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Beijing opposes ‘Taiwan independence’ through ‘law amendment’

This came as Beijing claims sovereignty over the democratic island and has increased military incursions in Taiwan….reports Asian Lite News

China-Taiwan relationship has been strained for years but in a stern warning to Taipei, Beijing opposed “Taiwan independence” attempts through “law amendment.”

Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office said that such moves by Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) are being closely watched, in response to a media query on Wednesday, reported Xinhua.

The DPP, despite the resolute opposition and stern warnings from various parties, persisted with such attempts, which would only boomerang in the end, Zhu said.

The spokesperson urged all responsible political parties and people with a vision on the Taiwan island to expose the DPP’s plot and take concrete actions to safeguard peace across the Taiwan Strait and the wellbeing of people in Taiwan, reported Xinhua.

Zhu also called on Taiwan compatriots to stay highly vigilant, consciously oppose and resist any attempt to seek “Taiwan independence” through “law amendment,” and avoid being hijacked by the DPP onto its chariot for “Taiwan independence.”

This came as Beijing claims sovereignty over the democratic island and has increased military incursions in Taiwan.

Taiwan is a democracy of almost 24 million people located off the southeastern coast of mainland China.

The Taiwan independence movement is a political movement to seek formal international recognition of Taiwan as an independent, sovereign state and in opposition to Chinese unification. China currently claims it is a province of the People’s Republic of China.

US not to change Taiwan policy

After convening a virtual meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, US President Joe Biden on Tuesday (local time) said that Washington is “not going to change its Taiwan policy”, reported Sputnik.

“We are not going to change our policy at all,” Biden said.

“They have to decide – they, Taiwan, not us – and we are not encouraging independence. We are encouraging that they do exactly what the Taiwan Act requires,” Sputnik quoted Biden as saying.

On Monday (local time), Biden held a virtual meeting with Xi for over three hours.

Both leaders exchanged views on bilateral relations on issues of fundamental importance shaping the development of China-US relations.

The meeting saw the two leaders locking horns on the issue of Taiwan.

Xi had said that China will be compelled to take resolute measures, should the separatist forces for “Taiwan independence” “provoke us, force our hands or even cross the red line.”

Chinese President had noted the new wave of tensions across the Taiwan Strait, and ascribed the tensions to attempts by the Taiwan authorities to look for US support for their independence agenda as well as the intention of some Americans to use the issue to contain China, Xinhua news agency reported.

“Such moves are extremely dangerous, just like playing with fire,” Xi said. “Whoever plays with fire will get burnt.”

Beijing claims full sovereignty over Taiwan, a democracy of almost 24 million people located off the southeastern coast of mainland China, despite the fact that the two sides have been governed separately for more than seven decades.

Taipei, on the other hand, has countered the Chinese aggression by increasing strategic ties with democracies including the US, which has been repeatedly opposed by Beijing. China has threatened that “Taiwan’s independence” means war. (ANI)

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World moves closer to Taiwan amid Chinese aggression

On the other hand, Europe has also extended its hand to Taiwan as the European parliament sent its first-ever formal delegation to visit the island, defying Beijing’s threats of retaliation…reports Asian Lite News

Amid China’s increased military threats, the world is inching closer to Taiwan while drawing a line in the sand and saying “enough is enough.”

Recently, delegates at the Taiwan day event at COP26 in Glasgow received a letter from the CCP’s Consul General to Scotland, advising them that they were being “exploited” by Taiwan “to endorse their independence obsession under the cover of climate co-operation” before warning them not to participate, Taiwan News reported.

In response to this letter, Stewart McDonald MP, who sits on the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee said, “Any attempt by the government of China, via its consulate in Edinburgh, to interfere with the work of democratically elected politicians in Scotland or the government of Taiwan and its delegation, should be given a very cold shoulder.”

On the other hand, Europe has also extended its hand to Taiwan as the European parliament sent its first-ever formal delegation to visit the island, defying Beijing’s threats of retaliation, The New York Times reported.

“We came here with a very simple, clear message; you are not alone,” Raphael Glucksmann, a French member of the European Parliament and the leader of the delegation, told Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen adding that “Europe is standing with you.”

Taiwan has been engaging with the world defying all the unrighteous indignation from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on the democratic island, Taiwan News reported.

The CCP always seems to get overwhelmed when it comes to the sovereignty of Taiwan, Author David Spencer said in Taiwan News.

Whenever Taiwan is described as a country, its national flag is used, or its name is mentioned, we are swiftly reminded by a plethora of CCP spokespeople that this ‘offends the Chinese people’, the author added.

This came as Beijing claims sovereignty over the democratic island and has increased military incursions in Taiwan.

Taiwan is a democracy of almost 24 million people located off the southeastern coast of mainland China.

Despite being governed separately for more than seven decades, China has also threatened that “Taiwan’s independence” means war. (ANI)

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Taiwan’s security critical to US: Envoy Hsiao

Hsiao said that whether Taiwan’s trade policy was consistent with international standards and based on scientific evidence was an issue that “the US has been concerned about for many years.”…reports Asian Lite News

Ahead of US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping scheduled virtual meeting on Monday, Taiwan’s Ambassador Hsiao Bi-khim said that the safety and security of her nation is an important and critical issue to America and to other stakeholders in the region.

When asked how the topic of Taiwan could be discussed during the meeting, Taiwan’s envoy to the US Hsiao Bi-khim said on Saturday that Taiwan has trust in the US and there is close communication between the two sides, reported Focus Taiwan.

Taiwan’s understanding is that the meeting is about managing competition, Hsiao said, and as there are currently multiple layers of competition between the US and China, the US will seek to ensure that it does not escalate into conflict and affect peace and stability in Taiwan.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen Pic credits Twitter @iingwen

The safety and security of Taiwan is an important and critical issue to the US and to other stakeholders in the region, Hsiao said.

Hsiao said that whether Taiwan’s trade policy was consistent with international standards and based on scientific evidence was an issue that “the US has been concerned about for many years.”

Hsiao made the comment in response to questions over whether an upcoming referendum aimed at overturning the decision by Taiwan’s government to allow pork imports that contain residue of the controversial livestock drug ractopamine would affect Taiwan-US relations if it is passed, reported Focus Taiwan.

Taiwan announced in August 2020 that it would allow in pork containing ractopamine starting in January, in an apparent effort to clear the way for a trade deal between Taipei and Washington.

Ractopamine is currently banned for use in pigs in Taiwan as well as in the European Union and China because of concerns over its safety to both animals and humans, but the US has long criticized Taiwan’s zero-tolerance policy on ractopamine in pork as an impediment to trade, reported Focus Taiwan. (ANI)

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Taiwan sends submarine near disputed South China Sea island

Currently, the Taiwanese navy operates two submarines built in the Netherlands during the 1980s, though Taiwan is now in the process of constructing its first indigenous submarine….reports Asian Lite News

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence in a report on Tuesday stated it sent an ageing Hai Lung submarine to participate in defence drills near its disputed South China Sea island of Taiping, reported local media.

Experts have warned that amid escalating tensions with Beijing, rather than launching a full-scale attack on Taiwan, the communist regime might try and wrest control over Taiping and the other Taiwanese-held island of Dongsha.

The Coast Guard Administration send vessels to patrol near the islands but that the Navy’s Hai Lung participated in regular drills in the area, the Liberty Times reported.

Currently, the Taiwanese navy operates two submarines built in the Netherlands during the 1980s, though Taiwan is now in the process of constructing its first indigenous submarine.

Representational pic (ANI)

The National Defence Ministry’s report did not reveal details about the timing and activities of the Hai Lung near Taiping Island. However, it emphasised that in peacetime, the submarine would be used to protect sea lanes and territorial waters, while in wartime, it could be ordered to attack enemy targets and lay mines, the Taiwanese newspaper reported.

The Hai Lung and its sister submarine, the Hai Hu, are equipped with six 21-inch torpedo tubes each. Both submarines can fire Harpoon missiles to destroy surface and underwater targets.

On Saturday, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence had stated that 20 Chinese fighter jets intruded into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ) within the past 24 hours. The ministry on Saturday evening stated that 10 Shenyang J-16 and six Chengdu J-10 fighter jets had infringed on Taiwan’s ADIZ. The 16 warplanes penetrated the southwest corner of Taiwan’s ADIZ, just northeast of the Dongsha Islands (Pratas Islands). (ANI)

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Taiwan warned of China’s electronic warfare

Su stressed that Beijing’s strategy was to subvert Taiwan’s air defence system and gain control over the air….reports Asian Lite News

Amid China’s increased incursions in Taiwan, a defence expert on Saturday warned that electronic warfare is the main threat from Beijing, reported local media.

Su Tzu-yun, a senior analyst at the Institute for National Defence and Security Research (INDSR), said that the type of aircraft China was sending to intrude into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ) showed it wanted to control electronic messaging in the war theatre, according to Taiwan News.

Su stressed that Beijing’s strategy was to subvert Taiwan’s air defence system and gain control over the air.

He also emphasised that Beijing aimed to provide erroneous radar information and launch attacks from the air catching the opposition completely unaware, reported CNA.

The tactic could be tested by sending wrong information about the weather to be captured by weather radars, he added.

Stating that 18 per cent or 99 of the 544 Chinese flights which intruded into Taiwan’s ADIZ in January-September this year were operated by aircraft with electronic warfare capabilities, Su said that it included the J-16 jet fighter and versions of the Y-8 and Y-9.

He emphasised that the planes could block enemy communications and also emit misleading information. (ANI)

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With nearly 200 aircraft, China ramps up military pressure on Taiwan

Taiwan has been witnessing an increase in incursions as Beijing claims full sovereignty over the democratic island…reports Asian Lite News

China has sent over 200 aircraft towards Taiwan for exercises in the month of October, ramping up military pressure on the self-ruled island.

On Sunday, the last day of October, eight PLA aircraft, namely one Y-8 anti-submarine warfare aircraft, six J-16 fighter jets and one KJ-500 early warning aircraft, entered the island of Taiwan’s self-proclaimed southwest air defence identification zone, with the Y-8 anti-submarine warfare aircraft also flying southeast of the island through the Bashi Channel, the island’s defence authorities said in a press release.

This brought the PLA aircraft activity tally in October to 196, according to Taipei-based news website ettoday.net.

This included the record-breaking 38 aircraft on October 1, 39 on October 2 and 56 on October 4.

Taiwan has been witnessing an increase in incursions as Beijing claims full sovereignty over the democratic island.

Taiwan is a democracy of almost 24 million people located off the southeastern coast of mainland China, despite the fact that the two sides have been governed separately for more than seven decades.

Taipei, on the other hand, has countered the Chinese aggression by increasing strategic ties with democracies including the US, which has been repeatedly opposed by Beijing.

China has also threatened that “Taiwan’s independence” means war. On June 1, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to complete reunification with self-ruled Taiwan and vowed to smash any attempts at formal independence for the island.

Meanwhile, the United States on Sunday expressed concerns over a range of actions taken by China that undermine the international rules-based order including against Taiwan.

The concerns were raised during a meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, according to a statement by the US government.

Blinken underscored the importance of maintaining open lines of communication to responsibly manage the competition between the world’s two largest economies, it said.

“He also raised concerns about a range of PRC actions that undermine the international rules-based order and that run counter to our values and interests and those of our allies and partners, including actions related to human rights, Xinjiang, Tibet, Hong Kong, the East and South China Seas, and Taiwan,” US State Department said in a statement.

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen Pic credits Twitter @iingwen

The talks come amid rising tensions at multiple fronts due to China’s assertiveness neighbouring waters, allegations of its human rights abuses and the increasing pressure it is placing on Taiwan.

The meeting between Blinken and Wang may help lay the groundwork for a planned virtual meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping later this year.

Blinken is accompanying Biden on the trip to Italy for the G-20 summit and later to Britain for the U.N. climate summit. Meanwhile, Wang Yi is also there for the summit.

China, in recent times, has ramped up pressure on Taiwan by sending a large number of military planes into its air defence identification zone. (ANI)

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Chinese threats growing ‘every day’: Taiwan Prez

Beijing claims full sovereignty over Taiwan despite the island’s self-governance for over seven decades….reports Asian Lite News

Amid the rising tensions between the United States and China, Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen on Tuesday (local time) said that the threat from Beijing is growing “every day,” and confirmed the presence of American troops on Taiwanese soil for training purposes.

In an interview with CNN, Tsai said Taiwan, which is located fewer than 200 kilometers (124 miles) away from China’s southeastern coast, was a “beacon” of democracy that needed to be defended to uphold faith worldwide in democratic values.

Beijing claims full sovereignty over Taiwan despite the island’s self-governance for over seven decades. Meanwhile, Taipei continues to counter the Chinese aggression by increasing strategic ties with democracies including the US.

“Here is this island of 23 million people trying hard every day to protect ourselves and protect our democracy and making sure that our people have the kind of freedom they deserve,” she said.

“If we fail, then that means people that believe in these values would doubt whether these are values that they (should) be fighting for.”

Taiwan and mainland China have been separately governed since the Nationalists retreated to Taiwan at the end of the Chinese civil war more than 70 years ago. Taiwan is now a flourishing democracy but the mainland’s ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) continues to view the island as an inseparable part of its territory — despite having never controlled it, CNN reported.

Today, relations between Taipei and Beijing are at their lowest point in decades. Earlier this month, China’s military sent a record number of warplanes into the air around Taiwan while diplomats and state-run media warned of a possible invasion unless the island toes the CCP line.

According to CNN, Tsai became the first Taiwan President in decades to acknowledge the presence of US troops on the island for training purposes. The last official US garrison left in 1979, the year Washington switched formal diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing, though last year media reports hinted at small deployments.

Tsai wouldn’t say exactly how many US military personnel are on the island at present but said it was “not as many as people thought.” “We have a wide range of cooperation with the US aiming at increasing our defense capability,” she said.

Earlier in a major speech on 8 October, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged “peaceful reunification” between Taiwan and the mainland. Although he made no mention of an invasion in the speech, Xi has previously refused to rule out military action.

Meanwhile, on Taiwan’s National Day on 10 October, in response to growing Chinese military action, Tsai said Taiwan could not be forced to follow “the path China had laid out for it.”

Speaking to CNN, Tsai also called on regional democratic partners, including Japan, South Korea and Australia, to help support the island. (ANI)

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No room for compromise over Taiwan: China

The White House attempted to clarify Biden’s comments to calm the situation, saying the President was “not announcing any change in our policy and there is no change in our policy….reports Asian Lite News

 China’s Foreign Ministry on Friday warned the US that China has no room for compromise when it comes to safeguarding sovereignty, security and territorial integrity, Global Times reported.

“No one should underestimate the strong resolve, determination and capability of the Chinese people to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin, urging the US to not “stand against the 1.4 billion Chinese people”.

“We urge the US side to earnestly abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques, be cautious in words and deeds on the Taiwan question, and refrain from sending any wrong signals to secessionists, so as not to seriously damage China-US relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits,” Wang said.

The US would come to Taiwan’s defence if the island faces a Chinese mainland “incursion,” US President Joe Biden confirmed on Thursday. The strongest comments from the 78-year-old leader were believed as challenging Chinese mainland’s redline and also deviating from Washington’s “strategic ambiguity” on the Taiwan question.

The White House attempted to clarify Biden’s comments to calm the situation, saying the President was “not announcing any change in our policy and there is no change in our policy.

Asked in a CNN town hall meeting on Thursday night about whether the US would protect Taiwan if China attacked, Biden said: “Yes,” and the US has “a commitment to do that,” US media reported.

Biden’s comments came amid rising tension in the Taiwan Straits, with EU Parliament lawmakers pushing forward a resolution to deepen so-called political and economic ties with the island of Taiwan and the Biden administration’s pick for ambassador to China vowing to make the island “a tough nut to crack”, Global Times reported.

Observers said the overall US policy toward the Taiwan question is becoming clearer, and that China should not interpret some of the US moves seeking cooperation with China as signs of softening, the report added.

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‘Taiwan stands on democracy’s first line of defence’  

Earlier, China on Saturday hit out at former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott over his visit to Taiwan and issued a strong statement against him….reports Asian Lite News

Amid the unrelenting Chinese incursions into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone, President Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday said that the country stands on democracy’s first line of defence, in the face of increasing threats from authoritarian actors.

“Taiwan stands on democracy’s first line of defence, in the face of increasing threats from authoritarian actors. We will not give in, and will continue working with our democratic partners across the world to enhance our collective resilience,” tweeted Tsai Ing-wen.

Earlier, China on Saturday hit out at former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott over his visit to Taiwan and issued a strong statement against him.

The development comes after Abbott, who is the Special Envoy for Indigenous Affairs of Australia, visited Taiwan last week and met President Tsai Ing-wen along with other government officials, Taiwan News reported.

In response to Abbott’s visit, the Chinese embassy in Canberra posted a statement on their website, saying, “Tony Abbot is a failed and pitiful politician,” Taiwan News reported.

“Emerging from the pandemic, authoritarian regimes are now even more confident that their alternative model is more adaptive than the democratic system. Through grey zone activities, military threats and information manipulation authoritarian regimes aim to erode our citizens’ confidence in democratic institutions and polarize our societies. Taiwan stands on the front line of this assault and we have been working diligently to combat such coercion. We will share our experience and continue working with like-minded countries to safeguard the liberal democratic world order, and to tackle the unprecedented challenges from authoritarian regimes,” said Tsai in a video message.

Her remarks come amidst the rising tensions between Beijing and Taipei after nearly 150 Chinese military aircraft breached the airspace of Taiwan over a period of four days.

Beijing claims full sovereignty over Taiwan, a democracy of almost 24 million people located off the southeastern coast of mainland China, despite the fact that the two sides have been governed separately for more than seven decades.

Taipei, on the other hand, has countered the Chinese aggression by increasing strategic ties with democracies including the US, which has been repeatedly opposed by Beijing. China has threatened that “Taiwan’s independence” means war.

On June 1, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to complete reunification with self-ruled Taiwan and vowed to smash any attempts at formal independence for the island. (ANI)

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Taiwan may become another Kuwait, courtesy General Milley

Beijing probably believes that the period when Biden is Commander-in-Chief provides them with a window of opportunity to launch a kinetic attack on Taiwan, writes Prof. Madhav Nalapat

Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait on 2 August 1990. Weeks before, he had listened to the statement made by US Ambassador to Iraq, April Glaspie. This was that Secretary of State James Baker had instructed her to tell Saddam that the US “had no opinion in the matter of Kuwait”. The conversation took place in the context of the massing of Iraqi troops on the Kuwait border. Saddam believed that he had been given a green signal from the US for his plan to invade Kuwait.

After all, he had been getting assistance from the US for several years after he launched an ultimately stalemated war with Iran in September 1980. The war had ended eight years later, but relations between Washington and Baghdad remained cordial. Glaspie’s “no interest in Kuwait” assurance to Saddam, when he was visibly massing troops to prepare for a conflict, was unaccompanied by any warning to the Iraqi strongman that such a conflict would force the George H.W. Bush administration to enter the war on the side of Kuwait.

Given Saddam’s known desire to seize the small but wealthy sheikhdom, Baker’s instructions were clearly an error so significant that it may have caused the 1990 invasion of Kuwait. In case he was certain that the US would intervene, and after the bruising that his army received because of the war with Iran, there is no way that Saddam would have invaded Kuwait unless he thought the sheikhdom would be abandoned by its allies.

Having been the recipient of US largesse, Saddam was acutely aware of the military arsenal of the US. He was aware that the leader of the USSR,Mikhail Gorbachev, was desperate to cobble together a friendship with the US, and hence that Moscow would not intervene on his side should the US enter the conflict on the side of Kuwait.

Those familiar with Saddam’s coterie of senior officials say that at least three such individuals were punished as a consequence of the US decision to enter the 1990 Gulf war, two of whom were later executed while the third remained in prison for a long period. Their crime? That the three had parroted the Iraqi dictator’s forecast that the US would not intervene, and hence that the invasion of Kuwait would be an easy affair. What, after all, does the phrase “the US has no interest in Kuwait” mean except that? James Baker was known for deflecting blame for any of his errors onto others, and after Ambassador Glaspie’s comments to the Iraqi dictator were made public, made sure that she shouldered the blame and not him, despite the fact that she was merely a postman.

If the PRC initiates a kinetic conflict with Taiwan on or before 2027, the centenary year of the founding of the PLA, among the triggers may be the two phone conversations that US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley had with his PRC counterpart in October 2020 and January 2021. While communication channels remaining open for military-to-military discussions between Washington and Beijing at the senior level is important, the nature of the conversation between Milley and his Chinese counterpart General Li conveyed an impression of an overpowering fear of the US of conflict.

The top brass at the Pentagon reinforced this when they remained silent when President Trump’s surrender to the Taliban at Doha was being negotiated in 2020. This was despite their recent admission that the Doha agreement was a disaster that greatly assisted the return to power of the Taliban. General Milley has now admitted that it was very likely that Daesh, Al Qaeda and the other (often intermingling) groups would once again be given safe haven in Afghanistan, now that the Taliban have seized control of the government in Kabul. This was not unknown to him and other senior commanders when President Trump went ahead with that disastrous deal.

Was it not their duty to resign rather than carry out orders that they were clear were against the security interests of the US, not to mention the government in Afghanistan that had allied with the US? So when the next Commander-in-Chief, Joe Biden, ordered in March that every single soldier should get out of Afghanistan, should not Milley have told the US President that he would quit rather than carry out such harmful orders? Had he done so, President Biden may have hesitated to go forward with a complete withdrawal that he knew would kneecap the Afghan National Army, which had already been severely demoralised by the Doha surrender.

Biden also ordered the full withdrawal from Bagram by July. After that step, those in the Afghan military that were daily giving their lives to protect their country and US troops lost what little shred of hope and morale that had remained after Doha. Without US support, there was no way that the Afghan military could hold back the Taliban. The message from both the Trump as well as the Biden White House was clear: Afghan allies of the US were on their own. The meek way in which the Pentagon obeyed the Taliban’s 31 August deadline for full withdrawal showed fear rather than purpose.

The pullout was done by a force that has more kinetic capabilities than any other. It was taken as another tell-tale sign that under the present Commander-in-Chief and his generals, the US had lost the will to confront even a threat as devoid of capabilities as the Taliban had proved to be when President George W. Bush assisted the Northern Alliance to rout the Taliban in 2001-02. It is the threat of retaliation that deters an aggressor, and when the other side believes that there is no appetite for this in the other camp, it becomes emboldened in its recklessness.

Even greater than was Saddam’s hunger for Kuwait is CCP General Secretary Xi’s desire to extinguish the independence of Taiwan. Lack of resolve was signalled by Biden’s Afghanistan pullout and Defense Secretary Austin stating that he was terrified for the safety of any US troop presence in Afghanistan after the Taliban took over. Before that came the tremulous manner in which Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Milley (with the consent of Trump’s Defense Secretary and Chief of Staff) communicated to his PRC counterpart that the US military had zero appetite for kinetic action.

Shades of Gorbachev surrendering Eastern Europe without a bullet being fired. Those connecting dots in Beijing probably believe that the period when Joe Biden is Commander-in-Chief provides them with a window of opportunity to launch a kinetic attack on Taiwan without the risk of a US response. And that Japan would not enter the fray, were the US to keep out. Thanks to serial missteps under President Biden’s watch, his determination to defend even core allies has become suspect.

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