COLUMN-Will 2024 bring a new military crisis in Taiwan Strait? From the beaches of Kinmen island barely 10 km from the skyscrapers of the Chinese mainland port city of Xiamen, Taiwan military personnel – and a handful of U.S. special forces reported to be there – have watched Chinese patrol vessels encroach ever closer. Last week, Taiwan's coastguard released footage of five Chinese coastguard and what appeared to be seven civilian vessels oper…