World War V?

World War V?\nHuh?\nDid you miss World War III? And for that matter, World War IV? Well, in the views of some historians, World War III was the Cold War, and World War IV is the current War on Terrorism, so named because of each conflict's global nature. There are even those who posit a fifth World War on the horizon, between China and the United States.\nIn light of this viewpoint, consider the odd reaction to a declaration by Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian to dissolve the National Unification Council, a largely defunct organization that supposedly works to re-unify China and Taiwan.\nAt this point, it's probably good to have a brief history lesson. In 1949, when the Communists won the Chinese Civil War, the Nationalist government escaped to the island of Taiwan. The United States continued to recognize the Nationalists as the real China until President Jimmy Carter cut ties with it in 1979. Here's where it starts getting weird. See, the United States simultaneously supports a policy of recognizing one China, the People's Republic of China, yet continues selling arms to Taiwan with assurances of protection in case of attack from the mainland.\nSo where does World War V come in? Well, as Taiwan moves closer to independence under the rule of President Chen (no relation), the Chinese posturing to reclaim Taiwan grows stronger. Chen, in an effort to boost his popularity amid increasing problems for his administration, continues his contentious moves toward independence, breaking his campaign pledge to continue the NUC. Meanwhile, China continues its hard-line policy concerning Taiwan as a breakaway province that needs to be recovered.\nIn an attempt to pander to businessmen who demand access to China's markets and still placate establishment conservatives who see China as a communist threat, the United States has successfully held fast to a nonexistent China policy for the last 30 years. The "One-China" policy, though it might have been a political necessity in 1979, is today an anachronism, especially in light of the autonomy that Taiwan holds. \nBy supporting an inherently unstable policy, we have created a dangerous situation time and again. We have committed ourselves to both sides of this conflict, and our diplomatic theatrics have built a time bomb in the Taiwan Strait. Our China policy seems to involve lots of crossing our fingers and hoping for the best, as evidenced by our haphazard response to the NUC announcement. We once again admonished "any unilateral changes to the status quo."\nProblem is, the status quo, as it stands, is untenable for the long term.\nNow, the perpetuation of the "status quo" has pushed the United States into a foreign policy corner. The hawks already want war, and with military experts feeding the flames with grand strategy, we might very well find ourselves in a war with China before 2020, while more than a billion people stand in the crosshairs of any possible conflict.\nThe NUC response is one of little consequence, but when Taiwan takes significant steps toward independence, what will the United States do? Do we really want world war? \nWe absolutely must rethink our China policy before the hypothetical becomes a reality.