China’s navy is getting ready to fight.
Photographer: Feng Li/Getty Images AsiaPac, Columnist
Taiwan Has Reached Its Tipping Point
With China squeezing harder and the US getting less reliable, the next few months will dictate the island's long-term future.
For years, I thought that China’s strategy for taking Taiwan was failing. I’m not so sure anymore.
China has long used coercion short of war in a bid to make Taiwan fold without a fight, while also readying a military hammer to crush that island democracy if required. Until fairly recently, that strategy was mostly backfiring, by strengthening Taiwan’s will to resist forced unification, while also strengthening its ties to the US. But today, cracks in Taiwan’s morale—and in its relationship with Washington—are starting to show.