Peter Wonacott

KEY TAKEAWAYS An invasion of Taiwan would deprive Beijing of foreign capital, critical technology and tax revenue. A sea and air blockade of Taiwan would also hurt China’s own economy. Beijing might attempt to limit direct U.S. confrontation — but any loss of life on Taiwan’s side would lead to escalation. KEY TAKEAWAYS An invasion of Taiwan would deprive Beijing of foreign capital, critical technology and tax revenue. A sea and air blockade of Taiwan would also hurt China’s own economy.

LAHORE, Pakistan -- After escaping kidnappers who chained him to a bed for 25 days, Mohammad Javed Afridi pressed Pakistani law enforcement for swift justice. The police offered him something else: temporary permits for four automatic assault rifles. Since Mr. Afridi's ordeal ended in mid-October, police in his hometown of Peshawar, in northwestern Pakistan, haven't made an arrest in his case. They raided the kidnappers' hide-out, but the captors got away, a senior Peshawar police official says.

NEW DELHI -- Sri Lanka's president said Asia's longest running insurgency had been vanquished, after government troops trapped the remnants of the Tamil Tigers in a 22-acre area and a senior rebel leader issued a statement of surrender. A Sri Lankan military spokesman, Brigadier V.U.B. Nanayakkara, said troops were conducting "mopping-up operations" in a tiny wedge of territory along the country's northeast coast. Brig....