“China vows ‘peaceful reunification’ with Taiwan,” was The New York Post’s takeaway from Chinese ruler Xi Jinping’s speech at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing over the weekend.
What fantabulous news! Peace for our time . . . in Asia.
That same message was echoed by The Washington Post, which also noted that Xi’s statement comes “days after sending a surge of warplanes near the island.”
With China’s massive military build-up, ongoing threats to attack, invasion drills around Taiwan, not to mention flying squadrons of warplanes across the Taiwan Strait and into the island nation’s air defense identification zone — 150 such incursions last week — tensions have escalated to a fever pitch.
“We are very concerned,” warned Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, “that China is going to launch a war against Taiwan at some point.”
Thank goodness, then, that at this scary moment, our Fourth Estate can herald Xi’s promise of peace!
The only problem?
The Chinese dictator gave no such assurance.
Xi merely stated a preference for Taiwan’s peaceful surrender to his one-country, one-system totalitarianism — over having to snuff out Taiwan’s freedom by missile attack and invasion, murdering millions. Which the genocidal autocrat is still threatening to do whenever the opportunity presents.
Cancel the parade.
Still, if Xi’s rhetoric constitutes “a more conciliatory approach” from Beijing, chock it up to free countries finally waking up and pushing back against the Chinazis.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, noting her nation’s position “on the front lines of democracy and freedom,” focused on the fight against Chinese “coercion.” As she eloquently wrote in Foreign Affairs: “[T]he future of Taiwan is to be decided by the Taiwanese through democratic means.”
Provided there is the military might to deter Chinese aggression.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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6 replies on “Strait Democracy”
“flying squadrons of warplanes across the Taiwan Strait and into the island nation’s air defense identification zone”
Actually, Taiwan’s ADIZ extends onto the Chinese mainland. It’s like Canada declaring an ADIZ that makes every plane coming in to land at JFK an “incursion.”
The big “incursion” last week was over the ocean, but it wasn’t in the Strait and it was closer to the mainland than to Taiwan.
China’s behavior is not at all “like Canada” and for quite obvious reasons. Canada makes no threat against the US, while China has regularly threatened invasion of Taiwan.
Nor are we talking about peaceful commercial airlines, per your JFK comment. The CCP is sending large numbers of sophisticated fighters and nuclear-capable bombers. There is no valid reason to do so except to intimidate in the pursuit of spreading the Chinazi way of life against the will of 24M Taiwanese.
What ‘free countries’ are pushing back against China? Certainly not the Biden administration. What about countries in Europe?
It’s necessary to take the Taiwan threat seriously. We get most of our semi-conductors from Taiwan. Who believes that Beijing would allow the free flow of trade from Taiwan after they take it over?
Globalism strikes again.
Agreed, that the West has been terribly slow to act against the CCP and even often enabling of its bad behavior. But to my pleasant surprise, Biden has so far largely continued Trump’s tough policies on China and possibly upped support for Taiwan even more than Trump did (which was thankfully quite a LOT).
Japan has been the best in starting to push back (see below). But so has Australia — and this nuclear sub deal has certainly captured China’s attention. And Europe — most notably Lithuania — is starting to wake up too (see links below).
We are still in a weak and dangerous position, but in the last two years as I’ve begun paying more attention to the rising Chinazi threat, the situation has improved as it has garnered public attention throughout the free world. My goal is to further UP that attention and knowledge.
Here are a number of links. Not to overwhelm but I’ve been doing my reading and figured I’d give you the best articles I have:
### Japan
WSJ: As China-Taiwan Tensions Rise, Japan Begins Preparing for Possible Conflict
https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/as-china-taiwan-tensions-rise-japan-begins-preparing-for-possible-conflict-11630067601
NY Post: China claims Japan ‘digging its own grave’ if it joins US in defense of Taiwan
https://nypost.com/2021/07/08/chinese-issues-warning-to-japan-over-defense-of-taiwan/
The Diplomat: A Taiwan Contingency and Japan’s Counterstrike Debate
— Japan’s increasing recognition that Taiwan is crucial to its own security has implications for Japan’s domestic defense debates and the Japan-U.S. alliance.
https://thediplomat.com/2021/07/a-taiwan-contingency-and-japans-counterstrike-debate/
US, Taiwan, and Japan Sends Thousands of Troops to Help Manila Against China in the South China Sea
https://youtu.be/zysCDb-5zEg
Japan opens air bases to bring in the US near South China Sea after China repeatedly harass Taiwan
https://youtu.be/ebbyR5qMf5w
### Europe
Nikkei Asia: China loses Europe as Xi’s hard-line diplomacy backfires
https://asia.nikkei.com/Editor-s-Picks/China-up-close/Analysis-China-loses-Europe-as-Xi-s-hard-line-diplomacy-backfires
Why Europe’s future is on the line in the Taiwan Strait
https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/why-europes-future-is-on-the-line-in-the-taiwan-strait/
Reuters: German warship heads for South China Sea amid tension with Beijing
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/german-warship-heads-south-china-sea-amid-tension-with-beijing-2021-08-02/
Newsweek: China Warns ‘Taiwan Independence Is a Dead End’ Amid De Facto Embassy Opening in Europe
https://www.newsweek.com/china-warns-taiwan-independence-dead-end-amid-de-facto-embassy-opening-europe-1611475
VOA: Western Countries Send Ships to South China Sea in Pushback Against Beijing
https://www.voanews.com/a/east-asia-pacific_voa-news-china_western-countries-send-ships-south-china-sea-pushback-against/6202367.html
Politico.eu: Europe can’t stay neutral in US-China standoff
https://www.politico.eu/article/europe-cant-stay-neutral-in-us-china-stand-off/
The Diplomat: How China Is Losing Europe
https://thediplomat.com/2021/05/how-china-is-losing-europe/
The new China consensus: How Europe is growing wary of Beijing
https://ecfr.eu/publication/the_new_china_consensus_how_europe_is_growing_wary_of_beijing/
“China vows ‘peaceful reunification’ with Taiwan,”
Didn’t they say the same thing about Hong Kong?
Chinazi? Paul, you do yourself no favor using that term. Godwin’s law.