[jeremiah]

How about the fact that Gen McCarthur said that Taiwan is the linchpin of a defense of the Pacific rim??? The Chinese have footholds in our hemisphere, in the PI and Africa. When they move they will hold hegemony unlike any but the British did. We have been surpassed, it is just that we don't know it yet.

[Dat Mon]

You're right...I haven't mentioned the strategic naval / military perspective of holding Taiwan...particularly in how it allows China to project naval and military power throughout Asia.

Japan would not be happy.