[kelipso]

> if China were to invade Taiwan and the US failed to respond, that would be an existential threat to the United States because it would effectively kick the U.S. out of the Pacific

Hyperbolic? The US not having a wall of ships on China's east coast is not an existential threat for the US.

[ericmay]

No it's not really hyperbolic. I wrote why the US is so committed to the region in my post above.

I'd also say characterizing things as "the US having a wall of ships on China's east coast" is itself a bit hyperbolic itself and taken without context quite meaningless.

One might wonder, well why does the US have aircraft carriers in the region?

Maybe it has something to do with things like China's continued threats of taking over Taiwan, or North Korea's launching of ICBMs into the Sea of Japan?

[kelipso]

There are plenty of reasons but none of them include existential threat.