Taiwan this year than in previous years, including the groundwork for a missile defense system.By issuing the white paper at such a critical moment in negotiations with the U.S., China has destroyed any chance of free trade with the U.S. or membership in the WTO as far as Congress is concerned. In addition, China deliberately withheld their intentions for a policy shift in Taiwan from a U.S. delegation to China just two weeks ago; the delegation learned of the shift only after they had returned to the U.S. These actions of the Chinese government weren’t received well by the U.S. government to say the least. To further add to the tension, China also is trying to play with domestic politics in both countries by releasing their statement a month from the election in Taiwan and in the middle of the presidential primaries in the U.S. They are trying to muscle candidates in both countries to submit to their agenda, a unified China in Taiwan’s case, and free trade and WTO membership in the case of the U.S., with the threat of force.The question that needs to be answered is what does China think it will gain from provoking the U.S. and Taiwan in this manner? China thinks that it will gain everything that it wants by threatening Taiwan, but the cost will be enormous. It seems clear that China wants reunification at any cost and it is boldly daring the U.S. to get involved. In essence, they are rattling their sabers to test the U.S. reaction. They are trying to bluff us into backing down on the Taiwan issue and we are not going to do it. The Taiwan Security Enhancement Act will be our saber rattler and it will go back and forth until someone shoots. They are trying to intimidate us to get their way in Taiwan, and it’s going to bite them hard in the end.The white paper that was released last Tuesday outlined the history of the Taiwan/China situation in traditional one-sided communist fashion. It also outlined its poli...
