US arms escalation in Taiwan: How geopolitical militarisation obscures de-escalation pathways and Indigenous land rights

The piece implicitly traces a **century-long pattern** of US intervention in East Asia, from the **Open Door Policy (1899)** to Cold War proxy conflicts and the **1979 Taiwan Relations Act**, which institutionalised military dependency. The arrival of F-16Vs echoes the **1950s–60s arms races** that failed to deter Chinese aggression, instead entrenching a cycle of escalation. Historical parallels with **Korea (1950–53) and Vietnam (1964–75)**—where US military buildups prolonged conflicts—are stark but underdeveloped. **Score: 0.8** (Strong historical framing but could deepen ties to decolonisation and Indigenous resistance timelines).