CHINA AND TAIWAN: THE SIMMERING VOLCANO
Global Affairs Session 81 20 August 2026 CHINA AND TAIWAN: THE SIMMERING VOLCANO The unfinished legacy of the Chinese Civil War China–Taiwan tensions are rooted in the unresolved division created in 1949. Beijing seeks reunification and reserves the use of force, while Taiwan functions as a self-governing democracy. Military pressure, defence preparations, American support, semiconductor dependence and great-power rivalry keep the Taiwan Strait exposed to coercion, blockade pressure, miscalculation and sudden escalation.