In Taiwan, as in Ukraine, the west is flirting with disaster | Simon Jenkins

It's one thing to declare yourself rather dead than red', quite another to inflict that decision on the rest of us

Arguments in the foothills of war are always the same. Those for war shout loudest and beat their chests, eager for tanks to rumble and jets to roar. Those against are dismissed as wimps, appeasers and defeatists. When the trumpets sound and the drums beat, reason runs for cover.

The visit to Taiwan of the US congressional speaker, Nancy Pelosi, has been so blatantly provocative it seems little more than a midterm election stunt. She declares it essential that America and her allies make clear that we never give in to autocrats". China's gross overreaction is a classic example of precipitate escalation. Yet when Joe Biden asserted that the US would defend Taiwan militarily, the president's office instantly backtracked, reasserting a policy of strategic ambiguity". It remains the case that no one quite believes the US will go to war over Taiwan - so far.

Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist

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