China’s President Xi Jinping has said that “reunification” with Taiwan “must be fulfilled”, as heightened tensions over the island continue.
Mr Xi said unification should be achieved peacefully, but warned that the Chinese people had a “glorious tradition” of opposing separatism.
In response, Taiwan said its future lay in the hands of its people.
Taiwan considers itself a sovereign state, while China views it as a breakaway province.
Conservative MPs took to social media this week to blast the Liberal government’s inaction on recent incursions into Taiwanese airspace by China.
Both MP Michael Chong and recently-elected MP Melissa Lantsman made separate statements on social media calling for immediate action to support the island nation.
A new report from The Wall Street Journal says that contingents of U.S. special operations forces and U.S. Marines have been making more regular rotational deployments to Taiwan for at least a year now. This news comes a day after Chiu Kuo Cheng, the island’s defense minister, said publicly that Chinese forces would be capable of launching a “full-scale” invasion operation across the Taiwan Strait with far fewer risks than they face now by 2025.
The island is slipping from China’s control
Over the weekend, China sent waves of warplanes racing towards Taiwan in numbers not seen before, forcing the democratic self-ruled island to scramble fighters and ready its air defense missiles. The United States says it is ‘very concerned’ by Beijing’s ‘provocative’ actions and reiterated Washington’s ‘rock solid’ commitment to the island.
According to Taiwan’s defense ministry, 38 Chinese aircraft, including nuclear-capable bombers and J-16 fighter jets, entered its air defense identification zone on Friday, and another 39 did so again on Saturday — the largest incursion to date.
Hmmmmm – China could mount full-scale invasion by 2025, Taiwan defence minister says
China will be ready to mount a full-scale invasion of Taiwan by 2025, the island’s defence minister has said, describing current tensions as the worst in 40 years.
Speaking to the China Times on Wednesday, Chiu Kuo-cheng said China was capable now but would be completely prepared to launch an invasion in three years.
“By 2025 China will bring the cost and attrition to its lowest. It has the capacity now, but it will not start a war easily, having to take many other things into consideration,” he said.
Joe Biden told reporters when asked about China’s provocations against Taiwan in recent days—more than 150 Chinese warplanes flew uncomfortably close to the island recently—that he and President Xi have agreed to abide by the “Taiwan Agreement.”
That statement caused a lot of reporters to scratch their heads. There is no U.S.-China “Taiwan Agreement” on record.
h/t Mauser98
Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu is sounding the alarm on a looming war between the island nation and Communist China.
Wu says if China were to actually strike, Taiwan would be ready to defend itself.
Will China Invade Taiwan? Despite the recent saber-rattling, probably not any time soon. It lacks the amphibious capacity to land the 30-plus brigades it will need to overcome the island’s defense. “China does not appear to be currently investing in the equipment likely required for a direct assault on Taiwan, such as large amphibious assault ships and medium landing craft necessary for a large beach assault.”
Tensions are rising between China and Japan over the Senkaku Islands. Although, if the Chinese Communist Party tries to take Taiwan, Japan has promised to defend its island neighbor. According to Japan’s defense minister on Thursday, a free Taiwan is integral to maintaining peace and stability in the region.
China has finally taken control of Taiwan, according to social networking giant Twitter, which redirects some searches for the word Taiwan to results for the word China.
China’s regime has long laid claim to Taiwan, an independent island founded by those fleeing communism. Journalist Jeryl Bier on Friday morning noticed Twitter’s discrepancy, which mirrors Chinese Communist Party talking points. The Washington Free Beacon confirmed the pattern and estimated that between four and five tweets with the word China show up for every one that references Taiwan.
A senior Biden administration official said US policy on Taiwan had not changed after President Joe Biden appeared to suggest the US would defend the island if it were attacked, a deviation from a long-held US position of “strategic ambiguity”.
In an interview aired by ABC News on Thursday, Biden was asked about the effects of the chaotic US withdrawal from Afghanistan and responses in Chinese media telling Taiwan this showed Washington could not be relied on to come to its defence.
On Sunday, the Baoji Municipal Committee of the CCP reposted a video to the YouTube-like platform Xigua. In the 5-minute video, created by military commentary channel “Liujun Taolue” (六军韬略), the narrator calls for nuclear attacks against Japan if it attempts to defend Taiwan from a Chinese attack and proposes a “Japan Exception Theory.”
A panel of superforecasters considers the likelihood of an imminent global conflict
We’ve been lucky, for the last 70 or so years, to live through an essentially unprecedented period of world peace. It doesn’t necessarily feel like that, because there are always enough small wars and conflicts to fill 24-hour news channels – but there have been no direct conflicts between major powers since the Korean War of 1950-1953.
Related: Beijing issues protest after Japan signals that it would join US to defend Taiwan in case of Chinese attack
It’s a little-known fact that there are two Chinas.
One China unleashed a pandemic on the world that killed close to 4 million people and has the World Health Organization in its back pocket. The other isn’t even allowed to join WHO.
One China is a destabilizing force, poised to start World War III. The other wants only peaceful relations with its neighbors and the rest of the world.
Hu Xijin, the editor-in-chief of The Global Times, which is seen as Beijing’s mouthpiece on foreign policy to the world, said China should retaliate with ‘long-range strikes’ if Australia gets involved in a potential military conflict over Taiwan.
It is nothing if not rich in irony, this latest dramatic plot twist in the ongoing “world stage” soap opera chronicling the embarrassing ups and downs of the Trudeau government’s unrequited affections for Chinese strongman Xi Jinping. Of all people, Taiwan’s heroic president, the 64-year-old feminist and liberal Tsai Ing-wen, has been forced to endure the misfortune of being dragged into the script for this week’s episode.
