Foreign Affairs
Related: About this forumChina's Xi Sets His Sights on Taiwan After Subduing Hong Kong
Fears are growing that President Xi Jinping of China wants to conquer Taiwan, a prize thats eluded Communist Party leaders for decades. Joseph Wu, the foreign minister of the islands democratic government, warned on July 22 that China may look for excuses to start a war or conflict after it suddenly stepped up incursions into Taiwans air defense identification zone, raising the risk of a collision that could escalate.
What China is doing now is continuing to ramp up preparedness to solve the Taiwan issue, Wu said. We are very concerned that China will target Taiwan now that the Hong Kong security laws been passed.
The U.S. had terminated its mutual defense treaty with Taiwan as part of the agreement to establish diplomatic ties with China in 1979 in the wake of Richard Nixons famous trip to Beijing. It replaced that with legislation authorizing the sale of weapons for Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability, while stopping short of saying it would join a conflict.
Of the many U.S.-China conflicts right nowfrom Huawei Technologies Co. to Hong Kong to the consulate closuresnone is more dangerous over the long haul than that involving Taiwan. The Communist Party has threatened to invade the island ever since Chiang Kai-sheks Nationalists fled China in 1949. In a speech in Beijing last year about the partys policy toward Taiwan, Xi said, We make no promise to renounce the use of force and reserve the option of taking all necessary means. He declared that China must and will be united, which is an inevitable requirement for the historical rejuvenation of the Chinese nation in the new era.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-30/china-set-its-sights-on-taiwan-after-hong-kong-crackdown?srnd=premium
still_one
(91,962 posts)against Taiwan, especially now
still_one
(91,962 posts)against Taiwan, especially now
soryang
(3,299 posts)What Would It Take to Avert Military Escalation With China in the South China Sea?
The US and Chinas dance in the South China Sea bears a troubling resemblance to 1914 Sarajevoand the eve of World War I.
By Michael T. Klare
https://www.thenation.com/article/world/pompeo-south-china-sea/
In orchestrating all these military and diplomatic moves, US officials seem to be proceeding with a sense of magisterial self-assuranceas if China were able to gain a foothold in the South China Sea because of American inattention during the forever wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and that now, with the United States again asserting its authority there, the Chinese are certain to retire in trepidation. This is evident in the Pentagon statements cited above and the harsh and disrespectful tone of Pompeos July 13 statement.
People in leadership positions in the State Dept and the Pentagon are clueless. The era of the great white fleet, and overwhelming western technological, economic and military dominance over China are over. Anyone who knows the history, knows the Chinese won't back down from a direct confrontation. They may bide their time, they may seek dialogue and refrain from escalation but if it is interpreted as weakness that will be a terrible mistake. Any accidental war breaking out in the South China Sea could risk Taiwan's security. I would anticipate some aggressive moves in the Taiwan straits immediately after the US decides to show China who's boss in the South China Sea. And they will be difficult to counter in those restrictive waters.
Remember when MacArthur said the Korean War would be over by Christmas? China is many times more capable than it was then. The spooks and armchair generals who thought they knew what they were doing in Hong Kong are just kidding themselves.