re: #292 Barefoot Grin

Tough choices, because Japan and South Korea still want US security, and ASEAN nations are also between a rock and a hard place—the majority have China as their major trading partner, but still rely on the US as the offset. An invasion of Taiwan will have unanticipated effects across the region and will draw the US in whether it wants to or not.

Taiwan is one thing, because it has established itself as a democratic nation. But cities on the Chinese mainland, incapable of defending themselves, aren’t a hill anyone is going to be willing to die on.