In the western movie Hombre, villain Richard Boone swaggers up a hill to order an outgunned Paul Newman to hand over the cash. Rifle in hand, Newman replies, “I have one question: How are you getting down that hill?” Newman then shoots him.
That’s called changing the frame of reference. Similarly, it’s time to change the frame of reference about Taiwan. Chairman Xi Jinping intends to control that island of 24 million people by 2027. The U.S. has said it may defend Taiwan, or it may not. For half a century, that “strategic ambiguity” has served America well. U.S. policy recognizes neither China’s sovereignty over Taiwan nor Taiwan as a sovereign country. China’s bellicosity has increased, however, while the U.S. response has been tractable. Obviously, Xi is pushing for the U.S. to treat Taiwan as a local conflict between two feuding Chinese neighbors and stay out of the fight.
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