* Xi has unification on his mind, but the conditions are not ripe for it, given that China is still locked in a trade war with the US and Taiwan is gearing up for elections. The PLA’s incursion into Taiwanese airspace was intentional, but it won’t be overplayed.
For the first time in years, two Chinese fighter jets crossed into Taiwanese airspace on March 31, causing Taiwan to scramble its own aircraft in a tense stand-off. What impact will this incident have on cross-strait relations, and will a similar stand-off eventually lead to an accidental exchange of fire?
As Taiwan gears up for the 2020 presidential election, unification and independence will surely be one of hot topics of debate.
So far, both President Tsai Ing-wen and her colleague at the Democratic Progressive Party, former premier William Lai Ching-te, a self-proclaimed “pragmatic Taiwan independence worker”, have said they would seek nomination for the contest. We can’t rule out the possibility that the DPP will turn to some underhand means to try to win the election, but it would not want to trigger a Chinese campaign to force unification.
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WNU Editor: Who knows what Chinese President Xi is really thinking. He has pushed Chinese territorial claims on everyone, and he has backed it by deploying Chinese military assets that has resulted in military skirmishes against India and Vietnam. Will he do the same thing with Taiwan? In my opinion no. The blow-back will be overwhelming and long lasting. But 10 years from now, and if Chinese President Xi is still in power, the environment may be very different.
7 comments:
China is behaving very similar to Nazi Germany some 80 years ago. Superior minded, ethno-nationalistic and expansionist. Imprisoning citizens in "re-education camps" and instituting invasive behavior monitoring.
Only China finds itself more isolated. They're a regional pariah with no cultural allies. They have no friendly military ports outside their borders - no logistics train. Add in a demographic time bomb and China finds itself at a disadvantage.
I can see why some Chinese generals are pushing for bold moves now. It might not be possible a decade from now.
Bob, really what is this "..." all about? Is this your symbol acknowledging that you approve of the WNU comments? All I can think of is Bob knocking on the table 3 times in approval with the comment.
Mike, really simple actually.
"..." seems to be a way to generate follow-ups given that just clicking on the "Follow-up" comment line requires a comment for it to function that seems certainly better than this:
"I have read this article for which I have an interest but while I don't have a comment to make at this time should someone else provide a comment I will be sure to read it and perhaps offer my own comment at that time."
No sarcasm intended. I consider it akin to milking the system, functionality-wise using the system to keep track for me obviating the need for me to keep a record of articles and going back to check for comments. There may be a better way but of that I have no knowledge. Sorry if it inconveniences anyone.
So in other words, a placeholder.
A place holder? No.
He basically wants some means to strike up a conversation on an article but wont put the work into writing a simple question. Not much unlike what we have just witnessed in this thread here. Good work Bob...
If someone exhibits an unfriendly and insulting attitude I am not about to go out of my way to establish a working relationship. It is a really, really simple thing and if if you can't get your head around that little issue, you are on the wrong site to begin with.
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