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As North Korea is China's attack dog, make Taiwan ours. Give them, under our supervision, nuclear warheads and announce that Taiwan has the bomb and if China attacks Taiwan will retaliate. Then what do they do?

They have nukes now, I imagine.

We should give tactical nukes to Japan, and continue to support their rearmament.

Such an approach would be disastrous diplomatically. The US would lose all credibility in any nuclear nonproliferation talks. Further, support for such a move would be virtually nonexistent among the American public, almost certainly ensuring a Democratic presidency next time around--which, by the way, the Chinese no doubt very badly want. And while China probably views North Korean bomb-building and saber-rattling as occasionally useful, it is unlikely that communist Korea views itself as anyone's catspaw. I don't think your 'attack dog' analogy holds up.

The object of the game is to win, but winning must be defined. Winning, in my view, entails a Taiwan that continues to enjoy its independence without fighting a war conceivably more bloody and devastating than the last global conflict we had. If we maintain vigilance and convince the Chinese communists that armed conflict with the US and its allies would be a no-win scenario from one day to the next, and if the Chinese--over time--evolve into a state that seeks advantage in trade rather than conquest, then we stand a chance at winning.

But to answer your question. I think that if we give Taiwan the bomb, 'supervised' or otherwise, the Chinese communists will view it as a provocation that must be answered. Caving on such an issue would be an unacceptable loss of face. We would have war. Lastly--and most importantly--if such a war comes, we must be able to say to the dead that we did all we could to prevent it.