2025-05-05
9 分钟The Economist. Hi, John Pridot here.
I host Checks and Balance, our podcast on US politics.
Welcome to Editors Picks.
Here's an article from the latest edition of The Economist handpicked by our team and read aloud.
I hope you enjoy it.
Relations between America and China are at a low ebb.
Tariffs of well over 100% on both sides have severed trade.
Each is striving to dominate 21st century technologies such as artificial intelligence or AI.
A massive military buildup is underway.
In the previous Cold War,
such rivalries came to a head over flashpoints like the Berlin airlift and the Cuban missile crisis.
Today, American resolve is likely to be tested over Taiwan, and sooner than many think.
China claims Taiwan as its own and says that it is prepared to invade,
especially if Taiwan declares its independence.
But Taiwan wants to continue as a self-governing democracy.
America reconciles this contradiction with precarious ambiguity.
It works to prevent Taiwan from formally breaking away,
even as it opposes the use of force to resolve the dispute and sells Taiwan weapons without guaranteeing its security.
In recent years, this standoff has become ever-tenser.
The past three presidential elections in Taiwan have been won by the Democratic Progressive Party,