For Americans, Taiwan’s defense equation is important. The U.S. does not have an “iron-clad” commitment to defend Taiwan. As President Jimmy Carter once observed, however, the Taiwan Relations Act provides a U.S. president with an option to go to war to protect the island. Indeed, America is Taiwan’s only potential security partner in a conflict with the Chinese mainland.

The PRC’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) recently announced the so-called “31 Measures” relating to working relations with Taiwanese entities. But how genuine are these offers, and will winning wallets lead to winning hearts and minds, to paraphrase Lyndon Johnson?

Recent actions that Congress and President Trump have taken threaten to shatter a crucial, delicate balance in U.S. policy towards Taiwan. Their conduct provokes China and is heightening already worrisome tensions between Washington and Beijing. U.S. officials need to reassess their course of action before it triggers a major crisis in East Asia.

China said on Monday that it would never tolerate any separatist schemes for self-ruled Taiwan and would safeguard China’s territorial integrity with the aim of“reunification” with an island it considers its sacred territory.

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday passed a bill criticized by China promoting closer U.S. ties with Taiwan, and the legislation only needs President Donald Trump’s signature to become law.

On Jan. 9, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Taiwan Travel Act (H.R. 535) by voice vote. This bill ought to die in the Senate: it is frivolous, unnecessary, and provocative. Here’s why.

Early this week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed two bills related to Taiwan, drawing a strong denouncement from Beijing.

The Taiwan Travel Act will harm both China’s relations with the US and with Taiwan. It may also forfeit the possibility of peaceful reunification.

Here’s what China and the US should do to move their relationship forward.

The United States has revamped its maritime response to Chinese policy in the South China Sea, conducting its first Freedom of Navigation Operation (FONOP) since President Trump took office. While China cannot allow this action to go unchecked, it should consider its larger global and regional power objectives before determining its response.