Rooting for Taiwan, the ‘David’ in Asia

American Thinker ^ | 7 Mar, 2022 | Ned Cosby

[MtnClimber]

Morality and common sense dictate recognizing Taiwan but too many people in D.C. are beholden to the Chinese ‘Goliath.’

Taiwan is a democratic country in Asia but the United States and most of the nations of the world do not recognize it as a sovereign nation. Why? Because recognizing Taiwan would offend the nearby Communist plantation called China that claims Taiwan is a rebel province.

China, a nation of slaves led by a dictator called Xi Jinping, claims Taiwan is a part of China and threatens other nations not to recognize Taiwan as a sovereign nation even though 100 miles of water separate Taiwan from China. From the mainland of China, the Communists proclaim a “One China” policy to defend their claims to Taiwan. I call bullgeschichte on that.

Today, there are only 15 nations that recognize Taiwan as a sovereign nation. I tip my hat to the bravery of these countries. Other nations, including the USA, kowtow to the Goliath of Asia (Communist China) while we still quietly root for David and blow unofficial kisses to Taiwan.

China has demanded this awkward arrangement since the 1970s when President Nixon began triangulating the USA between Communist Russia and Communist China. The Communists in China promised to “play ball” with us if we would diplomatically disavow ourselves from Taiwan. How has that worked out for us?

[MtnClimber]

The accomplishments in Taiwan, especially in technology embarrass their neighbor who has more resources, but the anchor of communism around their necks.

[Fido969]

David destroyed Goliath in battle. I don’t think we have any hope Taiwan will destroy China, just that it would survive.

[sauropod]

.

[Gay State Conservative]

When Red China attacks this “David” might be able to bloody her nose but China will not be denied.Once they move they'll be willing to destroy every building and kill every person if necessary. After all,it's all spelled out very clearly indeed in Mao's Little Red Book.

[Gay State Conservative]

See Post #5

[Renfrew]

The more I think about it the more Taiwan is a distraction.

What is more likely in the next 10 years:
* China takes over Taiwan
* China takes over the global auto industry

Which will have more consequence for America?

China has been taking over industries one by one. Clothing, steel, furniture, electronics. Each time that industry collapses in the USA. They will eventually have a competitive car. What effect does that have?

Meanwhile an amphibious assault on a fortified island is well beyond China’s capabilities and will be for a very long time.

[HighSierra5]

The Chicoms are waiting to see how Ukraine goes and the way the West reacts. So far I think China doesn’t want to get into a bloody war. If Ukraine falls in a couple of weeks then China will start probing Taiwan’s defenses more aggressively and depending on our military response they might go all the way. I just think that until we get a new president with a spine, we’re on our own.

[Travis McGee]

Taiwan should develop its own nukes if at all possible, certainly they have the tech knowhow, but it might not be possible to do it in secrecy in the time available.

But they should as rapidly as possible adopt the Swiss national defense model, and arm every capable adult citizen with a modern scope-equipped battle rifle. Then begin universal marksmanship and small unit / guerrilla tactics training.

Taiwan can also mass-produce their own modern MANPAD SAMs and ATGMs, and cache them all over the island. Then give citizens training on how to use them effectively, using video instruction and hands-on inert simulators, so they are ready when the time comes.

Taiwan is 20X bigger than Okinawa. It has 10,000 foot mountains, canyons and caves all over the place. It took the full might of the US Army, Navy and Marines 3 months to subdue Okinawa in 1945, so imagine the difficulty of conquering Taiwan, with a sniper, MANPAD and ATGM squad around every corner. Taiwan could rapidly be made more difficult to invade than it would be worth to the CCP.

Will its leaders do this? Probably not. Politicians don’t want an armed citizenry, lest they turn on them at some point. America, Switzerland and only a few other countries are exceptions to this rule.

Even Ukraine did not adopt this “porcupine strategy” in the face of a looming Russian invasion. So even after the invasion, most Ukrainian men had never touched a firearm in their lives. It’s too much of a learning curve to go from non-shooter to soldier in a week.

[struggle]

The left, unlike, Russia, is going to simply ignore China’s invasions.

[Travis McGee]

I just put this together for purposes of comparison of scale.

[Mr. Jeeves]

My feeling is that Taiwan's political/corporate class will willingly cut a deal with the CCP at some point - probably they already have. Too many Taiwanese companies have become rich using mainland labor and factories. The CCP hasn't acted because there is great domestic propaganda value in holding up the carrot of "retaking" Taiwan.

If the moment comes that the CCP decides it needs to formally take control, I expect a Carrie Lam-like figure to emerge from the Taiwanese political jungle and the subsequent process to focus more on asset redistribution talks than military action.

I think the long-predicted amphibious military assault would still be a suicidal move for Xi Jinping.

[Travis McGee]

I agree with all of your points, every one.

Taiwan adopting a “porcupine strategy” (Switzerland) is purely hypothetical.

The corporate billionaire class will just cut a deal with Xi and sell the Taiwanese people into Communist slavery.