The Chinese, he told Liu, who had a good grasp of English, faced “grave consequences” should one of their missiles strike Taiwan. “Grave consequences” is international code for war. China was shooting rockets at the island; one had passed directly over the capital, Taipei, and splashed down in the ocean nineteen miles away. For the first time since the Quemoy and Matsu crises of 1958, China and the United States risked bloodshed.
