MARK SIMON: Yes, Taiwan will fight. “Eight years ago, if asked whether the Taiwanese people would fight should the Chinese Communist Party decide to invade, I would have hesitated with a response. Coming off President Ma’s eight years in office there was no sense of urgency in Taiwan as they had yet to witness the worst of Xi Jinping inside China, the persecution of Hong Kong, or more happily, the success President Tsai has reaped in leading the people to a recovery of their Taiwanese identity. Eight years may not seem like a long time, and in fairness to past leaders there was already a shift underway in building the identity of the Taiwan people as separate from China. But 2016, maybe even earlier, was then. This is now. Taiwan fights.”