pootylicious wrote:Taiwanese people don't want to defend their own sovereignty, why should American boys and girls be sent to die for the Taiwanese? These people don't even care about freedom and liberty. They only care about money. They're Chinese. Leave them be with the other Chinese.

This wealthy, high IQ island, maintains for the national defense:

no nukes
a fake Marine Corps
four subs, half of WW2 vintage!

For a country that imports almost all of its energy, that's only pretending to have a useful military.

Random Dude wrote: ↑Wed Jan 17, 2024 3:03 pm . ....... .

So now, what I 'think' is happening is... the CCP would rather carry on as usual and just let the Taiwan issue remain in the background, pretty much quietly let it go, but every time some foreign country makes a show of telling China to abandon their reunification ideas, it puts China in the position where they have to keep face and threaten to take Taiwan back, because face is everything in that culture. I can't help wondering if that's a deliberate thing.

I guess there's a chance Xi might be on a power trip too, wanting to be the next Ghengis Khan or something and throwing common sense to the wind to stroke his ego.

John Bingham wrote: ↑Fri Jan 19, 2024 11:19 am

phuketrichard wrote: ↑Fri Jan 19, 2024 10:14 am wait till Jan 20th when trump takes office and lets see what develops

Okay, let's wait till tomorrow.

orichá wrote: ↑Fri Jan 19, 2024 9:27 am

Random Dude wrote: ↑Wed Jan 17, 2024 3:03 pm . ....... .

So now, what I 'think' is happening is... the CCP would rather carry on as usual and just let the Taiwan issue remain in the background, pretty much quietly let it go, but every time some foreign country makes a show of telling China to abandon their reunification ideas, it puts China in the position where they have to keep face and threaten to take Taiwan back, because face is everything in that culture. I can't help wondering if that's a deliberate thing.

I guess there's a chance Xi might be on a power trip too, wanting to be the next Ghengis Khan or something and throwing common sense to the wind to stroke his ego.

Google the Chinese military. It is huge now. Really!

Yes, but to play the Devil's advocate, part of the social contract that I couldn't remember when I posted about it before was to ensure China wouldn't be invaded and occupied by foreign powers again. They had what they call their 'century of humiliation', which left deep scars on their culture and society.
A strong military is seen by the people as a vital protection against that happening again, it doesn't necessarily mean the government intends to invade Taiwan.

Everything depends on the psyche of a few people and particular and arbitrarily evolving geopolitical positions.

True. Xi is an unknown element, who knows what's going on in his head. Like I said before, he might have decided to go on a Ghengis Khan-style mission. Or, he might just be responding to outside goading to maintain face with the people.

newkidontheblock wrote: ↑Wed Jan 24, 2024 5:23 pm China is in the midst of a recession now.

Unemployment 20%, among the youth, 40%+. Millions have lost jobs, even the government is cutting back on military, research, and civil servant salaries. Everyone is scraping and downgrading lifestyles or fleeing back to the provinces. Meanwhile pension tax has gone to 40%+ of income with more increases in the future. The rich are going on vacation outside of China, taking an estimated $140 Billion with them to deposit overseas.

Going to war provides full employment, providing the government can issue the huge debts to pay for it.

Only one person holds the answer, and it sure isn’t me.