臺灣歷來被認為有著重要的戰略地位，但近期以來美國卻出現所謂「棄臺論」。對此本文嘗試提出另類的觀點：臺灣從來都不具備戰略上的重要性，臺灣的戰略地位過去被強調，只是冷戰對立之下一時的政治動員。要說放棄，早在美中建交、美軍撤出之際，美國就已經放棄臺灣了，如今所謂的「棄臺論」，其實只是更直白地說出此一已發生的現象，其較貼切的用詞應該說是臺灣「中立化」。不過，臺灣也不必因此而焦慮，美國仍會繼續現行的作法，臺灣仍能保持目前實質獨立的狀態。 Taiwan had always been said to have strategic importance for the US, but some well-known US scholars and ex-officials recently argued that the US should “ditch Taiwan” in exchange for a better relations with the PRC. This article argues that, Taiwan, in fact, had no strategic importance at all. The importance of Taiwan was told for political mobilization in the Cold War. The US had already “ditched” Taiwan when it withdraw Troops from Taiwan in the late 1970s. Those so-called “ditching Taiwan” arguments today are simply a more exaggerated way to express this fact and are more appropriately termed “neutralization” of Taiwan. Even so, the status quo can still be maintained.
