[JohnnyZ]

They couldn’t afford the humiliation of defeat.

Yet another in a long, long list of reasons that China would only attack Taiwan as a last desperate measure to save a crumbling regime -- which is certainly possible.

Taiwan makes a useful bogeyman and patriotic rallying cry for the ChiComs. It takes the spotlight off their own serious internal social problems.

[mainepatsfan]

Agreed. Just like what triggered the Falkland Islands’ war.

[Strategerist]

I’d actually sort of welcome a Chinese attack on Taiwan for that very reason - failure would likely bring down the whole ChiCom regime.

[NYC Republican]

Yet another in a long, long list of reasons that China would only attack Taiwan as a last desperate measure to save a crumbling regime -- which is certainly possible. Taiwan makes a useful bogeyman and patriotic rallying cry for the ChiComs. It takes the spotlight off their own serious internal social problems.

Exactly analagous to the situation in the mid-east. The dictatorships there have NO interest in resolving the Israeli-Pali conflict. The Israelis are their boogey-man, and having a peaceful situation there benefits NONE of these regimes.