Link to Article: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/12/13/a-full-chinese-invasion-of-taiwan-will-be-hard-says-ministry
This article is about the possibility of China invading Taiwan and the unlikeliness of that happening. The main points in the article that support the idea that China invading Taiwan is very unlikely are the following: Taiwan’s advantage over control of the Taiwan strait, the lack of locations for China to land troops in Taiwan, China supplying troops, and finally Taiwan’s location allows for close by allies (like the US& Japan) to be too big of a threat for China’s attention to be solely dedicated to the possible seize of Taiwan.
I think this article is important because it highlights the benefits Taiwan has geographically and Domestically over China. Despite China’s large land size and enormous population, Taiwan has one thing China does not: a partnership with the United States. By being allies with the US, Taiwan can count on the fact that China would not want to invade a country backed by such a powerful state as the US. The economic contribution and facing the US is too big of a risk for a possible invasion. Taiwan’s geography is also very beneficial in protecting itself from Chinese troops landing in Taiwan as China would not be able to land all of its forces in one go, instead having to use a roll-on-roll-off of ships which depends on the use of ports.
This article relates to the topic of alliances discussed in class. By Taiwan having key alliances surrounding them like Japan and far away like the US and Canada, they are able to ensure safety from threats (mainly China) in a cheaper, quicker way that is overall effective. However this makes me question the US’ reason to choose to be allied with Taiwan since the US is generally only allied with most states for convenience. Since Taiwan isn’t necessarily powerful (generally a commensalistic relationship)… then what are they doing that makes the United states want to help them?