Taiwan was encircled last week by Chinese destroyers and frigates in an exercise designed to unnerve the island republic. There were 16 such attempts last year, with naval incursions and fighters and bombers criss-crossing the airspace. Chinese marines practise amphibious landings, Chinese military planners study Russia’s operation in Crimea for useful lessons on snatching territory, a Chinese aircraft carrier group steamed through the Taiwan strait last spring.

What does that say to you? China is growing impatient. It is restless about an island so close to the mainland that calls itself the Republic of China, that offers itself up as a dynamic, democratic alternative to President Xi’s police state — with a free press, no internet censorship, gay marriage and a strong connection to the