My latest in PJ Media:
Global Times, an organ of the Chinese Communist Party (CPP), has learned a lesson from Old Joe Biden’s Afghanistan catastrophe: Taiwan is in deep trouble, and the Americans won’t help it. In an editorial published Monday, the CCP sent a harsh message to the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the ruling party of the Republic of China on the island of Taiwan: “The DPP authorities need to keep a sober head, and the secessionist forces should reserve the ability to wake up from their dreams. From what happened in Afghanistan, they should perceive that once a war breaks out in the Straits, the island’s defense will collapse in hours and the US military won’t come to help.”
This was likely true, and gave the world the spectacle of an increasingly hostile power, the People’s Republic of China, learning from America’s mistakes in Afghanistan, while the American political and military elites showed no sign of doing so. No one in Washington is being held or is going to be held accountable for the ongoing debacle in Afghanistan. Joe Biden just emerged to blame Trump and ignore the question of why, after announcing a departure date, the United States had no exit strategy in place that would ensure the safety of our personnel and weaponry. Biden clearly just wants all this to go away, and thanks to the establishment media, which follows him around like the man with the dustpan and broom who follows after the circus elephant, it probably will go away, at least from the headlines and news feature shows.
But while no one will be fired or even reprimanded for our disastrous exit from Afghanistan, much less for the insane decision to stay there for twenty years without having a clear idea of victory or any coherent endpoint in China, they’re paying very close attention and learning one of the obvious lessons of the last few days. The Global Times article features a cartoon of the American eagle with one wing on the shoulder of Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, presumably offering her wise counsel while leading her to walk right into an open manhole. That sums up the article’s point succinctly. “The world has witnessed,” says Global Times, “how the US evacuated its diplomats by helicopter while Taliban soldiers crowded into the presidential palace in Kabul. This has dealt a heavy blow to the credibility and reliability of the US.”
Indeed. The Chinese daily then reminds the world that “the US abandoned its allies in South Vietnam” in 1975, and asks, “Is this some kind of omen of Taiwan’s future fate?” Clearly, if the Chinese Communist Party has anything to do with it, it is indeed an omen.
There is more. Read the rest here.
roberta says
Sounds about right to me.
Does anyone doubt that if China declared war on the USA that our government would surrender asap?”
If you doubt our rapid surrender, you either have greater faith than I do, or you havnt read much history.
CogitoErgoSum says
Well, based on what has happened in the past China would have to fight us for 20 years before we did surrender. Technically, the Korean War has still not ended with just a truce being in place.
roberta says
We dont have the money, manufacturing, will power, or moral authority to go another 20 years with any country at this point.
Your kinda basing your comment (jokingly I think) on American history, which is actually very recent history. Go back just a few hundred years more and you will find it was almost common place for the elites of a country or city state to throw in with a conquering force. The elites knew they were beat before the war even began. They would bargain a truce in their favor and do the conquering forces dirty work against their own peasants in order to live and continue to rule. Even if ruling under another flag and in hell.
Our politicians and elites are the worst of parasites. The wicked prosper.
robert rawson says
To be blunt, knowing that several of China’s major cities would be reduced to cinders, if PLA troops landed on Taiwan’s shores, would no doubt spill some tea in Beijing.
It already has two operational nuclear power plants on opposite ends of the island that could produce plutonium. It could use a “Japan option” of enriching its radioactive materials for weaponization in a short timeframe.
from a website.
gravenimage says
There is no indication that Taiwan has nuclear weapons.
Mark Spahn (West Seneca, NY) says
https://gatesofvienna.net/2021/06/what-about-taiwan/#more-52147
discusses the Normandy-like invasion of Taiwan.
Excerpt:
Taiwan is an island, 180 km away from the mainland. That’s six times the width of the English Channel. The Chinese navy is just as experienced and dangerous as the German Kriegsmarine: not enough to successfully invade. The Germans couldn’t do it across a 30 km stretch of sea; the Chinese can’t cross a 180 km stretch of sea.
https://legalinsurrection.com/2020/08/ecuador-on-alert-after-armada-of-chinese-fishing-boats-seen-off-galapagos-island/?ref=marketbulletin-dotcom
Don McKellar says
Hitler didn’t invade Britain because he made the strategic error of invading the USSR first. He believed the English would be good aryans and accept rule over them by the would be nazi King Edward. And then there was the Battle of Britain and the Germans couldn’t get air superiority. Had he kept his attention on Britain he could have completely destroyed the forces he let go at Dunkirk and an invasion certainly would have happened with devastating force. At that time, America wasn’t even in the war.
China has no such distractions, are not in any way stretched thin, and could easily do everything they say they could do in the article. They would overwhelm with air superiority and they could send in a huge armada and keep on sending hundreds of thousands of troops. And opposing them? His Fraudulancy aka Joe China. So nobody.
Phil Copson says
“…Hitler didn’t invade Britain because he made the strategic error of invading the USSR first. ….. Had he kept his attention on Britain …….. an invasion certainly would have happened with devastating force….”
———————————————————————————————————
No – the Germans had no means with which to transport an army and mount a sea-borne invasion: just think how much effort and manufacturing capacity was required for the Allies to produce the vast amount of equipment needed for the invasion of Normandy.
Secondly, if an invasion fleet had set sail – the Royal Navy would have destroyed it.
(Unless of course, the Wehrmacht had claimed to be refugees – in which case the Royal Navy would have given them a lift across the Channel to Dover, where the local council would have put them up in hotels, and provided the invaders with three meals a day / interpreters / spending money etc)
Infidel says
Problem is that China is too much closer to Taiwan than any of Taiwan’s or US’s allies are – be it US, Japan, Australia or India (talking here about the Quad countries). So Taiwan’s best hope is arming them to the teeth, and ideally, having Triad like capabilities at least on Taiwan’s east coast, if not the Taiwan straits
But one thing that Taiwan ought to do is what India did last year: impost economic sanctions on China. Order all their companies to move all operations out of the mainland to other places, be it Vietnam, Philippines, India, or wherever else (avoiding of course muslim countries like Pakistan or Malaysia, who are vassals of China)
gravenimage says
Emboldened China Warns Taiwan: ‘The Island’s Defense Will Collapse’ and the ‘U.S. Military Won’t Come to Help’
………………….
This is just terrifying–and I doubt that Biden would defend democratic Taiwan. So far, he has said that he is brushing off these threats.
CogitoErgoSum says
Too much of our computer chip industry depends on Taiwan for us just to surrender it overnight. I think we would fight – after getting rid of Biden (and Harris too for that matter).
gravenimage says
I hope we would protect the Taiwanese for more reasons than this.
CogitoErgoSum says
Why? They would still be protected.
gravenimage says
Because, CogitoErgoSum, I want so see us protect our democratic allies–not just ones that just happen to have something we cannot get elsewhere. You can disagree, of course.
CogitoErgoSum says
I guess I am becoming cynical after seeing how things have gone in Afghanistan. We stood by them for 20 years investing billions of dollars and thousands of lives only to have them simply surrender without any fight at all. We did not abandon Afghanistan; they abandoned us. So, yes, I am cynical right now concerning any of our so called friends and allies.
James Lincoln says
CogitoErgoSum says,
“We did not abandon Afghanistan; they abandoned us.”
That’s a keeper…
gravenimage says
CogitoErgoSum, I see no indication that Taiwan has abandoned the US–even after Nixon largely abandoned them in favor of Communist China almost 50 years ago.
Infidel says
If that’s what you’re looking for, Taiwanese companies – thinking of ones like TSMC here – may have fabs in Taiwan, but they too offshore their other processes, such as assembly and test – to places like China(!), Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, et al
Intel is one of the few companies that still has domestic fabs in the US, but we need to bring onshore other parts of the production line, be it assembly, test and the rest of it. One of the selling points that China has is that in any region, they have major ecosystems that support all aspects of a given industry, just like Detroit does (or at least did) for autos. We need to have such industrial regions throughout the US for every industry. All those consultants who claimed that we should just go for cheaper, no matter where else in the world it is, need to be fired!
CogitoErgoSum says
I’m beginning to believe that China already owns the U.S. so why should it bother with Taiwan. Like the Taliban, they have the time to wait – and they even make the clocks too.
James Lincoln says
Very well put, Infidel.
The hidden costs of globalism.
Cheaper goods – but at what cost?
Infidel says
James
It’s just like all the free stuff one gets online. Yeah, it’s free, until one realizes that not only is one’s privacy compromised, but when they like, they can turn it against you. Then you have woke entities like GoFundMe, Twitter, Paypal et al canceling people on the right
Since Joe loves taxes so much, maybe he can consider a tax on offshoring: whatever money a company saves by moving operations from the US to China, just tax them that percentage from their sales, so that there is no such advantage. A GOP administration can leave that in, but have tax breaks specific to having the entire supply chain in the US
gravenimage says
CogitoErgoSum, Taiwan and Hong Kong–Chinese lands living in freedom–have been a thorn in the side of Communist China for seventy years. China is dismantling Hong Kong, and would love to do the same with Taiwan. This is not just about business.
James Lincoln says
CogitoErgoSum,
The United States should make its own computer chips – and not depend on Taiwan.
And if China takes over Taiwan, we would be forced to buy the chips from China.
E.g.,
The computer chip supply chain problem is absolutely killing the the availability / affordability of cars and trucks in the United States…
Infidel says
A lot of the dies are indeed produced onshore, but then the assembly and test go offshore. And not necessarily Taiwan: they may go to China, Philippines, Thailand, et al. We already buy chips from China. And just like last year China hijacked PPEs that were already paid for by US retailers, they can do the same w/ chips, since a lot of cases, the assembly is there
We need to bring that back here, and to do that, feel free to automate whatever processes are necessary to achieve those lower costs
James Lincoln says
We are in agreement, Infidel.
gravenimage says
James, allowing China to take over Taiwan would embolden them more than almost anything.
James Lincoln says
gravenimage,
I most certainly agree that the United States and its allies should make *every* effort to prevent the takeover of Taiwan by China.
That being said, the United States – with Sleepy Joe as Pro-China “resident” – should still prepare for any eventuality – as China could pull this off…
Walter Sieruk says
It’s best if we keep in mind that the China nation of Taiwan engages in commerce with the world. By contrast Communist China infected the world with the coronavirus.
Isabella van der westhuizen says
Not sure why Mr Spencer keeps referring to President Biden and his minders.
Surely the more appropriate term is President Biden and his carers.
James Lincoln says
Isabella,
Sleepy Joe is actually experiencing assisted living – in the White House…
David Foot says
The only way to stop being invaded from the old formerly successful European colonies or from the USA “nation building” victims is to restore the Empires! There is no other way to control the refugees but to give them European governments at source. Decolonization and Nation Building have failed totally and dramatically. Today we add Afghanistan to the list of invaders!
After 1945 Marxists had a landslide in the UK, capital of the British Empire, and that added to those in USA who were also Marxists Roosevelt first and then Truman who got on better with Stalin than with Churchill, they prepared the world that we have now, full of refugees.
With USA leading, the British Empire and the Nationalist Chinese were thrown under a bus and we started the stupid idea of “nation building” and “decolonization” but only of the Western Empires, the UN and USA were not against the massive Marxist Empires which were not even touched, to the contrary, they were in expansion. Stalin finished in 1945 what he had started alongside Hitler in 1938, and Communist China pushed the Nationalists in to Taiwan and took over Tibet, great Truman Democrat policy of Appeasement! That is how USA got Vietnam and now Afghanistan.
Now what is coming out of Washington today? Where have we seen that before?
I wouldn’t like to be in Taiwan with an impotent appeasing Democrat in Washington, I can tell you.
OLD GUY says
Come on man the military industrial producers are loving the idea of another twenty year war, more profit.
Let’s hope we learned that if we have to go to war we do it with a plan to destroy the enemy, and their countries leadership without restrictions on targeting sites in civilian areas.