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Friday, February 14, 2014

An Offer They Can't Refuse

Don't relax because China and Taiwan are holding higher-level talks. This is dangerous for Taiwan.

China and Taiwan are talking in China:

Representatives of China and Taiwan met Tuesday in Nanjing for their highest-level talks since their split in 1949, a landmark step despite Beijing's refusal to recognize the self-governing island's sovereignty.

But don't breathe a sigh of relief just because China is pursuing trade relations:

Previous threats to attack the island if it declares formal independence or delays unification indefinitely have only antagonized Taiwanese people.

The Taiwanese may like the status quo and have a consensus against declaring independence which would surely prompt a Chinese invasion attempt.

But don't forget the second part of that attack trigger--delaying unification indefinitely.

China's military focus is on Taiwan. And China will invade if they feel Taiwan is stalling unification on China's terms.

At what point does China feel they've made a supreme effort to get Taiwan to make progress on unification and must conclude that they've failed, and must use other means to bring Taiwan inside China for good?