Many people in this world will take the opposite side of this debate. They will try to convince you that an island 30 miles off the shore of the world’s largest country, an island the size of Rhode Island, a island that doesn’t even have a military is independent of the world’s second most powerful country. I beg to differ.

There are multiple reasons why this country with a population less than the state of New York could easily be invaded by China as the rest of the world attacks. The opposition’s main remark will be that if the mainland attacked Taiwan, the United States will defend Taiwan. We will most definitely not do so because if we defended Taiwan, we would risk a large-scale war with our largest trading partner. If China embargoed trade with us, our economy will fall apart because of the fact that much of our consumer market is based in China. We would lose a large stake in their market and they we would lose a huge buyer of American goods. 

Also, the People’s Republic of China and Iran are powerful allies. If we declared war on China or vice versa, Iran would stop selling oil to us. We would be forced to sign treaties with other Middle Eastern countries to gain precious oil. 

Furthermore, China and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan are like childhood friends. Pakistan, along with Iran and China, is known to be harboring weapons of mass destruction. These three countries together are a formidable foe. The North Koreans, suspected to own nuclear weapons, chemical weapons and biological weapons would declare war on us and invade South Korea. 

All together, if we, the world’s strongest country decided to defend the island of Taiwan, we would risk a World War III against China, Iran, Pakistan and North Korea. Taiwan is a part of China. QED.