How do you want them to Romanize her name?
ours is fine. but some sites seem to have been âattackedâ and load poorly or not at all sometimes. mostly government sites.
youtube and such works perfectly fine for us on phones.
Why would people muddy the situation with racism and sexism? makes no sense. I for one welcome any help from both caucasians and males. someone has to stand up to these privileged colonialist tyrants 
2 Likes
Thereâs just something odd about what China is doing with this simulated blockade thing. I mean, if they are really serious about attacking Taiwan in the next few years, why practice it in front of the world like this? Apart from revealing your basic plan/thinking to the enemy, it is also stimulating Taiwan to get more serious about preparing for invasion, spending more money and effort on defenses, thus making your eventual invasion more difficult.
This almost suggests to me that it is mostly a show they are putting on, for their domestic audience, for Taiwan and for the world. I donât discount the likelihood (perhaps certainty) that they make some kind of move on Taiwan eventually, and I realize these exercises are a significant step up from their past demonstrations. I just think that if they were actually planning to do something soon then these exercises are a dumb move, they only make sense as a show.
If they were really serious about taking Taiwan in the next few years, it seems to me they should be smiling and acting friendly, make symbolic concessions or at least stop throwing tantrums, try to convince Taiwan to relax and let its guard down. I mean say youâre an alligator and you want to eat that deer on the river bank: do you make a bunch of sudden fake lunges to scare it, show it whoâs boss ⌠or do you sit there motionless, smiling, waiting until it stops seeing you as a threat before you strikeâŚ?
Thereâs a related question/contradiction here. China is often viewed as cold, calculating, patiently playing the strategic long game. But then you get stuff like this, basically a childish tantrum, and why ⌠because Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan? If you are coldly playing the long game thereâs no reason to react; the only reason to (over)react is for show. Also, tantrums reflect powerlessness, the child throws a tantrum because it lacks the power to change the situation (and it knows it), all it can do is scream.
2 Likes
Weird reporting by Sky News.
1 Like
I think because itâs not what they want to do. They are roped into saying this is what they want, largely because to my knowledge theyâve no real purpose but to find a better place at the trough and feed.
1 Like
Sending a message at home and abroad that they are serious, salami slicing one step closer to having the ships sitting there, psychological warfare against people on the island
2 Likes
âSending a message at home and abroad that they are seriousâ
Check. This is I think the main point of it all.
âsalami slicing one step closer to having the ships sitting thereâ
Possibly, I canât dismiss it outright, weâll see where it goes from here. I suspect it de-escalates and fades away.
âpsychological warfare against people on the islandâ
This is what theyâve been trying for how long now and what has it achieved. Most Taiwanese are completely numb to it. Any effect it has is toward Taiwan strengthening preparations, which is counterproductive for them.
âI think because itâs not what they want to do.â
Not sure I get you here, do you mean they donât want to invade or they donât want to do the exercises? I think they definitely want Taiwan ⌠but are frustrated that they canât have it, not easily and not without major and possibly disastrous costs.
If the exercises become regular thatâs gonna be super annoying.
1 Like
Bi-Khim is Taiwanese. Not Chinese
2 Likes
Siau Bi-Khim is amazing. Canât believe someone like this would lose elections in Hualien twice. Although, she is much more needed in the US as a diplomat for sure.
1 Like
Are they numb because they think it will never happen, or because they know they canât stop it? The ability and willingness of the average Taiwanese male to fight against the Chinese war machine matters, and we donât know what it is. If they know that they are already surrounded, having seen the propaganda, maybe they will numbly just let it happen?
The government here, like the government there, had already been preparing for the eventual showdown. I donât know that the blockade will really speed things up on this end
Whaaa? Unless by NY do you mean you were in Tarrytown or Buffalo, it would probably be a world shattering event if you are in the NYC. Heck, I was in California and that was a world shattering event.
1 Like
Funny
How much do these missiles and navy exercises cost exactly? If we have a speaker of the house visit every month, you think we can bleed them dry?
5 Likes
I can. Remember: all politics is local. Sheâs brilliant, but in Hualien she is only tangentally âone of us.â
Guy
1 Like
I guess people are numb for different reasons, but in general itâs because China has been doing this âsaber rattlingâ forever and ⌠here we are. How willing are Taiwanese people to fight is another subject that has been debated plenty, I donât know the answer of course, but would just say that a messy insurgency doesnât require everyone to fight; if 5-10% of males are gung ho fighting and 20% of the people are willing to shelter them and provide support (or at least not actively sell them out) then things can get pretty bad for the invader pretty quickly.
And yes the government has been making preparations, my point was that if people start to perceive the danger as more real then more people are willing to go along with more advanced preparations, increased military service/training/call-ups, increased budgets, etc.
1 Like
The drills are a new normal now. China is always looking for an excuse to do more and more each time and now it got one. And once it does something and see that the world doesnt really oppose it in any way, then it would decide to keep doing it. They practiced the drills and noticed how neither US or any country really did anything to go against it. They just said âhey china dont do itâ and thats about it.
that was the approach when they started crossing ADIZ ,and saw no country really do anything against it and then they make it a new normal.
So, its safe to say that China doing such drills and missile firing in the sea is a new normal for the world from now on.
4 Likes
Pretty much. I feel they hold themselves to unobtainable standards, they canât or wonât change.