Why Taiwan’s Status Risks Igniting a US-China Clash

Wealthy, democratic and strategically located off the Chinese coast, Taiwan has long been the most volatile issue between the US and China. Washington and Beijing have avoided serious conflict by leaving unsettled the question of who actually owns the island. But it’s becoming harder to avoid as China’s military ratchets up exercises near what President Xi Jinping views as his country’s lost territory. Standing in the way are the US Pacific Fleet and Taiwanese voters, who have emphatically rejected closer ties with Beijing in three straight elections. US President-elect Donald Trump is poised to increase tensions with the appointment of two men with strong anti-China views to key posts in his administration.

Empires have jockeyed over Taiwan for centuries, with occupations by the Spanish, Dutch and China’s Qing dynasty. After the Qing’s surrender of Taiwan to the Japanese following a humiliating military defeat in 1895, later generations of Chinese, including Xi’s, adopted “reunification” as a rallying cry.