US: China's military activity around Taiwan threatens region

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By SYAWALLUDIN ZAIN and DAVID RISING

SINGAPORE (AP) — U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin stressed American support for Taiwan on Saturday, suggesting at Asia’s premier defense forum that recent Chinese military activity around the self-governing island threatens to change the status quo.

Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Austin noted a “steady increase in provocative and destabilizing military activity near Taiwan,” including almost daily military flights near the island by the People’s Republic of China.

“Our policy hasn’t changed, but unfortunately that doesn’t seem to be true for the PRC,” he said.

Austin said Washington remains committed to the “one-China policy,” which recognizes Beijing but allows informal relations and defense ties with Taipei.



U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin speaks during a plenary session at the 19th International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Shangri-la Dialogue, Asia's annual defense and security forum, in Singapore, Saturday, June 11, 2022. (AP Photo/Danial Hakim)


Read more: https://apnews.com/article/lloyd-austin-singapore-asia-beijing-china-f96014dba8daf5002e5136c9cd4227a1

[OAITW r.2.0]

1. A Grand Distraction to cover the Chinese Retraction?

A fool's war with Taiwan. No end game.

[ripcord]

2. China doesn't have any claim to Taiwan

When the Chinese communists drove the Republic of China out of the country after WW2 they fled to the island of Formosa, now Taiwan which was controlled by Japan at the time. None of this gives China any claim on Taiwan as a province of China.

[cstanleytech]

3. The island has changed hands a number of times for the past few hundred years and

Japan only took control in 1895 after a war with China.
That is not to say I believe China should be allowed to take it now rather I think China should simply let it be as Taiwan poses no honest threat to China.

[soryang]

5. The US side declared:

The United States acknowledges that all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain that there is but one China and that Taiwan is a part of China. The United States does not challenge that position. It reaffirms its interest in a peaceful settlement of the Taiwan question by the Chinese themselves...

According to the diplomat who drafted this portion of the Shanghai communique, Henry Kissinger, "China achieved recognition of its "core interest" in a political connection between Taiwan and the mainland."

[TeamProg]

4. China is NUTS !! More info on it::

"""

Singapore (CNN)Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe on Sunday accused the United States of being a "bully" and "hijacking" countries around the region, during a combative speech in which he said his country would "fight to the very end" to stop Taiwanese independence.

"Taiwan is first and foremost China's Taiwan," Wei told the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's premier defense conference, adding that China would "not hesitate" to crush any attempt by the self-governed island to "secede."


But Wei -- who met Austin in a bilateral meeting on Friday afternoon -- reserved some of his harshest criticisms for Washington's stance on Taiwan, the democratically governed island that Beijing considers its territory despite never having ruled it.
Austin had on Friday said the US would continue to support Taiwan with the means to defend itself, including arms sales which China sees as a violation of its sovereignty.

Under US policy, Washington provides Taiwan defensive weapons, but has remained intentionally ambiguous on whether it would intervene militarily in the event of a Chinese attack -- a policy that the White House insists remains intact despite Biden's recent comments that appeared to deviate from the ambiguity. Washington acknowledges China's position that Taiwan is part of China, but has never officially recognized Beijing's claim to the self-governing island.

Wei said there would be no compromise on China's sovereignty or the question of whether Taiwan will one day be "reunited" with the mainland -- a clear goal of China's ruling Communist Party, which calls for peaceful "reunification" but has not ruled out us

"China will definitely realize its reunification. ... It is a historical trend that no one, no force can stop," Wei said.

And the People's Liberation Army was prepared to spill blood to enforce that if necessary, he said.
"Let me make this clear," Wei said. "If anyone dares to secede Taiwan from China, we will not hesitate to fight. We will fight at all costs. And we will fight to the very end."


"""

TOTALLY GONZO BAT SHIT CRAZY !!

[myohmy2]

6. can we...

...beat China militarily in a fight over Taiwan?

...should we be provoking China over Taiwan?

...I don't know...

...some say we over-estimated what Russia was capable of doing in Ukraine but could we be under-estimating what China's capable or willing to do over Taiwan?

...who owned what/when probably isn't that important if we end up in WWIII...

...there is a lot of flux and turmoil in the world today...

...China smells opportunity, we need to play them smart...

...