The way previous administrations threw Taiwan under the proverbial bus (and kept them there) is shameful.
The surprise will be if the Taiwanese still want anything to do with us after our years of duplicitity.
Not quite the way it happened. The communists won the Chinese civil war in the 1940’s and set up the People’s Republic of China on the Asian mainland. The U.S.-backed anti-communist forces and people retreated to Taiwan and declared the Republic of China on the island of Formosa (Taiwan). America rejected the P.R.C. and recognized R.O.C. (Taiwan) after the former’s victory in the Chinese civil war and signed a defense treaty with it. For years, America tried to pretend the 750,000,000 strong mainland wasn’t real. The P.R.C. immediately began trying to conquer the far smaller R.O.C. by attacking it. During the First Taiwan Strait Crisis, Eisenhower’s administration threatened the P.R.C. with nuclear attack if it didn’t cease. The P.R.C. attacked R.O.C. again during the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis. Eisenhower sent the new Sidwinder missile to R.O.C. and the P.R.C.’s Soviet-made MiG’s were swept from the skies, allowing the R.O.C. to achieve air superiority, thus ensuring their survival. The P.R.C. again tried to threaten the R.O.C. in 1996 with a big show of force and mobilizing forces. Bill Clinton ordered the U.S. Navy to send an aircraft carrier battle group through the Taiwan Strait and one other to remain offshore Taiwan. The P.R.C. backed down again admitting it could not stop the U.S. from coming to Taiwan’s defense.
The U.S. has put itself at considerable risk by continuing to support Taiwan’s fragile democracy and selling it vast quantities of weaponry. We are essentially ensuring Taiwan’s survival. We’ve hardly thrown Taiwan under the bus.
Nixon recognized the P.R.C. because you cannot ignore a huge nation like that. They knew that vast China would not remain weak. After China tested a nuclear bomb, it became clear the U.S. position of pretending it did not exist became untenable.