Can we “live without Taiwan”? The claim that we can buy the nominee to be the third-ranking official in the Pentagon has stirred controversy.

The question is a strategic, if not literal one. Communist China’s interruption of our economic and military dependence on Taiwan's unique, extremely high-quality chip-manufacturing capability could prove devastating.

Ditto Taiwan’s conquest for America’s vital interests in the Western Pacific. Allies and others there would likely accommodate the PRC as the new regional and global hegemon, with dire ripple-effects for our trade and security relations.

While suggestions that we can live without Taiwan are characterized as evidence of “realism” or “restraint,” as a practical matter, Chinese dictator Xi Jinping can only perceive them as proof of America’s retreat. That makes more likely, not less, the Chinese Communist Party’s acting to destroy, not just independent Taiwan, but us, as well.

This is Frank Gaffney.