This week on Sinica, I chat with Sulmaan Wasif Khan, professor of history and international relations at the Fletcher School at Tufts University, about his book The Struggle for Taiwan: A History of America, China, and the Island Caught Between, which comes on May 14. 4:28 — The Cairo Agreement 6:59 — General George Marshall, George Kennan, and the change in the idea of American trusteeship of Taiwan? 17:08 — The debate over the offshore islands of Kinmen and Matsu 23:55 — Mao’s evolving interest in Taiwan 27:49 — The averted crisis of 1962 32:06 — Peng Ming-min and the Taiwan independence movement 37:14 — What changed in 1971? 42:51 — The legacy of Chiang Ching-kuo 45:14 — The story of Lee Teng-hui 52:37 — The change within the Kuomintang 1:00:11 — Why Taiwan has become “sacred” for China 1:10:26 — Sulmaan’s own narrative shift 1:13:26 — Chen Shui-bian and the threat of independence referendums 1:17:53 — The Sunflower Movement 1:25:21 — The causal direction of Taiwan’s importance in the U.S.-China relationship 1:28:32 — Why the status quo shifted 1:30:51 — Drawing parallels between Taiwan and Ukraine 1:33:26 — Sulmaan’s sources for his book 1:35:38 — Agency versus structure 1:39:29 — Feedback (so far) on the new book and what’s next for Sulmaan Recommendations: Sulmaan: Emily Wilson’s translation of The Iliad  Kaiser: The “My China Priors” series (and other essays), available on the Sinica Substack; Angus Stewart’s essay, “Alien Bless You: A Review of Netflix’s 3 Body Problem”  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.