Agreed. But I don't think it's actually Taiwan that's the problem. It's more the ego's of the people for their respective nations. Both the Chinese and Americans are very proud of their nations. Now patriotism is one thing, but a lot of what we see today isn't merely patriotism, it's idiotic irrationality in the name of patriotism. There has been an influx of this type of behavior in America since 9/11. Now, if America were to act on their claim that they would "protect" Taiwan, then I will not be surprised to see an increase of that same irrational behavior in China. America would be blatantly defying something that the Chinese government wishes. Now what does America do when other countries defy us? We wage war on them, or rename our fries. China would only be following America's example by declaring war on us. And the General is correct on one point -- China most probably can not win a conventional war against the U.S., but a nuclear war would be a whole different ballgame -- if they can't win it, it would certainly even the playing field. Yes, America has 1000s of Nukes, but the numbers aren't really to much of our advantage after a while. China does have the firepower to cause some major damage. So, Taiwan, no. Nobody is going to risk billions of lives over that. But when egos get in the way, people will most certainly be willing to put others in the path of harm for that.