WASHINGTON –– Experts on China-United States relations warned Wednesday that the U.S. had failed to respond to Beijing’s escalating campaign of “lawfare” and political coercion to marginalize Taiwan.
Lawfare refers to legal action taken as part of a hostile strategy against a country or group.
“The People’s Republic of China is using law not merely to justify force, but to substitute for it through legal and quasi-legal means,” said Julian Ku, a professor of constitutional law at Hofstra University.
The House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the Chinese Communist Party highlighted a bipartisan concern that China’s campaign against Taiwan goes beyond military threats and that legal efforts like economic coercion and targeted propaganda isolate Taiwan diplomatically. Witnesses cautioned that if Congress and the administration focus only on preventing armed invasions, Taiwan risks losing its sovereignty and legitimacy before any military conflict even occurs.
“If U.S. policy focuses only on deterring invasion, it will miss how Beijing is already changing the status quo against Taiwan and in its favor,” Ku said.
Witnesses discussed how Beijing has persistently distorted United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758, which transferred China’s seat at the UN from the Republic of China government in Taipei to the People’s Republic of China in Beijing. This resolution recognized the mainland as the only legitimate representative of China. However, witnesses argued that the resolution addressed representation, not sovereignty. It did not explicitly state that Taiwan is part of the PRC, nor did it determine Taiwan’s international legal status.
“Resolution 2758 did not determine Taiwan’s international legal status,” said Ku. He warned that repeated bureaucratic references to Taiwan as a “province of China” from Beijing in legal documents and state media have normalized this claim.
Shirley Kun, an independent Indo-Pacific security specialist and former Congressional Research Service analyst, described the effort as political warfare.
“This distortion of reality is political warfare,” Kun said. “It’s more than just a diplomatic annoyance.”
Kun said Beijing has paired its lawfare strategy with economic and informational pressure, including export bans and targeted sanctions often timed around elections. She warned that U.S. defense planning must account for sustained coercion and not just a potential 2027 military timeline.
Dr. Mira Rapp-Hooper, a visiting senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, testified that Beijing’s lawfare tactics have accelerated.
“The PRC’s use of peacetime coercion against Taiwan is vastly increasing in scope and scale,” Rapp-Hooper said. “[Its purpose] is to demoralize the people on Taiwan so that they conclude that their status quo is untenable and they must submit to the PRC.”
Several lawmakers pointed to the Trump administration’s December approval of an $11 billion arms sale to Taiwan (the largest in history) as evidence of continued U.S. commitment. The package includes advanced systems such as rocket launchers and drones. Republican lawmakers especially described the arms sale as a clear effort of deterrence and protection to Taiwan’s sovereignty.
“I commend the president for approving this historical sale and sending a clear message to China that the United States and this administration stands against their coercion and backs the people of Taiwan,” said Rep. Andy Barr, R-Ky.
However, Ku cautioned that military assistance alone does not counter what he says is a “parallel erosion” of Taiwan’s standing in legal and institutional areas.
“I don’t think the United States in any administration has sided with Taiwan,” Ku said. “Effective deterrence must deny not only invasion but coercive success below the threshold of armed conflict.”
Witnesses urged Congress to reaffirm the Taiwan Relations Act, an agreement that defined unofficial relations between Taiwan and guarantees U.S. protection, to reduce the risk of misinterpretation and reinforce longstanding bipartisan policy foundations. They argued that countering Beijing’s campaign would require attention not only to missiles and military drills but also to language and institutional practices.
“Taiwan has a single threat and adversary, and that is the People’s Republic of China,” Rapp-Hooper said. “Taiwan’s most important partner is the United States.”