International Why does China want Taiwan? They have their own domino theory.

[Hog-train]

I don't dispute any of that but the US and western powers have been brutal to the Philipines, India and Vietnam as well. But... we're not assholes or...? It strikes me as throwing stones in a glass house, especially considering what the US has been getting up to lately.

Yea the US did do that, but that was like 70 years ago. They're not doing that now.

There's a reason the Philippines just allowed the US to build bases on their land again. Because the Chinese are trying to take over by force.

 

[deviake]

Yea the US did do that, but that was like 70 years ago. They're not doing that now.

There's a reason the Philippines just allowed the US to build bases on their land again. Because the Chinese are trying to take over by force.

Yeah, meow we're threatening our allies, killing randos off the coastline of Venezuela whilst making up nonstop falsehoods, bombing Iran which did nothing and will only insure they go for nukes, directly supporting a genocide whilst Trump and his homies have business dealings with what, UAE, Saudis, who are supporting the massacre in Sudan, and sweaty boy Peter Thiel, your man, wants to gather all our data (go ahead and google Pegasus/Israel, Palantir and The Dark Enlightenment) while Steven Miller's gestapo hunts brown people with the permission of the supreme court and the regime wipes its ass with the Constitution, all of which you support right? Among other things. Our dear leader is busy with the DOJ covering up an international child sex trafficking ring that it appears he took part in and may be compromised by Russia and Israel. Your guy.

Oh sorry, what were you saying about China and all the bad shit they're doing that's apparently so much worse? Is it, China bad, the US good? We're just over here being the little moral compass of the world?

 

[Unknown Pleasures]

I do have to make a reminder that people in general are living in the past with respect to life in China. I went to this city not long ago. Thinking China is like North Korea and Taiwan is like South Korea in terms of development and quality of life is ridiculous. China still needs to pull it's rural population out of poverty but it is a place of tremendous rapid advancement.

 

[William Huggins]

Fun fact: There is a reason most of Asia is so virulently anti-drugs - even doling out death penalty for things like weed.

It's the downstream effect of England and France forcing China to get massively addicted to opium.

Opium Wars - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

It's not like we was forcing them to take it with gun boats and blockades or anything!!!

 

[Yehudim]

Like every other complex issue, there are lots of reasons why things are the way they are.

That the 1920s CCP may or may not have viewed Taiwan as not Chinese is irrelevant, because the 1920s CCP was newly formed, forging an identity, and is certainly not Mao’s CCP.

It would be like saying that the Menshevik’s were the spokespeople for the USSR because they were also communists and had greater numbers than the Bolshevik’s. No, history turned out differently.

The fact of the matter is that Taiwan being a part of China is a highly emotional issue that rings true for Chinese people on both sides of the Taiwan strait. This fact has only ever diminished on the Taiwan side and only in recent decades.

Taiwanese said that Taiwan is China. Chinese have said that Taiwan is China. The only issue is who gets to rule over One China.

I tend to agree with the argument that Taiwan is not Chinese, because of how little the mainland has exerted influence over Taiwan in the past 400 years, but I am not Chinese (or Taiwanese) by blood or nationality.

Realpolitik is important, but not everything is cold-blooded logical thinking. Other countries pose a security dilemma for China, yet China does not claim them to be Chinese. Why? Because they lack the historic and emotional connections of a Taiwan.

 

[Possum Jenkins]

Yeah I’m not well versed on Chinese history. I think the borders as we know them today are relatively modern and it was broken into different kingdoms for much of its history.

They’ve been an economic and cultural powerhouse for most of their history. It’s kind of nuts to paint them as chronically weak. I say that and I personally don’t really like China. More of a Japan fan myself

Exactly.

China has probably been the richest and most developed country in the world for most of human history. They only started falling off in the last few centuries but even that's starting to change.

If losing a few wars means you're weak then every single civilization in history is weak.

 

[fedorthegoat777]

This has been a three-way game of real-life risk since the end of the last cold war. Money, resources, and real estate. The world's not such a big place anymore.

Vlad waited until the right time, and Donnie's just fucking stupid. When Russia and China align, and the Arabs sell only to the ones that hate the West as much as they themselves do, the USA will be left scrambling for real allies. Treat everyone like shit, expect the same in return. Just because you have a big stick, it doesn't mean you automatically get to be a fucking dickhead-by-default.

China will take Taiwan with surprisingly little resistance, and the only ones who could have stopped them are bankrupting themselves trying to wage war on multiple fronts simultaneously elsewhere. China will take Taiwan when it decides the USA is at its most-leveraged state and overextended militarily. China will decide whenever that is, but in my opinion, I see that becoming more and more of a reality sooner rather than later.

Targeting China's oil suppliers and assets is kicking a hornet's nest right now.

And what really sucks for us fucking Canadians is we're getting dragged into this shit no matter what. It's either stick up for the USA when you need us, or fight you when it becomes the only other option. This is where we are.

All true.

Canada is not a real country though. Just a proxy of the USA.

 

[Prefect]

Taiwan presents a threat to China as it is representative of independence from Chinese rule. Any part of China looking for independence has to recognize that China will never under any circumstances recognize their autonomy.