[Wuli]

“Weird. Both Xi and Putin seems to be facing terminal health problems. If this story is true, Taiwan can breath easier”

Nothing will change regarding the CCP policies and threats toward Taiwan. It was not a policy created by and set by Xi, it reflected LONG range planning by the CCP and will not change under any Xi successor. One of the goals of building the economy was to build the military to take back Taiwan. Taiwan represents to the CCP an “unfinished chapter” of the civil war they won over the nationalists, and it remains a constant thorn to CCP. Only a “revolution” that removes the CCP political monopoly in China has a chance of changing the mainland policy toward Taiwan.

[canuck_conservative]

One of the goals of building the economy was to build the military to take back Taiwan

True, that hasn't changed, but maybe if Russia gets bloodied enough in Ukraine then China, like other countries, will finally get the message that hostile military attacks are now really costly ... especially when going against an enemy that's good in high-tech (like Taiwan)

[Mariner]

“Nothing will change regarding the CCP policies and threats toward Taiwan.”

Nor will anything change in Russia once Putin is gone.

People in the US have been trained over decades to point their animus toward the leaders of countries, rather than the institutional state. Our government and media are responsible for this as it allows them to avoid answering the questions: Why are our interests at odds with their interests? What ARE our respective interests?

And nothing will change in the US either. The “deep state” in all countries is in charge of policy.

It’s institutional.