In January 1988, one of Taiwan’s most senior nuclear engineers defected to the United States after passing crucial intelligence on a top-secret program that would alter the course of Taiwan’s history.
"Colonel Chang Hsien-yi was a leading figure in Taiwan’s nuclear weapons project, a closely guarded secret between the 1960s and ‘80s, as Taipei raced to develop its first nuclear bomb to keep pace with China.
"He was also a CIA informant.
"Chang exposed Taiwan’s secret nuclear program to the United States, its closest ally, passing intelligence that ultimately led the US to pressure Taiwan into shutting down the program – which proliferation experts say was near completion."
Our government's desire to stop the spread of nuclear weapons made perfect sense, especially because Taiwan was still far from a functioning democracy at the time. Unlike Chang, I think a nuclear armed Taiwan would be a deterrent to PRC invasion. The possibility of invasion leading to even a small nuclear weapon on Three Gorges dam would be a powerful deterrent. It would be suicidal for Taiwsn to do that, buy this is in the nature of MAD: neither side wants to do something that might provoke such an action.
I suspect that whatever our suppression of their effort caused, they have probably returned to where they were. As someone I know described Japan's nuclear weapons capability relative to the same problem: a screwdrivers's turn away.
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