Taiwan is a long way from the United States, yet successive U.S. administrations have made clear that protecting Taiwan from a potential Chinese incursion is a significant priority. Ever wonder why? Is it just about preserving democracy? In a conversation with FP’s Ravi Agrawal on FP Live, one of U.S. President Joe Biden’s senior-most policymakers and an architect of the U.S. National Defense Strategy, Colin Kahl, answers this question. You can watch in the video box above.

Kahl is the U.S. undersecretary of defense for policy and served as a deputy assistant to former President Barack Obama. If you want to hear more from this interview—about why China isn’t answering the phone when Washington calls, the reason the United States is “not in a great place” when it comes to deterring Iran, or the Pentagon’s plans to introduce changes to ensure that intelligence leaks never happen again—read an edited transcript of the conversation.