Eyck Freymann

Eyck Freymann is a Hoover Fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, where he directs the Allied Coordination Working Group. He researches U.S.-China competition, Indo-Pacific security, deterrence, and Taiwan strategy, and is the author of Defending Taiwan: A Strategy to Prevent War with China and One Belt One Road: Chinese Power Meets the World.

Deterring China Over Taiwan Requires Options Short of War

Eyck Freymann’s argument in Defending Taiwan, discussed with Niall Ferguson at the Hoover Institution, is that U.S. deterrence is too narrowly built around stopping a Chinese invasion. Freymann says Beijing could instead use customs controls, coast guard pressure, energy constraints, supply-chain leverage, and political coercion to force Taiwan toward submission without triggering a clear war. His prescription is for Washington to build credible options between inaction, military escalation, and an economic rupture it cannot sustain.

Hoover InstitutionMay 7, 202613 min read