Bloomberg:
Even as defense ministers and military chiefs meeting in Singapore called out China for parking missiles on outposts in the disputed South China Sea, a bigger potential China-related hot spot looms.
Concern about Taiwan — and recent sparring between Beijing and Washington over the democratically run island — percolated discussions at the annual IISS Shangri-La Dialogue, which was otherwise focused on action further south. U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis warned China against disrupting the “status quo” on Taiwan, as Beijing steps up air-and-sea maneuvers nearby and accelerates efforts to isolate Taipei.
Taiwan’s advocates in Washington have intensified calls for more U.S. support as President Donald Trump confronts China on a range of trade and security issues. The stakes in Taiwan are even higher than in the oft-discussed South China Sea, since China considers the island of 23 million people to be a renegade province.
