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| China-Japan-Koreas |
| Are Deep Staters and Globalists Trying to Give Away Taiwan? |
| 2024-01-12 |
| [Gateway] During my time in Government, I twice had an encounter with a former Director of National Intelligence who made an odd comment. On both occasions, he said, "Taiwan is definitely going back to China," as if Taiwan was anyone’s to give away. On both occasions, I stopped him and corrected him that such a statement was nowhere in U.S. Law nor even stated policy. Both times he retreated and attempted to clarify himself. I had great respect for him and had once received a rare award from him and found these very odd statements, especially the second time a year later when he made the same strong assertion again. The elections in Taiwan are only a couple of days away on January 13, 2024, and the stakes are high. For years, Presidential Administrations have used "strategic ambiguity" in regard to Taiwan. The 1979 Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) was for years the law in effect on Taiwan and stated it was required for the United States "to maintain the capacity of the United States to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of the people on Taiwan." What did this mean? It meant it was law that the U.S. would maintain a military large enough to resist any use of force or other forms of coercion against Taiwan. Not exactly a crystal-clear expression of U.S. Policy on Taiwan, but it did imply Taiwan was under the American nuclear umbrella, and with a large U.S. Navy and Air Force presence in the Western Pacific, the Chinese were deterred from taking Taiwan. Would the U.S. come to the aid of Taiwan if attacked? My interpretation was yes — but few of my colleagues were confident or advocated that. Times have changed, and President Biden was told by President Xi of China when they met in San Francisco that China would re-unify Taiwan with the mainland, and then on December 31, 2023, President Xi said, "re-unification was inevitable". This statement was possibly the most bellicose reference to Taiwan made by a Chinese leader in 30-plus years. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #11 And I suspect Japan is double checking the secret rooms of nukes they just have to assemble and stick on missiles. |
| Posted by: Silentbrick 2024-01-12 17:43 |
| #10 I hear the Japanese are putting rail guns on their battleships |
| Posted by: Regular joe 2024-01-12 16:10 |
| #9 /\ Valid assessment. How about a game of 'Two-Up' (best of 5) for the drinks ? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2024-01-12 14:44 |
| #8 @ #5 - and that's the PRC's strategic dilemma. IF/IF the PRC chooses to go kinetic and invade (big if) - do they preemptively attack US forces in the region to delay our response?? If they don't and we can respond quickly, the invasion never gets past the high water mark. If they do, they will be the aggressor and get their dicks kicked. I don't think the ChiComms are anywhere near ready for an invasion. They are more than happy to run gray-zone ops and build capacity. I do think at some point they will escalate in the form of a blockade, seize the near islands, and maybe missiles/airstrikes/SOF in a decapitation strike. A full-scale amphibious assault is whole other game. |
| Posted by: Bangkok Billy 2024-01-12 14:23 |
| #7 FIFY @ Phugum U.S. policy does not recognize the PRC's sovereignty over Taiwan; U.S. policy does not recognize Taiwan as a sovereign country; U.S. policy considers Taiwan's status as unsettled. The reality of US's one China policy states that Washington does not take a position on Taiwan’s sovereignty and merely “acknowledges” the existence of a Chinese position. |
| Posted by: mossomo 2024-01-12 13:19 |
| #6 Yep, even with the deal inked - Taiwan still has a say in the matter. |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2024-01-12 12:29 |
| #5 Imagine Xi's humiliation if the Taiwanese were to repel an invasion from the mainland. If he's gonna do it he better make damn sure the invasion succeeds, and quickly, because he probably wouldn't survive a failure. |
| Posted by: Hupusotch Borgia4326 2024-01-12 12:23 |
| #4 In other words, is China currently a paper tiger, and if yes are they capable of turning that around? The best way, IMO, to make them turn this around is to start a war - look what Maidan war did for Russia. |
| Posted by: Grom the Reflective 2024-01-12 04:54 |
| #3 BOY, is this guy going to be surprised to find out that 'Taiwan is part of China' has been official US GOVT policy for the last 50 years. |
| Posted by: Phugum Uluth9531 2024-01-12 03:11 |
| #2 But if China’s military is so deeply corrupt and under-equipped, as was just reported, with missiles fueled with water and such, how serious of a threat are they, at least until a thorough inventory is done and the equipment problems fixed? In other words, is China currently a paper tiger, and if yes are they capable of turning that around? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2024-01-12 01:37 |
| #1 Deal already made. A shooting war with China is very unlikely. Insert Walmart, Target, Lowes, Best Buy, Depot logos here. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2024-01-12 00:59 |