Taiwan blockade's cost would be felt wider than COVID: U.S. official

Chinese action would deliver $2.7tn hit to global economy in 1st year, think tank says

20231006 Taiwan navy ships at port in Keelung

Taiwanese warships anchor at a harbor just north of Taipei in August 2022, days after then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island. © Getty Images

KEN MORIYASU, Nikkei Asia diplomatic correspondent

October 7, 2023 05:43 JST

WASHINGTON -- If China were to impose a blockade on Taiwan, the global economic impact would far outweigh the shutdowns caused by COVID-19, a senior U.S. official has warned.

The Pentagon is looking "very closely" at the scenarios that might play out if China opted for a blockade, Ely Ratner, the assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, said Thursday at an event held by the Washington think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies.