T HE CHINESE COMMUNIsT PARTY ( CCP ) has never ruled Taiwan. But how to deal with it and its insistence on eventual unification with the island has always been the central issue in Taiwan’s national politics. As campaigning begins for the presidential elections due next January, the stakes are especially high. Almost every day China sends fighter jets into the Taiwan Strait, often crossing Taiwan’s de facto maritime border; America is expanding its military bases and stepping up exercises with allies across the Indo-Pacific. The next president will take office with the island at the centre of a bubbling superpower showdown.
中国共产党（CCP）从未统治台湾。但是，如何处理它及其坚持最终与该岛的统一一直是台湾国家政治中的核心问题。随着明年一月即将举行的总统大选的竞选活动，赌注特别高。中国几乎每天都会将战斗机送入台湾海峡，经常越过台湾的事实上的海洋边界。美国正在扩大其军事基地，并与整个印度太平洋地区的盟友一起加强演习。下一任总统将在岛上起泡的超级大国摊牌中心上任。
