Keep pulling the thread on Jim.
The United States fears that a Chinese takeover of Taiwan would increase China's ability to exert military and economic pressure on U.S. allies in the region, particularly Japan.
The conflict over Taiwan is difficult to resolve through a deal because any promise by the PRC to respect Taiwan's autonomy after unification is not credible, as demonstrated by the case of Hong Kong.
The military postures of both the United States and China in a potential Taiwan conflict create large first-strike advantages, increasing the risk of crisis escalation.
China's primary military challenge in a Taiwan scenario is to achieve its objectives quickly before the U.S. can fully mobilize and deploy forces to the region.
The current U.S. military strategy for a Taiwan conflict, as articulated by Admiral Paparo, is to 'blind' Chinese forces on the first day to enable the flow of U.S. forces into the region.
The Chinese Communist Party has developed a vast domestic surveillance state to counter opposition and is increasingly exporting this technology.
Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping genuinely believe that the United States was behind many of the 'color revolutions'.
The 2011 NATO intervention in Libya, which led to the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi, served as a key lesson for North Korea and Russia on the untrustworthiness of deals with Western powers.
China's leadership, including Xi Jinping, views a prosperous and democratic Taiwan as a threatening alternative model to its own system of governance.
China's strategic rationale for controlling Taiwan includes reducing the threat of its trade and sea lanes being interdicted by democratic states.
A durable majority of the Taiwanese population opposes incorporation into China.
The United States and China have no territorial disputes and do not share a common border.