Nepal, Feb. 20 -- Crisis over Taiwan could wreck China's relations with the US and many of its neighbors and rock an already shaky Chinese economy

NEW YORK - Much of lasting significance happened in 1979. There was the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and Iran's Islamic Revolution, which brought to power a regime set on remaking not just Iranian society but also much of the Middle East.

Just as important was the United States' decision to recognize, effective January 1 that year, the government of the People's Republic of China-then, as today, run by the Communist Party-as China's sole legal government. The change paved the way for expansion of trade and investment between the world's largest economy and the world's most populous country,...