Since at least the early 1950s, the entire Asia-Pacific region has struggled with the complicated and complex relationship between China and Taiwan - today the Taiwan question is considered a potential flashpoint for a much larger international conflict. Bringing together experts from the United States and Taiwan, Assessing the Threat provides a comprehensive look at the dangers of military escalation in the Taiwan Strait, the latest advances in capabilities of the People’s Liberation Army, and China’s security relationship with the United States and the Asia-Pacific.There is increasing concern that Beijing is steadily shifting the balance of power across the Taiwan Strait in its favor. Recent advances in Chinese air and naval power, along with changes in PLA doctrine, have the potential to weaken deterrence and destabilize the cross-strait military balance. At this critical juncture, there is not question that this issue requires sustained, detailed analysis and that many measures can and should be taken to reduce the threat of conflict between China, Taiwan, and the United States.
Assessing The Threat offers such analysis as well as concrete suggestions and crisis management practices for government and military leaders in Washington, D.C., Beijing, and Taipei. Contributors to this book include Kenneth W. Allen (CNA Corporation), Dean Cheng (CNA Corporation), Roger Cliff (RAND Corporation), Bernard D. Cole (National War College), Lonnie D. Henley (Office of the Director of National Intelligence), Roy D. Kamphausen (National Security Affairs), Justin Liang (National Bureau of Asian Research), Alex Liebman (Harvard University), Oriana Skylar Mastro (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace), Evan S. Medeiros (RAND Corporation), James Mulvenon (DGI’s Center for Intelligence Research and Analysis), Brad Roberts (Institute for Defense Analyses), Alan D. Romberg (Henry L. Stimson Center), Michael D. Swaine (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace), and Andrew N. D.Yang (Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies).