I think they are taking China's concerns seriously. That's why they are arming Taiwan.
I'm tired of this idea that the people of a region shouldn't have the choice of whether or not they are a part of a country. This applies to Taiwan, Ukraine, Chechnya, Palestine, Catalan, Tibet, or anyone else that wants to break off from a country people other than them decided they were a part of.
Some of the states suceeding might actually be a relatively peaceful way to get beyond the current political divide in the US. Though both of those states (and most of the others) are more purple than red or blue, so it's complicated and would probably require a mechanism to separate from the separation, kinda like West Virginia breaking away from Virginia when it broke away from the USA. All or nothing referendums probably aren't a great way to do something like this.
If they honestly wanted to leave Ukraine to join Russia, I don't think Ukraine should stop them. But a) it complicates things when a country sends its own people to get a region to vote to join that country, b) it's also further complicated when there's a divide in the population (which also likely applies to the regions I mentioned), and c) I don't trust a referendum run by today's Russia after it invaded and displaced populations in those regions.
But yeah, I don't just believe this when it's politically convenient, though I would prefer to see such a mechanism used to enable self-governance rather than leaving one country to join another as ultimately I am anti-empire.
When US support a genocide in the middle east under the statement "Isreal have the right to defend itself by attacking others" It is amazing that China still haven't rolled in with their military in Taiwan.
They already know we don't care about genocide of middle eastern people, they're worried we'll support them with military equipment like Ukraine. They're even using Russia's playbook. "Stop helping them prepare to defend against an invasion or else."
China knows about the Commander of the Join Chiefs of Staff's priorities and the contingency Global Campaign Plans for INDOPACOM if they fuck around too hard. Give STRATCOM and SOCOM a good reason to let loose. The Fast Attacks need the target practice anyways.
The only thing that brought the two countries together was getting one over the USSR. Divide and conquer is the oldest trick in the book. After that, China threatening the US's top spot as economic superpower made them the bad guys. The US hates competition unless it drives down worker wages.
I don't understand how they think arming Taiwan will make China less aggressive about this? How would the US react if China had a military base in Cuba like the US has in Taiwan? Of course China is being aggressive about this, it's a threat
Also Taiwan doesn't exactly see itself as distinct form the mainland in the way the article implies. Taiwan insists that it is the real china and the mainland is their territory while the mainland believes it is the real china and Taiwan is it's territory. It's a strange situation.
China's being aggressive because Xi is throwing a tantrum over not getting what he wants. It's nothing new, nor is it anything we haven't heard before from him. I don't know why this is considered news.
Confidently said by someone who doesn't understand the Chinese governmental system. It isn't a dictatorship, not everything Xi says goes. Major decisions are discussed thoroughly by a large board before any action is taken. If Xi was making shitty childish decisions that the party saw as short sighted and foolish the party would act against him. He isn't all powerful.
"China expressed its willingness to develop healthy and stable military-to-military relations with the United States on the basis of equality and respect," said the defence ministry readout.
In 2022, China refused to resume talks as a protest move after then US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August 2022.
Their resumption early this week follows a deal struck by Chinese president Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Joe Biden during a meeting in November.
Separately, Taiwan has said it does not consider the launch of a Chinese satellite over the island's southern airspace on Tuesday an act of election interference.
Chinese state media said the satellite, named the Einstein Probe, is used to "observe mysterious transient phenomena".
The island's main opposition party the Kuomintang (KMT) criticised the "arbitrary" use of an islandwide alert as fear-mongering.
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