Blinken Says China Wants to Seize Taiwan on ‘Much Faster Timeline’

Bloomberg | October 17, 2022 at 5:13 PM CDT | Iain Marlow

[Zhang Fei]

Link only Bloomberg article that may explain why the chip embargo basically went into place overnight. It's very possible that Xi Jinping will move on Taiwan in the next two years. And that is presumably why Biden has given 3 warnings to China, and Xi is downplaying any new policy on Taiwan. The big game we've been waiting for in the Western Pacific? It's coming. Anyone invested in equities should prepare to assume the position. What position? BOHICA.

[Maris Crane]

I apologize...I saw the name Blinken and am in the habit of going right past anything to do with that idiot.

This poseur pretending to be Secretary of State is a....can’t think of an insult that would describe him...is such a loser that he thought when he was at State he could SAVE THE WORLD.

And when he ACTUALLY BECAME SECRETARY OF STATE he showed that he is nothing but a CLERk.

[Zhang Fei]

[This is why the kiddie sniffer lost $84 billion in materiel in Afghanistan]

---

That’s a fake number, as will become evident if you looking at where it came from - the Afghan Security Funding #:

https://www.sigar.mil/pdf/quarterlyreports/2021-07-30qr-appendices.pdf#page=9
https://www.cbo.gov/system/files?file=2018-10/54219-oco_spending.pdf#page=20

Basically, most of it was spent on payroll and transportation (airlifts and payments to Pakistani truck drivers, Taliban tolls, et al), with about $7b consisting of actual hardware. Much of the hardware is light infantry vehicles of the kind we’re handing to Ukraine, but not much use near the front lines in a peer or near-peer conflict. As of 2016, it came to 208 aircraft (Russian and US utility choppers and prop CAS aircraft); more than 42,000 pickup trucks; more than 22,000 Humvees; nearly 9,000 MTV cargo and transport trucks; nearly 1,000 mine resistant ambush protected vehicles; nearly 200 M113 tin cans; and hundreds of thousands of rifles, pistols, machine guns, grenade launchers, rocket propelled weapons and night vision goggles.

https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-17-667r.pdf#page=11

Note that these are consumables. Equipment wears out in rough terrain, gets totaled, blown up, shot to pieces, etc. Given Afghan maintenance capabilities, I suspect much of it was inoperable after Biden withdrew the foreign maintenance contractors months ahead of the final departure of US troops.

I don’t blame GOP pols for using the $83b number as a talking point. It’s possible they don’t actually know or haven’t personally looked into it. The Democrats lie far more egregiously, and about things closer to home. But the fact is the real number is something like $18b if we assume transportation costs are zero (unlikely in Afghanistan’s rugged terrain, complicated by the fact that it’s landlocked), and much of it is pretty mundane stuff.

[mad_as_he$$]

bkmk

[ronnie raygun]

This administration needs to be put on trial and prosecuted

[sushiman]

China is not going to invade Taiwan .

[popdonnelly]

The CCP wants a corner on the microchip industry. They don’t care about Chinese dying to get it, since they have no regard for human life.

[ballplayer]

Yes thanks ahole

[Mashood]

Blinkin = Sociopathic Putz

[oldasrocks]

I’m an old man but would volunteer to defend Taiwan in a heartbeat. As having been there multiple times the Taiwanese people are great. Much freer than here.
It is amazing how they help each other. Honest people. A lady chased us down 2 blocks as we had forgot our change for example. I had left it for a tip and they won’t accept tips.

[Justa]

“China is not going to invade Taiwan.”

All they have to do is declare Taiwan a Deep State outpost and threaten nuclear war and the FReeper Quisling/KGB Troll Brigade will be along to support China’s territorial conquest of Taiwan. They’ll even make .gifs and .jpgs to support why Taiwan should not be sovereign and Taiwanese must die.

[DoughtyOne]

Thanks for the mention. That isn’t an aspect of the region I
had considered before.

[DoughtyOne]

My concerns had been the people, chips, and other tech.

[grey_whiskers]

Nonetheless, the equipment lost will have to be replaced; and the money for that taken from funding for something else.

[grey_whiskers]

China can wreck Taiwan until Taiwan begs to be taken.

It would be quite costly for China to attempt an amphibious landing across the Straits of Formosa; but China-based airpower will keep the US from doing much about it.

[buwaya]

If China can keep the US from preventing the Chinese from establishing a blockade of Taiwan, the Chinese will win without an invasion.

This is going to be a war at sea and in the air.

Its an open question whether China has the airpower and technology available to achieve this against the US. The comparable-tech Russians haven’t been able to break the seemingly obsolete Ukrainian air defense so far.

And the Russian missile forces have been unable to shut down Ukrainian logistics or eliminate its airfields, much less its air defense.

Russia has about as many first line aircraft as China, and as many missile systems. Some of the Russian tech seems better than that of China, even now. It was only a couple of years ago that the Chinese managed to make decent aircraft engines for their own Su-27 derived planes.

Maybe the Chinese have a more efficient military, otherwise, than Russia. Who knows.

[buwaya]

The equipment lost in Afgh. does not need to be replaced as it was (nearly all) already in the hands of the Afghan army, which no longer exists. No need to replace it!

And the US itself has been selling or giving away a lot of its counterinsurgency gear.

[ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas]

It will take more than our subs > IMO.

You could very well be right. One thing I am wondering is whether the US and/or China has developed new weapons or significantly improved existing ones. I hope we don't find out the hard way.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Zhang Fei.

• China's armed forces recruiting dozens of British ex military pilots in 'threat to UK interests' [10/17/2022]
• "China is our [Taliban's] most important partner [09/02/2021]
• Russia-Ukraine War Accelerates Collapse of China's Belt and Road Global Strategy [04/23/2022]
• 'Bad situation': Soaring US dollar spreads pain worldwide [10/18/2022]
• Can Any of These Countries Replace China as the Factory of the World? [10/17/2022]
• China announces indefinite pause to releasing economic statistics [10/17/2022]
• To understand China you need to understand whiteness, yet it's missing from the conversation [10/17/2022]

[DoughtyOne]

I’m sure we both have some surprises up our sleeves.

Modern nations need to be very careful about clever uses
of old school technology too.

Folks can come up with some very effective weapons if
they put their mind to it cleverly, using nothing more
than old school tech.

[GOPJ]

If China wants Joe AND democrats to stay in charge - will Taiwan become an October Surprise?