Taiwan

China is determined to incorporate Taiwan back into greater China, which would be a catastrophic loss of freedom for the Taiwanese and a moral blackeye for the U.S. if we do not act to defend Taiwan’s freedom. (Taiwan’s current government stems from those in China who opposed Communism and were forced to flee to Taiwan when the Communists took over.) Unfortunately, the relative distance to Taiwan from China and the U.S. makes it very difficult for the U.S. to marshal its forces there. I will try everything we can think of on the diplomatic side to keep Taiwan independent and will help to arm it, but sadly I do not think there will be enough Congressional support for us to actually go to war with China over Taiwan. The alternative would be to promise serious harm to China if China does take over Taiwan, and this could lead to all-out war (which is another reason to keep up our war materiel and readiness). We do not have the same empathic connection with Taiwan that we do with Israel, which leads us to be much more willing to risk a larger war to defend Israel than to defend Taiwan.