The West must be prepared for another crisis in the Pacific

It was no great surprise to hear Chinese President Xi Jinping talk once again about reunification with Taiwan in his New Year’s Eve address, but is he any closer to doing something about it? This annual exercise in sabre-rattling has become almost ritualistic. The difficulty that Western policy-makers face is to assess whether it is moving beyond that. Matters are complicated by this month’s general election in Taiwan with the ruling Democratic Progressive Party expected to retain power. It is h