Submitted by: Morgan O’Hara

Many of you probably know that the U.S. has vowed to protect Taiwan against Chinese aggression - and that China has vowed to re-establish Chinese rule on the island. Fortunately, China has pursued a ’soft’ approach, coaxing Taiwan towards the motherland with practical measures (and even pandas). A full scale conflict over Taiwan’s independence seems less and less likely. But I noticed this article tucked away in the back pages of the NY Times. Why do you think we are selling arms to Taiwan? Is it for the money, or are we trying to make a point? And more importantly, how will China react?

In “The Post-American World”, Fareed Zakaria talks of China’s ‘peaceful development’. They move cautiously on the world stage, trying to avoid conflict. While we might not stoke China’s nationalist fires, I think it’s likely that we do stir up some serious resentment. What comes to my mind is the ‘forgive but never forget’ adage. Should we be pursuing a more amenable approach towards China, and will any of this come back to haunt us?

Also, Zakaria states that “China needs the American market to sell its goods; the United States needs China to finance its debt.” And in financing our debt, China is losing a lot of money. Simply put, China’s been doing a poor job investing - they’ve given away hundreds of billions of dollars. Does something have to give? And if so, what? Will this financial crisis pull us closer together, or push us further apart?