Senators Ricketts, Coons Lead Tabletop Exercise on Hypothetical Chinese Energy Quarantine Against Taiwan

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts (R-NE), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, organized a tabletop exercise with Senator Chris Coons (D-DE) and other senators. The two-hour exercise tasked the participating senators with responding to a simulated Chinese campaign designed to strangle Taiwan’s energy imports. The exercise was led by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). FDD plans to convene a follow-on simulation this summer in Taipei with Taiwanese officials, including members of Taiwan’s National Security Council. After the exercise completed, Senator Ricketts gave the following comments:

“This exercise reflected the real risk that a Chinese energy quarantine presents to Taiwan,” said Ricketts. “Beijing would like nothing more than to force unification without war. However, Congress can play a decisive role in supporting our Taiwanese partners while also complicating Xi Jinping’s plans to coerce Taiwan into capitulation.”

Senate Foreign Relations Committee East Asia Subcommittee’s Tabletop exercise in Washington, DC on May 6, 2025. (Official U.S. Senate photo by Erin Sutherland)

Ricketts also underscored the threat posed by Communist China’s dictator Xi Jinping, who has signaled his military to be ready to seize Taiwan by 2027.

“We seek peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” said Ricketts. “Increasing aggression from Communist China continues to threaten this long-standing status quo. Simulations and exercises like the one we did today are important for understanding the real-world impact of policy decisions. By working through potential actions by Communist China and planning an American response, we can take the steps necessary to deter this aggression.”

“As Senator Ricketts and I saw on our travel to East Asia last month, Taiwan plays a central role in ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific in the face of Chinese aggression,” said Senator Coons. “This exercise made clear the sheer number of tools China has at its disposal to threaten Taiwan and the many steps the United States and our partners and allies should take to prepare. It also demonstrated that Congress will have a clear role to play in shaping our nation’s response to any crisis in the Indo-Pacific region. Unified, bipartisan support for Taiwan in Congress is more important today than ever before.”

BACKGROUND

Last month, Senator Ricketts led a congressional delegation (CODEL) trip to Taiwan and the Philippines with Senators Coons and Ted Budd (R-NC). During the trip, the three senators met with senior Taiwanese officials including President Lai and Vice President Hsaio.

This tabletop exercise continues the work that Senators Ricketts and Coons are doing as chairman and ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations East Asia Subcommittee to foster bipartisan agreement around the island of Taiwan.