While the United States and China spar over the future of Taiwan, political antagonists on the self-ruling island are deploying strategies in parliament to persuade one of the two superpowers to take their side. President Lai Ching-te and his Democratic Progressive Party want to ensure a permanent separation from mainland China. Lai, elected in 2024, needs the Legislative Yuan’s approval for a US$11 billion purchase of US-made weapons, a sum within a pledge to buy $40 billion worth of arms over the next five years. “Taiwan has no other security offering or partner,” wrote Domino Theory, a blog dedicated to interpreting Taiwan’s relations across the globe. To show China’s displeasure at Lai’s announced its $11 billion arms purchase, Xi ordered up a massive military maneuver around and over Taiwan.