Progressive Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

President Trump absorbs the world’s media oxygen and he likes it that way, so let’s check in with the political competition for a change.

Progressive Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York turned up at the Munich Security Conference over the weekend for a taste of geopolitics, but she couldn’t answer one of the biggest questions in world affairs.

Would and should the United States commit troops to defend Taiwan if China were to move on the island democracy? 

Give Ms. Ocasio-Cortez credit for an unscripted answer:

“Um, you know, I think that, uh, this is such a, you know, I think that this is a, um, this is of course a very long-standing, um, policy of the United States. Uh and I think what we are hoping for is that we want to make sure that we never get to that point and we want to make sure that we are moving in all of our economic research and our global positions to avoid any such confrontation and for that question to even arise.”

The Congresswoman from New York who may want to be President paused more than once and took roughly 30 seconds to offer those insights. The soliloquy is especially impressive because Ms. Ocasio-Cortez could have taken cover under the fact that U.S. policy is to decline to answer the question.

But that would require understanding the concept of “strategic ambiguity” toward the island of 23 million free people. 

It’s nice to hear that Ms. Ocasio-Cortez wants to “make sure that we never get to that point,” though deterrence demands military power and the willingness to use it, not “economic research” and “global positions,” whatever those are.

Wall Street Journal Editorial February 16, 2026 

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-taiwan-china-munich-security-conference-4c907430


The US has traditionally adopted a policy of strategic ambiguity, where it acknowledges China’s historical claims to sovereignty over Taiwan and maintains only unofficial relations with Taipei while pledging defensive assistance. 


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