There are many ways a war over Taiwan could begin, but some defense planners think a ramped-up dispute over isolated Pratas Island is the most likely. One recent war game organized by American defense experts envisioned Chinese troops landing on the island and seizing the small Taiwanese garrison there without firing a shot. Taiwan and the U.S. would face the difficult choice of starting a war over an irrelevant atoll or establishing a precedent that China can slice off chunks of Taiwanese territory like pieces of soft salami.
