Despite rising tension across the Taiwan Strait, Tsai has not rushed to seek independence, while the mainland has maintained its patient policy. Thus no crisis has yet emerged — still, Taiwan, mainland China, and the US should all strive to relax tension and resume peaceful cross-strait development to avoid a new cold war.

On January 2nd this year, after President Xi Jinping delivered a speech at a gathering to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the “Message to Compatriots in Taiwan” that called for Chinese unification, the two sides of the Taiwan Strait set off to explore the two-system solution to the Taiwan question.

The new US leader has become more pragmatic about Beijing and established a good rapport with President Xi Jinping, but his approach to Taiwan, the One China policy and North Korea have failed to reassure many Chinese observers.

Cross-Strait relations in 2017 are only a part of the changing Sino-US relationship and reorganization of the global order. It is in the interests of both the US and China, as well as the interests of Taiwan, to maintain the status quo, which must be recognized anew by Taipei and Washington.

A peace pact will yield numerous dividends for both sides and promote peace and stability in the Western Pacific, which is why politicians in Beijing and Taipei ought to listen to the people.

Policies outlive presidents’ terms because they are in America’s own interests. Trump’s personal style has proved to work well in appealing to voters he needed to get him elected this year. But it will not work that well in appealing to the world when he is in the White House. We must hope that he works to grasp the subtleties of international relations more quickly than his spontaneous style suggests is likely.

Taiwan long has been one of the globe’s most dangerous tripwires. Would the U.S. really risk Los Angeles for Taipei, as one Chinese general famously asked? Washington officials hope never to have to answer that question, but the recent Taiwanese missile misfire offers a dramatic reminder of the danger of guaranteeing other nations’ security.

U.S. leaders have become complacent about Taiwan. Americans need to ask themselves what level of risk they are willing to take to defend Taiwan. The U.S. is obligated to assist the island under the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, and as China grows stronger militarily, Taiwan deserves more attention than it is receiving in the U.S.

China will not allow Taiwan, which has historically been part of China, to break away. This is a permanent red line for China. Some far-sighted people in the US have called for adjusting the US’ Taiwan policy, abolish the Taiwan Relations Act and the “six assurances” to herald a fully normal and healthy bilateral relationship with China, and this should happen sooner rather than later.

The more the U.S. emphasizes “rebalance”, the more we see that the most awkward balance is between White House and Congress, between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, and between U.S. allies and China. A US House resolution that offers tacit support to Taiwan independence was a strategic error that should be corrected for the sake of all sides.