Understood, but as I said:
I don’t want my country gambling its a** on that issue, especially for the sake of people who seem to go with whatever side their bread seems to be buttered on at the moment.
A lot of you have been here longer than I have, and some have been here much longer. But I was here when the U. S. was offering to sell arms to Taiwan, and the KMT-dominated Legislative Yuan repeatedly blocked consideration of arms sales. I was here when one KMT legislator said that the U.S. should “shut up” about arms sales, and later when the chairman of AIT urged, pretty much pleaded with, the Legislative Yuan to approve the sales, and some KMT legislators wanted him to be declared persona non grata. And I was here when Lien Chan of that same KMT went to China, and still later when the voters of Taiwan gave that party a breathtaking amount of power over them.
Yet it’s said the people favor independence. Well, I guess I just ain’t nuanced enough, because it looks to me like they favor whatever they feel is going to benefit them and make them feel secure at the moment, which may very well have already set them on a course for unification.[/quote]
Sadly, over the years I have come to agree with this view, which you have now stated.
But I think US defense of Taiwan is also about South China Sea lanes, and showing commitment to Japan and South Korea and other allies worldwide.
Anyway, I think that in the gamble of nuclear weapons the US has the strongest hand, as insane as that game is.[/quote]
I might well agree with you about the strategic part if I knew enough about it. 
My awareness of that area is very limited. I guess I have some reading to do. Anyway, I certainly don’t expect everyone to think the way I do. My opinions have been moving toward something like isolationism over the years. That’s probably not realistic, but it coincides with my growing mistrust of governments (I realize we have to have governments, and I don’t hate them; I just don’t trust them about anything crucial).