At many levels this scenario feeds into the current Chinese threat to Taiwan which is not military but economic and ranged on two fronts. First, some 40 percent of Taiwan’s trade relies on mainland trade. Second, it has had difficulty in becoming more self-sufficient because China blocks its attempts to win independent trade deals by threatening reprisals against governments that offer one. In 2013, after a painstaking wait, China allowed Taiwan a free trade agreement with Singapore and New Zealand. But it blocked similar ones with Malaysia and Chile. If Chile had signed with Taiwan, for
...more
