president visit? The obvious reason is, of course, that China would strenuously object. Still, if our purpose is to support democracy in East Asia, it behooves the US to move toward normalization of relations with Taiwan.