Posted on 03/04/2021 5:54:12 AM PST by Onthebrink
On Tuesday, H.R. McMaster, testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, stated that Chinese ruler Xi Jinping “has a fleeting window of opportunity that’s closing, and he wants to, in his view, make China whole again.”
President Trump’s national security advisor in 2017 and 2018 believes China could act “from 2022 onwards,” based on the Beijing Winter Olympics, which end February 20, and the Communist Party’s 20th National Congress, which according to tradition will be held in the fall of next year, most probably sometime in October.
McMaster, presently at the Hoover Institution, is correct. A year from now, therefore, the threat of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan will be higher than usual.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalinterest.org ...
Seems like the timing is good, but I don’t know how well the Taiwanese can hold them off?
If they do invade you can be sure that the U.S. will send a strongly worded letter.
Not invade per say but a very tight sea/air blockade.
Easy answer: Biden
Because. Josef Stolen.........................
McMasterbater.
With a weak befuddled POTUS, I expect ALL our enemies to take strong action in the next 2 or 3 years.
They know they have to hurry b/c when Trump is elected in 2024 recess and fun & games time will be over.
Biden will send an apology for it taking so long.
“Seems like the timing is good, but I don’t know how well the Taiwanese can hold them off?”
It appears the present Taiwanese government is competent and intent of maintaining their freedom. A war will mean the level of suffering on the scale of previous Chinese disasters. That means horrible deaths and slow starvation. Modern populations are not as prepared to suffer like that as where their ancestors. The Chinese will promise anything and forty percent of the population will buy into it. Even though history says their promises are worthless. Abused wives think, okay, this time he means it. He won’t hurt me again.
If the Taiwanese have deployed remotely activated mines and they have done so even to remote Chinese waters, then, they can cause devastating losses that will destroy the Chinese economy. The very reason the Chinese are attacking is the same reason the Germans and Japanese had to start a war. The Chinese vampire economy has run out of stuff it can suck out of its other territories. It must find new blood or it is doomed to implode. So, if the Taiwanese have large numbers of deployed mines and available disposable drones, then they can likely hold out. But the longer the conflict lasts, the more Taiwanese people will starve. They don’t produce enough food to feed themselves, but then, neither do the Chinese. Both sides will likely be limited in what they can import as no one will send in ships to either side as those ships will be sunk.
It’s probable that the United States will, at least passively, support the Chinese...because...Biden. As the Chinese get desperate, they may insist the US actively support them, either with “humanitarian” food shipments or with intelligence or diplomatic pressure I don’t see the US getting involved militarily on the side of Taiwan. Because...Biden.
Wild cards are all of the other nations who have disputes with China. Likely, those nations will not do anything militarily, but they likely will be neutral, but on Taiwan’s side.
The powerful black queen on the board is Japan. But Japan is a tired, aging nation and probably wishes the whole thing would just go away. Also, the US will likely pressure Japan to remain out of the fight. Because...Biden.
No time like the present. America has become nothing but the land of wealth distribution and is far more afraid on the ghost of “white supremacy” that it is of actual communist/socialist/terrorist threats to its existence. China can do whatever they like, America will stand by and watch.
Or a phone call...press 1 for Mandarin, press 2 for Cantonese press 3 for Spanish...Press 9 if you want to be removed from this list? etc.
McMaster? He’s a dolt that never should have risen above command of a tank battalion. Listening to him is about as valid as listening to your neighbor. Just another neocon.
Taiwan will not be an easy nut to crack.
Do you think China is prepared to lose it’s Three Gorges Dam? If I were Taiwan that would be my first target and I’d let the CCP know it.
It is very doubtful the US under Biden would go to war with China if China moves to take over Taiwan. Our European “allies” have no desire to go to war with China. Would China or South Korea join us? Doubtful. We would stand alone, if Biden wanted to commit the US military to aid Taiwan in countering the invasion.
The inclination of the diplomats at the State Department, the political generals at the Department of Defense, and the academics advising the administration would be to take the matter to the UN, like was done with the invasion of South Korea by North Korea. Of course these are different times. China and Russia would block any action by the UN which would once again prove itself impotent.
What would the US do short of war? Move a couple of carrier task forces into the area and issue a stern warning? If China invades Taiwan it will not back off. China could easily take out a couple of US carriers near its coast with submarines and land based missiles. It then warns Biden through diplomatic channels it will go nuclear and attack the homeland if the US retaliates. The idea will be to completely humiliate the US, forcing it to stand down after the loss of an ally, major trading partner, and the loss of 20% of its nuclear carrier fleet (the US has 11 carriers, one of which is out of commission.
For those who don’t believe the Chinese could take out US carriers in the Pacific, remember an incident in 2016 when an undetected Chinese submarine surfaced next to the US carrier Kitty Hawk, an embarrassing incident for the US Navy. https://www.warhistoryonline.com/history/chinese-submarine-appeared-in-the-middle-of-a-carrier-battle-group.html Here is link to a 2020 article about the vulnerability of US carriers to China today - https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/us-aircraft-carriers-have-never-been-so-vulnerable-chinese-submarines-175148
A takeover of Taiwan by China would also make the US technology industry extremely vulnerable to China, including the electronics the US military relies on. Thanks to misguided offshoring of US industry in the 1990’s and 2000’s the US is highly reliant on semiconductor from Taiwan and China. Sadly, the highly profitable US technology companies that own many politicians seem to have no interest in moving chip production to the United States.
China knows the multinational corporations funding politicians, the politicians themselves, and the American people have no appetite for a nuclear war with China to retaliate for an invasion of Taiwan by China.
Remember the anemic response of George W. Bush to the attack on a US spy plane over international waters and its forcing down onto Chinese soil early in his administration. What were the repercussions from that act of naked aggression by China? Nothing. The US continued to tear down its manufacturing base and ship the production and jobs to China.
What happens after a successful takeover of Taiwan and the humiliation of the US militarily? Loss of reserve currency status for the dollar, trade embargoes by China against the US for strategic products and rare earth elements. Likely a dramatic downsizing of the US military to fund runaway social spending.
The fundamental transformation of American Obama promised is upon us and the establishment of the GOP has no desire to oppose it. Most of American corporations, financial institutions, the media, the education establishment , and the permanent bureaucracy that runs the government is committed to the destruction of the US as it was and its transition to a third tier social welfare state.
Totally agree. One good afternoon with a well-trained unit essentially performing a battle drill and this guy got tagged for generals stars. (Not minimizing what the troops did — they were magnificent)
And because of the CIA.
And with HELP of the CIA..........................
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.