Wuhan is downstream. That’s a shame.
The assumption that Taiwan could reach the dam and with sufficient effect to collapse it, is naive.
People are ignoring the historical geopolitics of China. China has NEVER bee able to project their power outward.
China is a third world country.
As crazy as it sounds, Beijing could view that as a feature not a bug. It could redirect any potential anger by their subjects against Taiwan and the U.S. (Whether the U.S. was actually complicit in the attack, China will certainly view it that way.), instead of the country's government.
The reason China hasn’t attacked Taiwan is because China doesn’t have a social safety net system of any kind, many (upward of millions) of families depend on a sole breadwinner in the military. Taiwan would put up one hell of a fight and when people start coming home in body bags it could destabilize the communist party. That’s why they haven’t and probably won’t invade Taiwan. Has nothing to do with the damned dam.
Flood season is coming up. How much of a nudge would the seasonal weather need?
NO ONE is going to nuke that dam with an ICBM. First the CCP has air defenses all along the way to the dam. So a sea based missile attack would require an hour flight time. Long enough to shoot it down. The attacking party would get one shot at a sneak attack. After that since China would be at war the level of the water in the dam would be greatly reduced.
The Three Gorges dam is very hard to dent.
You need a nuke to break that dam open. Does Taiwan have nukes that it can deliver by missile or airplane?
It won’t be the end of the chicoms however. There’s a reason they’re colonizing Africa and South America.
The three Gorges Dam produces the equivalent of 13 nuclear power plants they would be hard pressed without it.
They’ll just stealthly infiltrate the government, and corporations, and other institutions.
Does Taiwan have any nukes? One small nuke, size of a softball would open that baby up nicely. Prime US target in any war. We have plenty that could take that out. I assume the Red China thugs have an air defense network to defend the dam?
I disagree with the title that the destruction of the Three Gorges Dam would end civilization as we know it, I do believe it would turn China into a third World country within hours of its collapse.
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Wrong! “... the destruction of the Three Gorges Dam would end civilization as we know it” because
A) 9 Chinese cities would be destroyed,
B) 420 million people would die,
C) China would launch ever nuclear missile it has at the party that caused the destruction, or the CCP would lose face, even beyond the act of greatest mass murder in history.
China will not go to war because it cannot sustain more than a few combat deaths, as the troops’ pay supports their families - the loss of that pay would mean instant poverty for the families, since there are no social services to support them, and all serious medical services require bribes to attain. Nor would they have the money to buy more than traditional remedies at best.
China is good at synchronous military parades and propaganda ( a multi-billion dollar effort ).
China will never attack Taiwan because they won’t need to.
China hasn’t attacked because it can’t
Taiwan is a third bigger than Maryland
23,000,000, of which about 14,000,000 are trained adults and many are armed
Ninety miles of water, 5 hours to transit
Plenty of anti-ship missles in place
Likely submarines too
Even if they landed troops, it would be Fallujah on steroids