All you have to do is replace Britain with Taiwan.
I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, âThis was their finest hour.â
Unfortunately, history shows that egotistical leaders donât give a ratâs ass about their people, their country, or how many people are killed in the process of chasing their stupid ambitions.
Thereâs a greater-than-zero chance that Xi will do it even though he knows full well it will destroy both Taiwan and China. Logic rarely factors into this sort of thing.
These were the times when the US had real influence.
Times have changed drastically. Lets face it, china today gives 2 hoots about US and itâs allies. US doesnât even have the guts to send a high level official to Taiwan, forget about a US president visiting Taiwan. Neither does China care about their âimageâ (esp. getting a certification from the west) when it comes to their national identity, pride etc.
Its done for guys, IMO. This exercise of âstrategic ambiguityâ or diplomatic nuance is actually a face-saving measure for the west, not for china. As it stands, given HK, given xinjiang, given other aggressive Chinese actions, the west is either unwilling or incompetent to intervene.
âKennedy stated that while he would do anything to defend Taiwan and Penghu, he quoted Admiral Harry Yarnell, who once said that âKinmen and Matsu were ânot worth the bones of a single American.ââ
you could add mainland Taiwan to the above list now, IMO.
âIn January 1950, US President Harry Truman issued a statement that the US had no intention of âutilising its Armed Forces to interfere in the present situationâ and that the US government âwill not pursue a course which will lead to involvement in the civil conflict in Chinaâ. This meant that it would not stop CCP troops from crossing the sea and taking Taiwan.â - same as today.
Those are Chinese territories. I wouldnât equate them to Taiwan. Taiwan is also extremely important strategically. They wonât let China take it without intervention.
Given what the Germans thought about the state of the USSRâs defences, it made sense. Thatâs a problem with war: one side- or both- is wrong in its expectations.
US is not going to be the one instigating a war with a nuclear nation. That would be stupid. That doesnât mean the US wouldnât step up when it comes to that. Losing their sphere of influence in the Asian pacific would mean the end of the US as the dominant super power.
Allied nations let hitler get away with a lot before they had enough and realized he wasnât going to stop. The US didnât get involved until they realized they had to.
China wonât bomb Taipei. It needs Taipei. Itâs jealous of Taipei. Taipei has excellent infrastructure, even if its architecture leaves a lot to be desired. Whatâs it going to do with a bombed Taipei? And if they bomb Taiwan off the face of the earth, Chinaâs gunna end up with most of the fallout. And most of âcivilized Chinaâ (in the words of some who live there) is on their east coast. I mean, Xi might be stupid enough to pull a stunt like that, but I donât think so.
Iâve been reading geo-political books for the past few years, and all of them say that if China were to brazenly attack Taiwan, the Japanese would simply crush them. They have this Navy thing going and they train with the US like all the time. All the Chinese superduperhyperaircraftcarrier buster missiles would be useless as the satellites needed to guide them would be space trash.
Yeah but are they in HK ripping up the MTR or tearing down bridges? It seems like the (rightfully) angry netizens of HK were being far more destructive of property. Theyâre way more in there with their minds. Controlling education and who can run for office. If you control everything thatâs taught to the children, you control the next generation. (hey America, was I talking to you?)
