Peter Navarro, Real Clear Defense: Can America Still Defend Taiwan?
During the 1995-1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis, President Bill Clinton dispatched aircraft carriers in defense of Taiwan’s right to elect a pro-independence presidential candidate, Lee Teng-Hui. Now that Taiwan has once again elected a new president with pro-independence leanings – Tsai Ing-wen – this question must be asked: Will America once again defend Taiwan if Beijing threatens anew its “renegade province”?
This is very real question as Beijing has already begun to rattle sabers, swords, and missiles and threaten economic reprisals. From the White House’s and Pentagon’s perspectives, the problem is not just a fear of escalation should American carriers once again be ordered to the Taiwan Strait. China has also now developed a whole new suite of “anti-access, area denial” weapons explicitly designed to kill the American fleet – and do so in quite splendid asymmetric warfare fashion.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: This is why reports like this one raises concerns in Asia and in the Pentagon .... Russia's Sale Of It's S-400 Air Defense System To China Will Dramatically Alter The Military Balance In Asia. Sighhhh ..... this is one of those nightmare situations where even if China succeeds in invading and occupying Taiwan .... Asia would then exist in a state of high tensions coupled with a massive global arms build-up that would strain the entire Asian continent and the global economy for a decade or two. In short .... it may lay the groundwork to an even bigger conflict in the future.
6 comments:
Aphorism are rather simplistic but nonetheless generally true.
You can get more with honey than vinegar.
This must not be an ancient Chinese saying.
Either that or those in charge always want to remain in charge and dare not take a vote.
If China is not stood up to during this epic, 1950 through 2020, there will not be another opportunity to counter them. The hopes for continued human liberty and freedom rests on the willingness for allied nations to to blunt their blind hegemony. This must be worth the risk of bloodshed on our part. Or a new more powerful ISIS will flourish in the likes of Chinese aggression. No less barbaric and self possessed.
Epoch not epic, sorry.
WNU Editor,
Anytime there is a Pro-Independence leader in Taiwan, the rhetoric get's amped up. So far, nobody's died from the rhetoric.
On China's side the rhetoric serves to remind Taiwan's Business and Investor Classes that their fortunes are tied to China and insure Independence Governments remain single term.
Economic and political dominance can no longer be forced by China upon Taiwan. The world and the region especially, will be looking critically at how China deals with Taiwan. Kit gloves are in order. Slapping your neighbors only works for so long. Especially with Uncle Sam, Aust., Japan, SK, India, and assorted others watching and waiting for China to overplay their once dominant economic hand. People are willing to go to great lengths to protect their freedoms from a bully, no matter how big the bully's wallet. Times have changed, I do hope.
The Economic "dependence" of Taiwan is not "forced" on Taiwan by China.
Taiwanese Politicians, Investors and Business people wrote the investment and trade rules that saw Taiwan heavily investing in China, Chinese Corporations buying Taiwanese Businesses and properties.
The inter trade relationship now amounts to just over 58% of Taiwan's economy, and less than 5% of China's.
Post a Comment