Last week, Honduras became the latest country to sever its diplomatic relations with Taiwan and instead recognize the People’s Republic of China. Taiwan has a choice: continue watching countries get picked off one by one due to Beijing’s checkbook diplomacy, or work with its allies to find a new way to relate to the world.
Since taking office last year, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has worked to improve ties with both the U.S. and China, in part by trying to focus their energies on managing North Korea. But pressure is now mounting on Seoul to clarify where it stands in terms of its readiness to help defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack.
In January, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists set their “Doomsday Clock” to 90 seconds before midnight, in an assessment of how close the world is to “global catastrophe”—the prospect of nuclear war. Three recent events over the past few weeks have reinforced the idea that the world is entering a dangerous era of nuclear risk.
