If China conquers Taiwan, it would be huge blow to US national security, economy

If China conquers Taiwan, it would be a huge blow to US national security and would put China in a position to dominate rest of Asia, leaving US out in the cold.

Michael Allen is a founder and managing director of Beacon Global Strategies LLC. Allen has spent his career in the national security arena including in the White House, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and the private sector. Allen is a frequent commentator on national security and foreign policy issues on CNN, MSNBC and Fox and is the author of "Blinking Red, Crisis and Compromise in American Intelligence after 9/11." (Potomac Books, 2013). 

First, the Chinese are already flagrant violators of trading rules. A Taiwan takeover would give Beijing increased leverage over its regional trading partners and would afford China more opportunity to bend or break rules to its benefit. Already the U.S. has shelved its trade ambitions in Asia by abandoning the Trans-Pacific Partnership. A takeover of Taiwan further cedes the field to the Chinese alternative, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP). China could use RCEP to further set the rules of global trade and deepen its economic relationships in Asia at the expense of the U.S.