Taiwan: If China attacks, it'll be destroyed

Wednesday, Jan 01, 2003,Page 8 World events are presenting you with many options. The US is preparing to attack Iraq and still has considerable military and intelligence assets focused on Afghanistan and the war on terror.

North Korea is causing alarm while a new president has been elected in South Korea who seems more worried about US troops than Pyongyang's nuclear weapons.

India and Pakistan still appear close to conflict (and all those nuclear missiles you supplied to Pakistan may soon provide a rich payoff).

The US is busy and distracted with the "Axis of Evil" and the world is full of turmoil.

But, there are negative trends to consider as well. Your economy is filled with inconsistencies: you claim high growth, yet your consumption of energy appears to have declined and you have dangerously large amounts of bad debt.

The US has made serious military inroads to your west, undoing years of steady Chinese diplomacy in Central Asia.

Further, US military-to-military cooperation with Taiwan is increasing, as is the flow of arms to the "rebellious province."

But, you know that a successful military adventure would serve to unite the masses behind the Chinese Communist Party while burying concerns of corruption and economic malaise.

China's military has never been stronger and the US has never appeared weaker in the Pacific. China is a vibrant, growing power and Asia's natural hegemon, while you perceive the US as a declining power, too self-absorbed and accustomed to comfort to be a threat to a powerful and hungry nation such as China.

You think this a time for opportunity, for action, believing that the US could not answer an attack on Taiwan until it was too late. Clearly you are preparing for conflict. Your non-stop war games opposite Taiwan grow ever larger and more elaborate while at the same time making your opponents numb to their vast scale. You have even taken the extraordinary step this month of encouraging Chinese citizens to own gold -- a convertible form of money not easily subject to US economic pressure.

Because the US will be busy and distracted for several months, military action against Taiwan would achieve complete surprise -- no one in Washington, or even Taipei for that matter, expects it. You would enjoy initial success, landing hundreds of thousands of soldiers by sea and air before the US could react. You believe that Washington, presented with the inevitable, a mainland conquest of Taiwan backed up by the threat of nuclear war -- either by proxy through North Korea, or by a direct threat to Los Angeles (again) -- would back down. China would reign supreme in Asia with even Tokyo and Seoul kowtowing to Beijing.

But first, a caution from history: Japan had similar misperceptions about the US in 1941. Imperial Japan's leaders convinced themselves that one strong blow would cause the US to cower and ask for peace, giving Tokyo what Tokyo wanted: a free hand in Asia. As others have done, they mistook the US' love of peace for weakness.

But, what if the US did fight for Taiwan's freedom and democracy? How might that affect your plans for Taiwan?

America's considerable submarine fleet will be mostly available in the coming months, so the US would soon break your blockade of Taiwan while the Chinese fleet would be resting at the bottom of the ocean with scattered remnants confined to port. The US Air Force will be occupied with Iraq for the briefest of times and could soon be refocused on the Western Pacific, severing your air supply link to Taiwan. As your ability to supply your troops on Taiwan diminished, their ranks would melt away. Soon, even the masses in China would know of the disaster and the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) grip on power would evaporate.

Meanwhile, your attempts to use nuclear weapons to intimidate the US, Japan and South Korea would likely fail -- at least in the US, and that's what really counts. If you learned only one thing about the American people after Sept. 11 it should be this: they aren't much impressed by threats from thugs.

The US might pay a terrible price to preserve democracy on Taiwan -- but the price paid by the CCP would be even higher: complete annihilation.

Chuck DeVore served in the Reagan-era Pentagon as a special assistant for foreign affairs and is the co-author of China Attacks.

Actually, a Chinese nuclear attack on Los Angeles is an electoral plus for Bush 2004, a minus for Hillary!

The overrating of China is not so much a product of Free Republic as it is of Beijing and its mossy beetles.

Condoleezza Rice delivered Clint Eastwood's line to Gen. Xiong Guangkai:

"Go ahead; make my day."

As for Clancy, too many pages, easily overturned by CAIR.

As for Kim Jong Lips-and-teeth Il, a deniable sock puppet, expendable.

But the rhetoric and the gaming dare not become attack--only on Falun Gong women, Buddhist nuns, other lambs.

Jiang and Hu are paper tigers.

Taiwan: If China attacks, it'll be destroyed

How silly. Why would China want Taiwan "destroyed"? They have made a fortune from Hong Kong. They want (much much) more of the same with Taiwan.

I frankly am beginning to really not give a crap about Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, etc. Let them fend for themselves. They have little we want and they all desperately need us to buy their products. This is not the Cold War. Let China dominate these stupid countries. Who gives a sh*t anymore? So long as the oil is ours and the towelheads become our slaves.

"Who gives a sh*t anymore? So long as the oil is ours and the towelheads become our slaves."

This is by far one of the the most ignorant comments that I have ever read.

FYI, The Taiwanese are by far the most appreciative of US forces than any of the others which you mentioned.

Get a grip, and then try expanding the horizon of your intelligence.

But our store shelves are packed with Made in China crap. The business leaders who moved our manufacturing to China would not be very happy and they and their lobbyists have more clout in Washington than we do. Where would we get our shoes, our toys, our electronics if the U.S faced-off against China? Walmart and K-mart could move into a closet if the U.S. halted China's imports. I don't think China is willing to lose Walmart, K-mart and all the other Chi-com loving business the U.S. has to offer and it's citizens who buy this crap.

I don't know how the elites lean. But don't assume that the internal unrest is the key issue. The folks who run China understand the extreme strategic importance of Taiwan (the 'unsinkable aircraft carrier' off the coast of China). It controls shipping lanes to Japan.

If they intend to drive the US out of the Western Pacific--and I believe that they want to do that--then they need to take Taiwan and soon.

China may very well start WWIII, but other third world countries such as India, Pakistan and North Korea are just as suspect. It's all speculation anyway.

Yes, I seriously believe that Taiwan doesn't have nukes .. at least not yet. I also predict that in time, Taiwan will go back to China .. just like Macau and Hong Kong did. China believes that Taiwan belongs to them, and they are determined to bring it back into their fold. I know that people reject this possibility .. but China is a patient country and time is on their side.

Israel is quiet? hmmm guess you haven't heard that they are selling weapons to China. Makes one wonder what else these so called "friends" of ours, are selling them.

Lastly, I am not a "feller"? How old one has to be to, mistake a female with a nick like "CometBaby", for a "feller". hehe

You said .. "The US should kick Chinese ass all over the place"

Do you honestly think that such silly big talk is a sign of intelligence? Have you evaulated the population there and the fact that they have nukes .. and may soon have the capability (thanks to greedy Clinton) of delivering them to the United States? Are you under the impression such a war would be fought only in China? I have news for you .. wars are not won by big mouths spouting big talk .. and a nuclear war is not going to produce bragging rights for either side.

You said .. "I don't know how anyone can make such a foolish comment as you made."

Anyone who would make a post as ridiculous as yours is either ignorant or naive .. heck, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt ..

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