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Will the US and China go to war over Taiwan?
JENNY CLEGG explains the history of the island that has seen it separated from China, but drawing closer until the mid-90s – and which is now being used as a pawn in the US cold war. Before disaster, both sides must draw back
A photo released by US Navy shows US Navy aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and other US and Allied vessels transit the Bay of Bengal

SPECULATION about a full-scale US-China war over Taiwan reached new heights in early October. Western media headlines were full of the threat from China’s 150 fighter jets supposedly “invading” Taiwan’s airspace — but there was scarcely any mention of the 200 fighter jets mustered nearby on the decks of US aircraft carriers.

These were part of one of the largest naval exercises in the western Pacific in decades, with US forces joined by carrier strike groups from five other nations including Japan and Britain, with warships from the Netherlands, Canada and New Zealand.

China, we are constantly told, considers Taiwan a “renegade province” and is prepared to take it back by force. But history tells another story.

A map showing China and the island of Taiwan (Shoshui / Creative Commons)
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