[Quix]

I have a fair amount of respect for that perspective and agree with it . . .

TO A POINT.

Every Mainlander I've talked to in recent years has justified an attack on Taiwan to some greater or lesser degree--whether they were still in Mainland China at the time or not. To the best of my memory, EVERY one.

I have seen Chinese more than a few times paint themselves into a corner by their words and very defensively, with great fire and self-justification strike out however devastatingly--feeling very righteous and thoroughly justified regardless of the horror in their wake.

I think the puppet masters think THEY have Bejing under fine tuned control. And Beijing thinks THEY are playing the ART OF WAR *MOST* SKILLFULLY.

Room for miscalculations abound.

Yes, I think by the time the dust EVENTUALLY settled, it would be the end of the Communist Party's Control in Beijing. But that process could take longer than many think.

[risk]

.....it's taking the Neville Chamberlains a while to show up on this thread, isn't it?