Trump Signals Weakness to Xi Jinping
Briefly

He signaled that he might not defend Taiwan from a Chinese invasion. 'Taiwan should pay us for defense,' he told Bloomberg Businessweek... imply that protecting the island was not even possible. 'Taiwan is 9,500 miles away,' he said. 'It's 68 miles away from China.'
The Chinese dictator Xi Jinping is listening for clues about American intentions in Asia, and factoring them into his calculations for promoting Chinese influence. Trump's Taiwan remarks play right into his hands by undermining the most fundamental... confidence in American leadership.
At the moment, conflict over Taiwan hardly seems imminent. The CIA believes that Xi has told his military brass to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027... If the campaign faltered, or sparked a costly... war, the price could be Xi's political career and perhaps even the future of Communist rule over China.
Read at The Atlantic
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