Does the United States need to defend Taiwan?
535789
We have agreements with Taiwan that states that if China launches an unprovoked attack against the island that US will defend Taiwan. However if Taiwan wanted to invade China the United States would not support her in an unprovoked war of aggression. Our honor as a nation says that we should honor our agreements if we do not our allies will question our support of them. Even though it may seem like we do not have many allies now. We do, and we can not afford to have our allies questioning our sincerity to help them out when they need it. \n\nShould we stay in this alliance? That is the better question. The ultimate answer is yes. Taiwan needs our protection because we provide a natural deterrent to China invading the Taiwan. This deterrent provides for security and prosperity for both China and Taiwan. It also provides for greater regional security. A war with China and the United States most likely would include North Korea who would try to invade the south and possibly Japan. The conflict between China and Taiwan is in actuality a civil war, one that has been going on since before the Second World War between the Communist and the Democratic Nationalist. We should support legal democracies around the world such as Taiwan. As Winston Churchill once said "Democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others that have already been tried."  \n\nOur honor, regional security, national security and our democratic values dictate that we stand up to China.
244444
The US had been putting political and economic pressure on Japan to end their occupation of Mongolia and parts of China, and withdrawing their troops.  The Japanese weren't going to do this, and were actually planning on expanding the scope of their war in China.  However, they needed more resources to do so, and the nation of Japan is almost totally dependent on importing natural resources such as rubber, iron, oil, etc.  They were considering invading the British and Dutch possessions in the East Indies in order to obtain the resources they needed, and it became imperative for them to do so once the US cut off exports of the resources they needed.\n\nSo, faced with needing more resources to simply run the country at a normal level, much less support the ongoing war in China, they decided to take the East Indies possessions they needed.  However, they realized that this would start a war with the Dutch and English (who were already involved with fighting Germany and didn't pose much threat), yet even more importantly would probably see the US enter into war against them.  Therefor, they decided to launch a preemptive attack against the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor to prevent it from interferring with their operations.  They hoped to do enough damage to prevent the USN from interferring at least until they captured the possessions they needed, and also hoped that the American people would be appalled by the large loss of life and wouldn't have the stomach to start a war with Japan, and would then simply accept the status qou at that time.  However, as we all know, it didn't work out that way.\n\nIgnore all the answers involving conspiracy theories that we let Japan attack Pearl Harbor just so we could enter the war.  They're so ludicrous they're not even worth thinking about.
706101
oh yes even taiwan have u.s help China will still win and u.s will lost more troop in iraq which mean more that 3000 will be kill. becuase China have the world larger amry.
46305
historical and geopolitical reasons.  \n\nfirst, during world war 2, the united states found itself allied with the chinese nationalist movement (kuomintang) headed by chiang kai-shek, because they had a common enemy in japan.  american airplanes bombed japanese targets in manchuria in support of kuomintang offensives and the kuomintang provided logistical support to american troops in the region.\n\nafter the war the united states continued to support the kuomintang government during the communist revolution.  mao's communists defeated the kuomintang who retreated to taiwan, where they have remained a powerful political party to this day.  this continued alliance was natural for the US, which believed itself to be engaged in a "global struggle against communism" from the fifties up through '89.\n\nwith wars in korea and vietnam, having an ally in asia was important to maintaining the global reach of the american military.  taiwan is highly dependent on american protection; without american warships lurking in the china sea and US-supplied weapons, they probably would have been overrun long ago.  this has paid off nicely for taiwan, which has reaped considerable economic benefits from the close relationship with the US.\n\nthese days the protection given to taiwan can be seen as one of loyalty, but a more practical reason is that the US government needs allies around the world to conduct its military operations, particularly in areas like the middle east and SE asia.  also, there is a genuine belief in the US that open, democratic societies should be protected and nurtured; so the threat of military reprisal is used in places like israel, taiwan and south korea that would probably otherwise be taken under by hostile neighbors.
654569
First, this is not necessarily misguided, just not really feasible. Just as we were all up in arms on 9/12 because we were unprepared for such a disaster as planes flying into the Twin Towers, when an ICBM detonates over Sioux City we are going to be very angry again.\n\nWhile I do not disagree that we need missile defense as part of a comprehensive defense of the USA, until the technology is actually ready the idea of forcing money into it will not work. Because of the immense consequences and the relatively short time periods, this system cannot rely on human control as our current technology would require; this is not Atari's Asteroids game. We must have a system that can be able to monitor and control itself, and since we cannot master that sort of technology even for the telephone system yet, how are we supposed to trust a system with ion beams and nuclear weapons to not suddenly decide to 'kill all humans!' because it sees a flock of geese?\n\nIt is not a bad idea, just an idea that we cannot effectively put into place yet. If we were to put the technology into action that we posess now (as the President has suggested), it would not effectively protect the USA but will instead convince our leaders that we are indeed protected and that we can begin to threaten potential enemies with nuclear brinksmanship without any adverse consequences. If you think we are hated now, just wait!
422352
You are right. USA must be careful.
405369
Taiwan is certainly technology capable of creating nuclear weapons, but which types?  The designs for an atom bomb are published so Taiwan could feasibly use plutonium from its research reactors to create a simple bomb.  More complex missile warheads would take an extensive amount of time because it is hard to miniaturize a warhead to fit on a missile.  Since Taiwan is only about 90km from the mainland it would'nt need a ballisitic missile, could even use a cruise missile, but the smaller the missile the harder it is to miniaturize the warhead.  My answer, if Israel could do it so could Taiwan.
420437
I agree with you, it is hard to imagine Americans needing more evidence than that to retaliate. I think not only should we retaliate, we should do it harder. American soldiers know what they are doing when they enlist, they are putting their lives on the line to keep things like 9/11 from happening.Remember Pearl Harbor? Japan will think twice next time. We should never allow anyone to attack our civilians. A show of force may deter the next guy on the list from doing the same.
813130
He"s from the US but lives in taiwan.
1170315
Sure, anytime we become complacent, assume the rest of the world thinks like us (your typical liberal) and spend less on the defense of our country we set ourselves up for another suprise attack.\n\nThere are probably hundreds of potential places right now, but none SO vulnerable that we'll lose the majority of our naval fleet like in 1941. Even then we DIDN'T lose any carriers and were able to engage the enemy within a year. \n\nThe Japaneses screwed up and decided NOT to send a THIRD wave of bombers/fighters and didn't completely cripple our naval capacity, especially our carriers. \n\nAir power is so much more advanced now that even though we could be suprised we would still have the capability to respond quickly and decisively to any attack on our navy. \n\nThat's why our enemies should remember Adm. Yamamoto famous quote after the attack, " I fear all we have done is wake a sleeping giant and given him great resolve."
439550
abdulqadeer48 - pull your head out of ... the sand.\n\nOf course China has nukes pointed at US soil. Any country with that many nukes (the US included) has nuclear weapons ready to launch in an instant in case of attack. Whether they will actually push the button or not is the only question. As one answerer earlier stated, they are not ready ... yet.\n\nOf course the US will continue to support Israel. It is the oldest democracy in the Middle East with a culture very similar to the US. In fact, many US citizens choose to make Israel their home.\n\nSo, Yes and Yes.
222254
Mr. Acer, \nAs a resident in Mainland, I'd like to clarify for some "popular" views hereof.\n1. Almost all Mainland Chinese care about Taiwan problem.\n  Because it will be a great humiliation to China if Taiwan declare its indenpendence. you will have to confess, most "Taiwanese" came from Mainland China hundreds of  years or decades years ago. whether the Ming dynasty, the Qing dyansty, or the ROC who ruled Taiwan, they are all of "China". Taiwan is apart of China.\n2. As a critic military strongpoint if Taiwan splits it will be a great convenience for other foreign force to deploy missles, bombers and troops for attacking the mainland,as calld "a never sinked aircraft-carrier". That's why the USA is so pleased to back up Taiwan. And they are so skillful at alienating a country and back up an opposite side to achieve their goal- weaken and control a country, and get benefit from it.\n3. Do not label the PRC with "communist country" and think it wholely a evil. It's a cold-war ideology.\nAs you know that in the past China suffered poverty from the political movements and Taiwan benefited from the enormous American economy. But now with the opening-up started by Deng Xiaoping the PRC are advocating for great economy growth.(Ironically nowadays the Taiwan is hot for political campaigns:( ). A Taiwan manager told me that the current mainland economy is soaring just as Taiwan did in 70s. Many defects may you find, but dont lose confidence.\n3. Taiwan is now a mature, democratic country, so dont want to under control of a arbitrary gov. Please note that PRC never wants to destroy the current prosperty of Taiwan. On the contrary, Beijing is doing a lot to maitain the economical growth of Taiwan. It's the politicians who are scaring the mass as describing the "Communist China" as a devil who wants to ruine Taiwan as a "election words".\nWhat the PRC want is that Taiwan dont not declare its independence and not act as a jackal for other foreign countries. You Taiwanese can gov yourself in the name of China.
55216
Not in my lifetime.  As long as the USN controls the seas, it won't happen.  Remember, the German army couldn't even get across the English Channel in WWII, and the Chinese Army certainly isn't going to cross the Pacific anytime soon.  Heck, their navy currently isn't capable of extended blue-water operations, much less supporting an amphibious assault all the way across the Pacific.
1082949
The US military is already overstretched. If we should see a conflict on the Korean Peninsula or if a conflict should break out between Taiwan and China… or if forced to fight Iran, the US does not have the ready forces to meet the need without leaving the homeland defenseless.\n\nWe need the draft.
18206
To the Taiwanese, a country.  To mainland China, part of China.\n\nDon't think the U.S. will let China try and take it back, however.
1134141
I feel they have every right to self defense just as any other country in the world.  Remember, the US isn't one to police the world in terms of nukes.  The US is the only country that has ever used it as a weapon in war time. No other country has.  The US is just another landmass on the map.  If one country can have mass killing weapons, then everyone else has the right to defend themselves as well.
115391
One way to structure an answer is to look at the resources the United States had and now has to deter Communism abroad. During the Cold War vitually our entire military capability was focused on deterring the Communist threat to the U.S.  Today in spite of 1.5 Communist nuclear equipped countries (China 1.0, N. Korea .5), virtually none of our defense budget is directed against this "threat".  Economic globilization has (since the wall came down in Germany) and will continue to "protect our six" from Communism