Stalemate over Taiwan is the best we can hope for

The United States of China, anyone? The idea that a federal China might be able to accommodate within it a relatively autonomous Taiwan is one of the more radical solutions mooted to the thorny problem of Taiwan’s status. The difficulty, of course, is that neither the Chinese Communist party nor Taiwan’s leaders would find such an outcome remotely acceptable. The CCP will not countenance a loosening of its control over mainland China; the Taiwanese, for their part, see in Hong Kong’s recent sad trajectory a vision of their own future should their politicians ever accept an offer of special status within China. 

At the other end of the spectrum lies the possibility that a sacrifice may one day be made of Taiwan by its erstwhile friends around the globe – offered up to China in exchange for a bit of peace and quiet alongside a stable global economy. To many, this smacks of appeasement.