How to avoid war over Taiwan
A superpower conflict would shake the world

EUROPE is witnessing its bloodiest cross-border war since 1945, but Asia risks something even worse: conflict between America and China over Taiwan. Tensions are high, as American forces pivot to a new doctrine known as “distributed lethality” designed to blunt Chinese missile attacks. Last week dozens of Chinese jets breached Taiwan’s “air defence identification zone”. This week China’s foreign minister condemned what he called America’s strategy of “all-round containment and suppression, a zero-sum game of life and death”.
Explore more
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “How to avoid a third world war”

From the March 11th 2023 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the edition
A fantastic start for Friedrich Merz
The incoming chancellor signals massive increases in defence and infrastructure spending

The lesson from Trump’s Ukrainian weapons freeze
And the grim choice facing Volodymyr Zelensky
Western leaders must seize the moment to make Europe safe
As they meet in London, Vladimir Putin will sense weakness
Prabowo Subianto takes a chainsaw to Indonesia’s budget
The result? More money for the president’s boondoggles
Inheriting is becoming nearly as important as working
More wealth means more money for baby-boomers to pass on. That is dangerous for capitalism and society
Donald Trump has begun a mafia-like struggle for global power
But the new rules do not suit America