Taiwan is still technically part of China, yet the Taiwanese have been wanting to become independent for years. Taiwan has a separate government and runs itself, for the most part, separately from China. Being plenty capable of being their own independent state, Taiwan has slowly made progress in search for their independence.
Taiwan has a separate military than China which has been training, up until this year, for a Chinese land assault in any case that the large country could attempt to regain control over the island. Recently, the president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, has been leaning towards independence which is causing tension to rise between Xi Jinping (China’s president) and Tsai. This year, Taiwan has switched from training against a land invasion from China, to defending against an air and sea invasion. It seems as if Taiwan would stand no chance against the Chinese $173 Billion defense budget, as well as a three million strong military; however, Taiwan is very technologically advanced, as well as being supplied weapons from the United States.
Xi Jinping addressed Taiwan in a speech saying that Taiwan needs to realign with China, because China reserves the right to “interfere with external forces.” As any little brother would retaliate against an older sibling, Tsai Ing-wen boldly told Xi, “China must face the existence of Taiwan.” It’s hard to say how likely it is for actual fighting to happen between China and Taiwan, but if things escalate the way they are between the two, then the likelihood of conflict will increase as well. The United States will not necessarily have to pick a side until something physical happens between the two, but if the decision is forced to be made, the US has to recognize what will benefit them the most. By aligning with Taiwan, the US will remain loyal to their idea of holding China within its borders and not allowing them to reach out their influence beyond the East China Sea.