Marshall here, welcome back to the realignment.

If there was a big story, the realignment missed during the past month's break,

it was President Trump's trip to China for a summit with President Xi Jinping.

Heading into the summit, the big question was whether there would be any U.S.-China deal

on resolving Taiwan's unsettled relationship with the mainland.

So to discuss the Taiwan issue, my

guest today is Hoover Fellow at Stanford University, Ike Freiman, whose recently released book

is titled Defendant Taiwan, A Strategy to Prevent War with China. I actually recorded this

right before the summit, and it should be noted that nothing changed in terms of Taiwan's status quo during or

after the summit. So please excuse any future tense references to the upcoming summit.

Listening back to the episode, though, I think 99% of the episode stands as an evergreen

introduction to this crucial topic when it comes to determining Taiwan's overall fate, the domestic

politics of the island, the choices America faces, and the overall state of the U.S.-China-Taiwan

relationship. As like states, the next two years are going to be key when it comes to

maintaining the peaceful status quo in the region.

2027 is the year, of course, that she declared that the People's Liberation Army needs to be ready for an invasion itself. Everyone knows that we have a 2020 presidential election in the

U.S. without Trump on the bout. What you might not know is Taiwan will also hold consequential elections,

where two different parties with two different conceptions of the island's relationship to the mainland

will battle at the ballot box. If you're looking for a serious introduction to the topic

or want to delve into specific areas of the factors that would

determine peace or conflict, I highly recommend this conversation and the book Defending Taiwan.

Ike Freiman, welcome to The Realignment.

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