China Forces US in Tough Spot

Taiwan has been a seperate pseudo-Chinese government since the Maoists took power. In the 1970's, the U.S. moved its official diplomatic position to that of the People's Republic of China, who views Taiwan as a rogue province. The U.S. has promised to defend Taiwan, and has been selling advanced weapon systems to the Taiwanese, while publically touting the "One China," policy, which seems to want to reunite mainland China and Taipei.

Now, through the mostly ceremonial National People's Congress, has announced that it authorizes the use of force to stop Taiwan from reaching independence. This comes after China's president, Hu Jintao, increased China's defense budget by 12.6%.

Because of the U.S.'s close, yet somewhat unofficial, relations with Taiwan, the US could be called upon to defend the democratic island from the Communist mainland. The US military is not ready to fight the largest standing army in the world. The U.S. would not like to see Taiwan fail, because it is democratic, the revenue from arms sales the U.S. receives, and cheap technology manufacturing that Taiwan exports to the U.S.

This will be especially tense since China is hostin the Olympics in 2008, and hopefully China does not become more aggressive to Taiwan. Either way, the U.S. needs to be ready.