The New Taiwan Tensions China is getting more aggressive. Would the U.S. go to war to protect the island? Figures of nationalist soldiers are part of a display on Lieyu Island. The Chinese city of Xiamen lies across the water.Credit...An Rong Xu/Getty Images April 9, 2021Updated 9:46 a.m. ET When Henry Kissinger secretly traveled to Beijing in 1971 to negotiate the re-establishment of diplomatic ties between the U.S. and China, he came bearing multiple requests — about the Vietnam War, nuclear arms, the Soviet Union and more. Kissinger’s Chinese counterpart, Zhou Enlai, had only one focus: Taiwan.