Despite its economic clout, China's military may not have what it takes to subdue Taiwanese forces in the event of open conflict in the Taiwan Strait -- at least not yet. Taipei's military is still reckoned to have an edge over its rival, but only just. Washington would like to keep things that way.  Jonathan Adams in Taipei explains:

     Rear Admiral Liu Chih-chien of Taiwan says he isn't afraid of Beijing's People's Liberation Army. "We're confident that we're stronger than they are. Our training is better," he said on the flight deck of a hand-me-down, U.S.-built destroyer churning straight toward the Chinese coast Wednesday. The thundering clap of the ship's five-inch guns later provided an exclamation point to his comments. On the other side of the narrow strait, the Beijing government maintains that self-governingTaiwan is a renegade province that must be reunified with the mainland sooner or later -- by force, if necessary.

     Liu's mission was to impress a pack of journalists with the respectable (though less than awesome) might of the Taiwanese military. For all the talk of China's rapid military rise,Taiwan still has a qualitative edge in several key areas. One is on the high seas of the Taiwan Strait, where experts say Taipei's four destroyers -- put into service only in the last couple years -- have a slight edge over China's Russian-built ships.  Earlier in the day, reporters watched the best of Taiwan's Air Force -- U.S.-made F-16's from an elite unit -- scramble into the skies from their base in central Taiwan. The island's crack U.S.-trained pilots are still considered better than China's.

     Still, Taiwan's hardware is far from cutting-edge. When it was being built, the destroyer on which Liu briefed the media was earmarked for the Shah of Iran. But the Iranian Revolution changed those plans. U.S. forces used the ship themselves, then gave it a makeover and sold it plus three others to Taiwan for USD$ 800 million.  Uncle Sam only wants to provide Taiwan with the warships it needs to keep pace with China, nothing more. Ditto for fighters -- Taipei's request to buy top-of-the-line jets has so far been met with stony silence from Washington.

      That's part of Washington's delicate balancing act in the Strait. The U.S. wants Taiwan to be strong enough to deter a Chinese attack, but not so strong that it's tempted to formalize its independence, risking war between Beijing and Taipei. Washington is able to maintain this balance because it's now the only country willing to sell the island major weaponry.  Thus Wednesday's modest display -- a flexing of Taiwan's just-barely-strong-enough military muscle.