39 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Correct.  Matter of fact, Taiwan gets their 'minerals', rare earth elements for the chips, from ...

 

... China.   CN doesn't have to invade to control and part of 'One China', as simply need to limit their ability to have an economy.   Want to really squeeze them, blockade imports.  It is an island, with little needed that isn't imported ... food for example 

 

Taiwan relies on imports for almost all it's food & energy.

 

Over 180 countries do NOT even recognized Taiwan as an independent country.  Only 12 do.

 

But the MSM will have you believe .... yea, dream on 

 

China & Taiwan have existed in harmony for decades.   Only MSM wants to rock the boat, but reporting BS.   Just another distraction while the puppeteers steal you money & assets.

 

The Feudal Serfdom system will be returning to the West, as long as you keep fighting amongst yourselves.   You can fix stupid.

The problem with you being right, is that all that new navy isn't just to play war games. Sooooo, which vulnerable countries in the backside of the planet may be having a visit? Perhaps I should be learning Mandarin, at least enough to say "welcome new overlords".

39 minutes ago, BangkokHank said:

You are overlooking the American military's secret weapon: DIVERSITY! With ladyboys in its military, the US can now defeat any non-diverse adversary. All they need to do is to make sure their enemies are wearing gold chains.

Not anymore.  The halcyon days of men suffering from "gender dysphoria" and dressing up as ladies just ended.  Corporal Klinger could actually get his discharge in today's US military. Trump and Pete Hegseth just put an end to transvestites and transsexuals in the US military. They are being processed out as I write. 

 

2 hours ago, WDSmart said:

The USA (Trump) will not protect Taiwan. It just doesn't have enough mineral resources to pay him. 

He is not after Taiwan mineral resources but after their semi-conductors industry  He has been hinting at undermining Taiwan’s chips global dominance and he blatantly lied about Taiwan stealing chips technology from USA. Trump is a menace to world order and he is too stupid to understand that US didn’t invest in the ecosystem to support supply chain for the semiconductor industry 



 

China has a massive weak spot: Three Gorges and other large dams. It should be made clear to them that these industrial/military dual use sites are on the target list in case of an invasion of Taiwan.

24 minutes ago, John Drake said:

China has a massive weak spot: Three Gorges and other large dams. It should be made clear to them that these industrial/military dual use sites are on the target list in case of an invasion of Taiwan.

Just to be Captain Obvious, but it is 2025, and in this day an age of hyper-sonic weapons, oceans don't matter.
My guess is that there are reciprocal targets in all 50 states.  And "invade Taiwan?"  How do you invade your own territory? 
If China made the same overtures to assist a US state to secede and insist that "There will be consequence if the US attempts to invade <pick a state>.  No reason to say anymore - it just wouldn't happen and for the exact same reasons. 

3 minutes ago, connda said:

Just to be Captain Obvious, but it is 2025, and in this day an age of hyper-sonic weapons, oceans don't matter.
My guess is that there are reciprocal targets in all 50 states.  And "invade Taiwan?"  How do you invade your own territory? 
If China made the same overtures to assist a US state to secede and insist that "There will be consequence if the US attempts to invade <pick a state>.  No reason to say anymore - it just wouldn't happen and for the exact same reasons. 

 

Who is talking about the US? I am talking about a retaliatory strike from Taiwan that takes out Three Gorges. https://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/military/kills-tens-of-millions-taiwans-chilling-message-for-china/news-story/820c97614a7452299f068fac99d71eb6

I don't think the Chinese are that stupid. They know it would be the end of most everyone. They know if no one intervened, the least that would happen would be a total collapse of their economy when all nations but places like N. Korea stop trade.

They are only trying to save face by the shows of force.  And in Asia, saving face is more important than anything. 

4 minutes ago, PeterA said:

I don't think the Chinese are that stupid. They know it would be the end of most everyone. They know if no one intervened, the least that would happen would be a total collapse of their economy when all nations but places like N. Korea stop trade.

They are only trying to save face by the shows of force.  And in Asia, saving face is more important than anything. 

I'm not so sure South American and African countries would cease trading with China. And I'm sure that Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, and Singapore would continue as though nothing had happened. The question is: does the US intervene and blockade/sink every cargo and tanker going to and from China? How much has Russia to China pipelines foreseen and prepared for this scenario? 

5 hours ago, Patong2021 said:

 

Israel took Iran down a few notches.

 

If you say so.

5 hours ago, blaze master said:

 

If you say so.

 

Did you miss  "The Israel Defense Forces said its Oct. 26 raid knocked out Iranian missile factories and air defences in three waves of strikes. Researchers said that based on satellite imagery, targets included buildings once used in Iran's nuclear programme."

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israels-strikes-iran-spark-interest-air-launched-ballistic-missiles-2024-11-04/

 

22 minutes ago, Patong2021 said:

 

Did you miss  "The Israel Defense Forces said its Oct. 26 raid knocked out Iranian missile factories and air defences in three waves of strikes. Researchers said that based on satellite imagery, targets included buildings once used in Iran's nuclear programme."

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israels-strikes-iran-spark-interest-air-launched-ballistic-missiles-2024-11-04/

 

 

You're missing the point but carry on. 

What so Ukraine is done and switch to the next thing the news tells you

queue Taiwanese flag profile changes by the sheep

 

Taiwan should not worry

 Everybody knows now that the U.S. is an ally which can be trusted! 

It is ridiculous for China to attack Taiwan. At present, China can survive because it has economic power over other countries. If China attacks, Taiwan and China will collapse.

With over 30,000 Israeli soldiers in Thailand, not including US troops embedded in Vietnam and Thailand, if China attacks Taiwan, the US will definitely attack China's back door from the China-Laos high-speed railway.

Will this delay the new iPhone release ?

 

 

15 hours ago, CanadaSam said:

Whether or not his debacle with Zelensky was simply to strong-arm them to signing a deal for minerals, with giving away Ukrainian land to the Russki's for a permanent cease-fire, remains to be seen, as it did not materialize.  Whether or not he has the kohona's to stick up to the protection treaties with Taiwan and Phillipines has still to be known.  I dunno.  Waiting and watching.

Real Politik Bismarck Kissinger Nixon Trump

 

Thank God - a return to Real Politik ala Bismarck & Kissinger.  

Personal experience here in Thailand making our advisory efforts difficult :  The unreliable & arrogant Obama /Kerry SecState (idiotic idealistic A-Holes) policy of pausing Security Assistance programs with Thailand only succeeded in turning the Thai's toward the CCP (e.g., potential Thai purchase of /involvement in an unnecessary, expensive & blackmail threatening CCP-Thai submarine program).

 

  Trump’s Foreign Policy Abandons Ideology for the Balance of Power | RealClearDefense

https://assets.realclear.com/images/67/679489_6_.jpeg

Trump’s Foreign Policy Abandons Ideology for the Balance of Power Twentieth century world politics saw the United States combine ideological abstractions with balance of power realities. President Woodrow Wilson sought to transform the geopolitical clash of the Grea www.realcleardefense.com

 

Quote: "Trump appears to be channeling Richard Nixon, who during his presidency deemphasized ideology and prioritized the balance of power in conducting foreign policy. Nixon’s masterstroke was triangular diplomacy, which exploited the Sino-Soviet split to America’s geopolitical advantage. Henry Kissinger was right in the third volume of his magnificent memoirs, Years of Renewal, when he claimed that Nixon set the stage for Reagan’s victory in the Cold War. And Nixon did that by abandoning ideology in favor of the balance of power. Trump’s policy of negotiating an imperfect end to the Ukraine war and refusing to condemn Russia at the United Nations resembles Nixon’s negotiation of the imperfect end to the Vietnam War and his embrace of a de facto alliance with Communist China. Trump, like Nixon, is playing the long, crucial game of balance of power geopolitics instead of leaning on ideological abstractions like “democracy versus autocracy.”

Nixon’s long game was designed to shift the balance of power against the Soviet empire. Trump’s long game is to shift the balance of power against Communist China. Trump, like Nixon, is following the geopolitical playbook of Walter Lippmann, the influential American journalist who understood, even in the age of ideology, the overriding importance of the balance of power to global peace and stability.

 

3 hours ago, candide said:

Taiwan should not worry

 Everybody knows now that the U.S. is an ally which can be trusted! 

 

If you were Taiwan who would you call first to ask for help ?

What a load of bull. China does not have to invade Taiwan they just have to wait , As China's influence increases and US influence declines citizens of Taiwan will gladly align with mainland China.

49 minutes ago, The Old Bull said:

What a load of bull. China does not have to invade Taiwan they just have to wait , As China's influence increases and US influence declines citizens of Taiwan will gladly align with mainland China.

Exactly right. China has waited 70 years, what’s another 50 or so. All this talk about China invading one of its own provinces is just BS sprouted by western msm, initiated by the US deep state/neocons to destabilise the region and to keep the mic relevant.

17 hours ago, PeterA said:

I don't think the Chinese are that stupid. They know it would be the end of most everyone. They know if no one intervened, the least that would happen would be a total collapse of their economy when all nations but places like N. Korea stop trade.

They are only trying to save face by the shows of force.  And in Asia, saving face is more important than anything. 

You are naive to think that any of the global majority nations will stop trade with China. Practically all nations, including the US has acknowledged that Taiwan is part of China and any invasion (which won’t happen unless it tries to secede which it won’t) will just be considered a domestic affair.

 

I doubt that even western nations will boycott trade with China. They are just too dependent.

The Nuclear USA Subs could and will wipe China off the map...if they invade Twain 

On 3/3/2025 at 9:28 AM, blazes said:

No way the debt-ridden West could risk war with China.  Those in Taiwan who favour government from Beijing will yield up the country and, like the West, preserve their own economy.

 

It will be just like the takeover of one corporation by another.  Some  takeovers are hostile, some friendly.  Eva Air will be taken over by Air China  (perhaps not even with a change of name.)  Not a drop of blood spilt....

 

China is not debt-ridden?

Yes, it is.

So they face the same choice usa does.

 

An international naval blockade of the China Sea out of range of their missiles will shut China off from the world. They have cloudsv of dumb missiles but they can't guide them over the horizon and using satellites and operators fir each missile is impossible. Ships on the other hand can constantly move.

 

China's navy is not a true Blue Water navy and most of their ships have limited range because of fuel. China cannot wage war at sea. Japan's Blue Water navy is larger than china's.

 

Without import or export China goes down and her citizens rebel since the CCP has broken the unspoken agreement with its citizens: give us a better life and we will accept your tyranny.

 

China spends billions in propaganda trying to convince the world it is invulnerable and it just ain't true.