As China escalates its intimidation of Taiwan, provoking speculation that President Xi Jinping wants the People’s Liberation Army to invade by 2027, Taiwan’s government is preparing the population of nearly 24 million for war while calling on the world’s democracies for assistance.
The Washington Times national security reporter Guy Taylor visited Taiwan to interview government officials and business leaders about the future of the island’s de facto independence. Mr. Taylor’s three-part series on the politics and economics of the conflict raises an important question about any U.S. role in defending Taiwan against Chinese aggression.
This episode of History As It Happens considers how the outcome of the Chinese civil war in 1949, followed by the normalization of U.S.-China relations in the 1970s, laid the groundwork for today’s dispute. The Biden administration is facing calls from foreign policy hawks to end the policy of “strategic ambiguity” and instead unreservedly back Taiwanese independence – even though, as Mr. Taylor’s reporting demonstrates, most Taiwanese prefer maintaining the status quo. And beyond the historic or ideological reasons behind Mr. Xi’s vow to reabsorb Taiwan, the presence of advanced semiconductor manufacturers makes Taiwan an enticing geopolitical target.
Listen to Mr. Taylor discuss what is behind rising tensions between China, Taiwan and the United States in this episode of History As It Happens.
Read Guy Taylor’s ’Taiwan in the Crosshairs’ series HERE.
