Posted on 05/14/2020 8:01:44 PM PDT by cba123
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — U.S. Navy early on Thursday (May 14) posted pictures of one of its warships sailing through the sensitive Taiwan Strait for the sixth time this year.
The passage took place on Wednesday (May 13), when the guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell (DDG 85) steamed through the 180-kilometer-wide strait separating Taiwan and China as "part of ongoing operations in the Indo-Pacific," according to the post on the U.S Pacific Fleet Facebook page.
The vessel was sailing southward off Taiwan's west coast but did not make known its destination. Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense later issued a statement, noting that it was fully aware of the transit, which it characterized as routine.
(Excerpt) Read more at taiwannews.com.tw ...
Oh. Again.
You can yawn but I think there must be a naval confrontation in the coming years.
I pray it is decisive and brutal on the Chinese and they escalate things no further afterwards.
BTW, I respect your posts very much and we both might be yawning 2 dozen times before that battle happens.
Maybe 3 dozen.
But it will happen.
And God be with us when it does.
My son was on a destroyer stationed in Japan. The fleet went up through the straights. That was around 2007 or 2008. The first time the fleet had gone through the straights in decades, if I remember correctly. It was a serious thing.
The naval confrontation will most likely not be in the Strait but somewhere around the Spratly Islands, South China Sea. China has set its course on extending sovereignty there, against the claims of several of its neighbors, and history as well.
We oughta sail through the Taiwan Straight with a couple of carrier battle groups with their usual nuclear attack subs plus a fleet of bombers and fighters overhead.
That would make sense.
I was just thinking about what China said about “non peaceful” measures would be taken if Taiwan was allowed into the WHO conference, or something along those lines.
And how it was time to unite the two.
But it was likely rhetoric.
When N Korea launched its surprise attack on the South, Truman sent the entire Seventh Fleet into the Strait. Just to make sure China got the message. They did. But the PLAN is far stronger today than ever before, and CCP more threatening to Taiwan; so it is incumbent on us to assert our strengths.
A D-day style invasion across the strait is unlikely (Taiwan has no real beaches, just high bluffs—bad landing zones, and heavily defended) but missile attacks on key targets are an option. Special ops troops both airborne and marine, could be used to sow chaos; and CCP has large numbers of resources seeded among the people of Taiwan to help out as fifth column saboteurs when the time comes.
CCP has never backed away from the eventual absorption of Taiwan into the Borg of Communist Mainland. They have never repudiated that the West is their mortal enemy. So while this round may be rhetoric, the next may be a surprise offensive by any of The means mentioned above.
Let us hope we are ready, after 30 years of Propitiation and appeasement and downright treason by the likes of Bill Clinton And the Bushes in the 90s.
Great post.
I was born in ‘68 and haven’t read enough of the history of how nixon dealt with China.
Seems like he was a hero for opening things up with them.
Either he did it in a much different and cautious way or it would seem like he started this all.
Did he just open up discussions and dialogue? that would have been good, I guess.
I dunno enough about the times.
Likely at the urging of Henry Kissinger.
There's nothing wrong with discussions and dialogue.
The problem is Nixon got nothing in return (as far as I can tell).
I like Reagan’s approach much better.
Let em know what you think of em.
Ramp up defense spending.
And THEN sit down with them.
War in the Pacific is inevitable. The Marines are going back to what Marines do. The Air Force is flexing its bomber and attack muscles. The Army is getting leaner and more flexible. My problem is with the major component: The USN. The incidents of billion dollar warships crashing and weak leadership is disturbing. The fact that COVID “sunk” a CVN is shocking.
Yeah the navy would be an important part of that!
They so can’t do jack sh!t about it.
And it infuriates them.
And pleases me.
Don’t worry about the US Navy.
they’ll do just fine.
DJT should specifically order the USNS Buttranger (AKA the Harvey Milk) to transit the Taiwan Straight. The Chicoms would understand the insult.
You would think that this is a normal ocean passage that many ships use on a regular basis?
The reason for that, is there is a HUGE section of America’s so called “leadership” which sold out America.
Plain and simple.
We need to ban anyone who invests internationally, from our government.
COMPLETE ban.
Everyone is welcome to invest where they want.
But nobody who invests internationally, can work anywhere in government.
Immediately. Nobody.
For real.
We oughta sail through the Taiwan Straight with a couple of carrier battle groups with their usual nuclear attack subs plus a fleet of bombers and fighters overhead.
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A treasure trove of Intel for the Chinese!! Make sure it happen on a lucky day too!
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