The Second Taiwan Strait Crisis Revisited

In August 1958, East Asia stood on the brink of war as the People’s Liberation Army began shelling the islands of Kinmen and Matsu, testing America’s commitment to defend the Republic of China in Taiwan. What lessons can we learn from the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis 65 years later?

Photo: A defunct artillery base on the island of Kinmen, now open to tourists, photographed in July 2018. (© Kyōdo.)