Chinese soldiers train for the upcoming National Day during sunset in Hefei in eastern China's Anhui province September 29, 2005. REUTERS/China Newsphoto
China’s Constant Warfare -- James R. Holmes, The Diplomat
One major Asian navy was conspicuously absent from this month's festivities in Sydney: the Taiwan Navy. Did Taipei slight Canberra? Should we fault President Ma Ying-jeou for pique, or apathy, or thoughtlessless? Nope, and nope. You've heard it all before. Beijing's wrath would have been fearful to behold had a Taiwanese man-of-war made port for the fleet review. Navies are services sovereign states use to protect their interests. Had Taiwan been allowed to take part in the maritime congress, it would have appeared as though participating governments were affording the island diplomatic recognition.
And that, of course, would never do. Chinese officials go to absurd lengths to maintain a consistent posture toward the island. We even had a furor in the hinterlands of northeast Georgia a few years back. When preparing for a conference of nonproliferation NGOs, an intern dutifully made a nameplate for a Taiwanese professor indicating that he was from, well, Taiwan. Mayhem ensued until the offending nameplate was removed and replaced with one indicating that our colleague hailed from Chinese Taipei. Whatever that is.
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My Comment: This is how major wars start. One day .... someone is going to tell China to "shove it". The Chinese .... in turn .... must do something to save face (to their own people). One aggressive response leads to another .... and before we know it .... bullets and bombs start to fly.
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