Why Taiwan is a major flashpoint between the U.S. and China

As President Trump takes part in a Beijing summit this week with Chinese President Xi Jinping, no issue will be more critical to Xi than Taiwan. Beijing has called Taiwan the core of China's core interests, with reunification, even by force, the center of Xi's agenda. In many ways, China and Taiwan are similar. They have a shared history, language and culture. But over the last nearly 80 years, Taiwan has become many things that China isn't. Taiwan, a self-ruled island, is a thriving democracy with a dynamic capitalist economy . It is a place where people express themselves openly without worry. Fewer than 10% of Taiwan's population favors reunification with China, according to surveys, and fears it will fall under Communist control are on the rise. "Since democratization, we have enjoyed the freedom of speech, of democracy, a diversified society," Taiwan's deputy foreign minister Chen Ming-chi told CBS News in an interview earlier this month. "We've been through an authoritarian past. We see democracy is something we achieved. Taiwanese people cherish that very much. So we will never accept the one country, two systems." Taiwan is also one of the largest potential flash points between the U.S. and China, the only place where open warfare between the two powerful militaries is possible. China regularly conducts military exercises around Taiwan in an ongoing show of force. For decades, U.S. …