The correlation between strength and gateways is well established. The most powerful evidence is that Logain tells Rand not to try and prove that he is stronger than him because he saw that his deathgates were larger. He didn't assume that Rand had a greater Talent, and he didn't waste his time feeling how much saidin Rand was holding. And there are countless other examples of how people's gateways increase as they increase in strength, and how the Forsaken create the largest gateways etc...

Remember, Talent is about illogical and disproportionate ability. It doesn't mean its the rule. Nynaeve herself says that you can hold a stronger woman with a shield unless the gap becomes too large. That doesn't mean that Berowin with her Talent destroys the linear relationship between your strength and who you can shield.

I fully agree that Talent is a component of every weave with every channeler. I think when someone makes a gateway its a question of strength and Talent, but I also believe that pretty much no one has the Talent, so it comes down to strength. Obviously when Talent is present, it trumps everything.

I even think that Healing ability is proportional to strength, but because so many people have the Talent (for instance say 30% of channelers), people only speak about the Talent. When Talent is rare i.e. shielding/gateways then people generally speak about strength. Strong channelers never seem to suffer on any front. Even though Moghedien says she's lame at Compulsion, she still does a good job with it, for instance.