Ukraine war could boost tensions between U.S., China over Taiwan

Blinken made a major statement on U.S. foreign policy on Thursday at George Washington University. It received a great deal of attention, internationally — not least because reporters and foreign policy analysts wanted to know whether Blinken would clarify remarks made earlier in the week by President Joe Biden to the effect that the United States would take military action to defend Taiwan if China launched an invasion. MSN

Biden shouldn’t confuse Taiwan with Ukraine

Taiwan is not Ukraine. China, in that part of the world especially, is not Russia. Still, in his off-the-cuff remarks that the United States will come directly to Taiwan’s rescue if Beijing chooses to take the self-governing island by force, President Joe Biden has reawakened China’s worst nightmare. What that looks like is simple: There will be no easy or peaceful accession of Taiwan to the mainland anytime soon, if ever. CNN

What Is China Learning From Russia’s War in Ukraine?

Beyond Europe, the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is being felt most keenly 5,000 miles away, on the island of Taiwan. Many Taiwanese worry that they might be the next to suffer an invasion by a more powerful neighbor. Those fears are not unreasonable. While Ukraine and Taiwan differ in many ways, as relatively young democracies living alongside larger authoritarian neighbors with long-standing designs on their territory, the two face strikingly similar strategic predicaments. ForeignAffairs.com

China Is Not Russia. Taiwan Is Not Ukraine.

One popular contemporary analogy is between Russia’s actions vis-à-vis Ukraine and China’s approach to Taiwan. Beyond some broad-brush parallels — the most obvious parallel being that both Ukraine and Taiwan are peace-loving democracies that are the objects of belligerent irredentism on the part of more militarily powerful and threatening neighboring autocracies — there are also significant differences. Xi Jinping’s China is not Vladimir Putin’s Russia, and Taiwan is not Ukraine. U.S. Institute Of Peace