Dave Davies

Absolutely.

Let's talk about the Taiwan issue.

I mean the stakes for China here are – they're not just economic and military.

There's a deep emotional issue here, isn't there?

Right.

And China has had an enormous military buildup over the last few years.

And I've read that they've decided that 2027 will be the target year for them to be prepared to invade Taiwan if they want to.

Is this right?

There are fears that Trump, who certainly has not been a hawk on Taiwan's defense, that in this discussion with President Xi might cut back on the United States' commitments to Taiwan in return for trade and economic concessions.

The language of this is so fascinating.

There's this debate over whether you can support or oppose or be silent on the issue of Taiwan's independence when in fact the reality is it's been an independent island for decades, right?

There is one very specific issue related to Taiwan that's pending, and that is that, as I understand it, there's a $14 billion package of military assistance to Taiwan that was approved by Congress and has not really gotten the go-ahead from President Trump.

Might he either make a commitment or make a commitment to scaling it back?

I mean, how might that figure into these conversations?

We need to take another break here.

Let me reintroduce you.

We are speaking with Rush Doshi.

He worked on China policy at the National Security Council.

He's now a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

We'll be right back after this short break.