As the U.S.-China relationship grows increasingly complex, the need for greater strategic trust between the two countries has become even more pressing. Few issues are more central to the bilateral relationship, and a greater source of fundamental distrust, than Taiwan—specifically, U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and China’s own military build-up across from Taiwan. The irony is that while the United States and China are in stated agreement over most aspects of this issue at the level of principle, they diverge greatly in the actual implementation of their respective policies.