The growing peril of war with China over Taiwan

This is the same Ambassador who noted:<p>Tian&#x27;anmen, 1989:<p>“The Politburo’s response to the mob scene at ‘Tian’anmen’ stands as a monument to overly cautious behavior on the part of the leadership, not as an example of rash action,” Freeman wrote at the time. “I do not believe it is acceptable for any country to allow the heart of its national capital to be occupied by dissidents intent on disrupting the normal functions of government, however appealing to foreigners their propaganda may be.” National Review, 2020-07-31.[0]<p>[0]<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Charles_W._Freeman_Jr.#China" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Charles_W._Freeman_Jr.#China</a>

The author blames the US for chipping away its treaty agreements and paints the Taiwanese as naively pinning their hopes on US intervention, but China is far from an innocent party in this.<p>There would be no treaty or peace if Taiwan actively tried to arm itself back in the 80s, 90s, or 2000s.<p>I’m not sure what koolaid the ambassador is drinking, but we’re (as in, the US and most of the world) past any pretenses.

Not sure I agree with the ambassador that China handed Taiwan over to Japan “nonchalantly,” in 1895. He certainly is more the expert than I am, but a lot of potential “bad China takes,” in this piece.

I recently asked Chinese coworkers (young, very educated, living abroad) about what they think about this and there were both supporting forceful annexation and thought it will happen someday. Given their profile, the average Chinese staying at home is probably thinking the same too, and supporting invasion too. Pretty depressing.

It appears to me that we’re back into imperialism before the end of the century. Who will stop China if they want to expand? Nobody stopped Russia a few years ago. Hong Kong got fucked this year and nobody did anything.<p>China could expand into Kashmir and definitively “own” the South China Sea, including Taiwan.<p>Who will go to war with China? No one.

I have been in Taiwan multiple times on business, but all trips came in two distinct time periods: about 1998 and then 2008. Each time I have spent several weeks there - not a two day trip like airport-hotel-client-hotel-airport. I had a chance to spend weekends with colleagues, and observe how locals spend time.<p>During the first stint (1998) I was impressed how proudly anti-communist the Taiwanese were. Proud of their independence and held Chiang Kai-Shek in high regard. The Chiang Kai-Shek mausoleum was bustling with crowds - I enjoed strolling around there on weekends. During my second stint (2008), the Chiang Kai-Shek mausoleum was a sorry sight - almost nobody around, most of it closed off for &quot;renovation&quot; and it felt desolate. I also detected a significant shift towards unification with China among my colleagues. I can only hope that Taiwan paid close attention to Hong Kong. I&#x27;d hate to see such a bustling, open and full of great people country fall under Chinese control.