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Expert Bio
David Sacks is a fellow for Asia studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), where his work focuses on U.S.-China relations, U.S.-Taiwan relations, Chinese foreign policy, cross-Strait relations, and the political thought of Hans Morgenthau. He was previously the Special Assistant to the President for Research at the Council on Foreign Relations.
Prior to joining CFR, Mr. Sacks worked on political military affairs at the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), which handles the full breadth of the United States’ relationship with Taiwan in the absence of diplomatic ties. Mr. Sacks was also a Princeton in Asia fellow in Hangzhou, China. He received his M.A. in International Relations and International Economics, with honors, from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). At SAIS, he was the recipient of the A. Doak Barnett Award, given annually to the most distinguished China Studies graduate. Mr. Sacks received his B.A. in Political Science, Magna Cum Laude, from Carleton College.
Current Projects
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President Biden’s meeting with Chinese President Xi was an opportunity to stabilize U.S.-China relations and yielded some important deliverables, but the bilateral relationship will continue to be defined by competition.
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High-level attendance at this year’s Belt and Road forum is down, but BRI still has support in the Global South and will be used by Beijing to strengthen the Global South as a counterweight to the U.S.-led international order.
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At the G20 summit, the United States and its partners revealed an economic corridor linking India, the Middle East, and Europe. It is premature, however, to call this a serious counterweight to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
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While Taiwan has significantly increased its defense spending over the past seven years, it needs to invest more to deter China and prevent the military balance from shifting decisively in Beijing’s favor.
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Italy’s withdrawal from the Belt and Road Initiative would reflect disappointment with the lack of economic benefits and a more fundamental strategic rethinking of China.
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U.S. reliance on Taiwanese chips gives it a major stake in preserving peace in the Taiwan Strait but does not make a war between China and Taiwan less likely.
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Taiwan’s fate will have major implications for U.S. security and prosperity. It will also bear on fundamental questions of international order and the future of democracy.
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There is understandable fear about what might happen to TSMC should China invade Taiwan, but the United States can ensure China does not inherit the company without physically destroying it.
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Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen will visit the United States next month. China is sure to retaliate, but how far it goes will say a lot about the trajectory of cross-strait and U.S.-China relations.
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Neither the United States nor China is prepared for a serious crisis.
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The meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping did not resolve major disagreements, but it could start the process of building guardrails to prevent competition from turning into conflict.
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Taiwan needs to more urgently prepare for a Chinese attack
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President Biden's comment on Taiwan independence is a break from his predecessors.
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U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi became the first speaker in twenty-five years to visit Taiwan.
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One of Shinzo Abe’s most significant moves was adjusting Japan’s relationship with Taiwan.
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In moving away from strategic ambiguity, Biden made a long overdue adjustment to U.S. policy.
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Russia's struggles in Ukraine reveal a pivot to Asia is still the right strategy.
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China’s support for Russia risks working against its desire to bring Taiwan under its control.
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Questions of how the United States should address the issue of China and Taiwan have moved to the center of the U.S. foreign policy debate.
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China's decision to stop funding coal plants abroad is an important step, but real progress will require phasing out coal at home.
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Europe is responding to China's Belt and Road Initiative, but it is unclear whether its alternative can succeed.
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The Biden administration should resist calls to rename Taiwan's office in the United States.
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China is unlikely to prioritize Afghanistan for Belt and Road investment.
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Xi Jinping's speech marking the one hundredth anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party demonstrated China is unlikely to drastically change its approach to Taiwan anytime soon.