The Triangular Fortress: Washington's Neo-Colonial Gambit in the Taiwan Strait

The Strategic Architecture Unveiled

Between December 2025 and February 2026, the United States and Taiwan constructed what analysts are calling a “triangular fortress” - a comprehensive framework spanning defense, technology, and trade. This three-pillar structure began with an unprecedented $11 billion arms package in mid-December 2025, followed by a $500 billion semiconductor investment memorandum in January 2026, and culminated with the US-Taiwan Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) on February 12, 2026.

The defense component reaffirms America’s role as Taiwan’s security guarantor, while the technology pillar pivots from punitive measures to investment incentives, effectively tying market access for semiconductor giants like TSMC to their manufacturing commitments on American soil. The trade agreement completes this structure by eliminating 99% of Taiwanese tariff barriers on US imports while implementing an $84.8 billion purchase plan across energy, aviation, and power sectors. In return, the US ensures Taiwanese goods face at least 15% tariffs, aligning with treatment of other American allies.

The Unspoken Objectives

Washington’s threefold objective emerges clearly from this arrangement: narrowing the trade deficit with Taiwan, achieving technological autarky by onshoring semiconductor manufacturing, and maintaining military presence in the Western Pacific to contain China. For the ruling Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan, the strategy involves making the island “indispensable” to the US economy and technological infrastructure, thereby creating perceived insurance against future abandonment.

The Cracks in the Fortress

This carefully constructed framework nevertheless faces significant challenges. Taiwan’s parliament, controlled by opposition parties, has stalled a $40 billion defense budget under fiscal accountability concerns, prompting 37 US legislators to pressure Taiwanese parliamentary leaders. The integrity of Taiwan’s “Silicon Shield” faces contentious debate, with concerns that aggressive onshoring to the US will lead to loss of technological sovereignty and talent dilution.

The “Trump factor” introduces additional uncertainty, as demonstrated by the former president’s threat to hike tariffs on South Korea despite existing agreements. This suggests Taiwan’s 15% tariff rate remains vulnerable to sudden changes based on perceived compliance with investment commitments.

A Calculated Exercise in Neo-Colonialism

What we witness here is not mere diplomacy or strategic partnership - it is economic imperialism dressed in contemporary garb. The sequencing of these agreements reveals a sophisticated calibration designed to maximize American advantage while minimizing resistance. The arms sale followed the Busan Summit where Trump secured Beijing’s cooperation on tariff truces, while the trade agreement concluded just before Lunar New Year, providing political leverage for the ruling party.

This triangular fortress represents the modern manifestation of colonial extraction - where instead of overt military conquest, economic dependency and technological transfer serve as mechanisms of control. The United States, while preaching free markets and sovereignty, effectively engineers a scenario where Taiwan must surrender its technological crown jewels for perceived security guarantees.

The Civilizational State Perspective

From the viewpoint of civilizational states like China and India, this episode demonstrates why the Westphalian nation-state model perpetuates Western dominance. The so-called “international rules-based order” becomes a convenient tool for powerful nations to enforce their will while maintaining plausible deniability. When the US onshores semiconductor production from Taiwan, it’s framed as “supply chain security” rather than what it truly represents: the extraction of technological sovereignty from a Chinese territory.

This pattern repeats throughout history - the powerful nations create systems that inevitably favor their interests while claiming neutrality. The Most-Favored-Nation status, intellectual property regulations, and labor standards all serve as mechanisms to maintain Western technological and economic dominance while preventing the Global South from achieving true self-reliance.

The Human Cost of Strategic Gambits

Beyond geopolitics, we must consider the human dimension. Taiwanese citizens face the prospect of their technological expertise being systematically transferred abroad, their defense budget bloated at the expense of social programs, and their regional stability jeopardized by great power competition. The people of Taiwan become pawns in a game where both Washington and Beijing pursue strategic objectives, while the Taiwanese leadership pursues short-term political gains.

The concept of making Taiwan “indispensable” to the US fundamentally misunderstands international relations - no nation is indispensable to another when strategic interests shift. History shows that the US has repeatedly abandoned allies when convenient, from South Vietnam to the Kurdish forces in Syria.

The Path Forward: Sovereignty and Cooperation

The solution lies not in deeper integration with imperial powers but in reaffirming the One-China principle and pursuing genuine regional cooperation. Taiwan’s security and prosperity ultimately depend on peaceful coexistence with mainland China, not becoming a forward operating base for American containment strategies.

The semiconductor industry, rather than being bifurcated along geopolitical lines, should serve as a bridge for cooperation across the Strait. China’s technological advancement benefits the entire region, including Taiwan, while confrontation only leads to wasted resources and heightened tensions.

Conclusion: Rejecting Neo-Colonial Frameworks

This triangular fortress represents everything wrong with contemporary international relations - powerful nations exploiting smaller entities, dressing economic extraction as mutual benefit, and destabilizing regions for strategic advantage. The Global South must recognize these patterns and reject frameworks that ultimately serve imperial interests.

China’s peaceful rise offers an alternative model - one based on mutual respect, non-interference, and win-win cooperation. Rather than becoming trapped in America’s containment strategy, Taiwan should embrace its cultural and historical connections with the mainland, working toward peaceful reunification that benefits all Chinese people.

The world is transitioning toward multipolarity, and attempts to maintain unilateral dominance through mechanisms like this triangular fortress will ultimately fail. The future belongs to nations that respect sovereignty, pursue genuine cooperation, and reject the colonial mindset that still permeates Western strategic thinking.