The purpose of the first assertion shared here is to establish perspective. Yes, as American Pride points out, many agonize over ability of the US to maintain its Cold War position regarding Taiwan in the face of a rising China, just as many Britains certainly agonized over their ability to retain effective control over Suez. Of the two, I would posit that Britain's concerns then were far more rational than our own now. Britain's were along the line of "we must have access to the canal for our economy to function"; while the most honest assertions regarding Taiwan are so some form of "we can't allow China to do something we don't want them to do."

To me that always sounds a bit like a petulant child. Yes, the Asia-Pacific region is vital to the US economy, but a reunified China is logical, probably inevitable, and in no way offers the same type of show-stopping issue envisioned by the Brits. And even the Brits were wrong about the loss of canal control being a showstopper.

Control is hard to relinquish, but at a certain point many issues long managed through control are better managed by a transition to influence. The more we focus on the former, the less we possess of the latter. Better to transition on ones own terms, and not cling so long as to have transition forced upon you.