Which Would You Rather Have, Taiwan or Iraq?

As America's power continues to wane and China's continues to rise, Taiwan will be in the balance and may find its own fortunes in question.

America has thus far been a cautious supporter of Taiwan's autonomy, but as American influence decreases, the fate of Taiwan will be more a matter between China and Europe. Russia and China have been buddying up lately, so Russia may find itself having to play an important hand.

China will be in an increasingly better position to act militarily in Taiwan, as well as to influence other countries not to recognize Taiwan diplomatically. And China is still serious about Taiwan, as this recent spat with Google revealed.

I suppose we can't deride China too much for wanting another province since we just got our 51^st state, but somehow I'm thinking they'll get more out of Taiwan than we'll get out of Iraq.