Taiwan
0
20
I've been reading up on the history of Taiwan a bit. I did not know much about it in the pre-WWII era. Even after that, my knowledge was scarce. I did not realize that they had not really turned towards democracy until about 20 years ago.
Another interesting finding is that 90% of the population does not favor re-unification with China or declared Independence from China. They are content with the current state of affairs. At least that is how they respond to polls. My guess is that they want to keep their current level of freedoms, so although they don't want to agitate China into a war, they don't want to have their lives taken over by the communist socialists.
It is tiny in comparison to China, but it has very defensible geographic features. It sounds like it would be an expensive invasion for China.
I think the most likely way that China would begin the process of conflict is with a full embargo of the island nation. They would surround them with a superior navy and stop all traffic in our out. How would the world react to that? It would disrupt the world supply of computer chips for sure.
My wife has a good friend who is a native of Taiwan. She lives in Columbus now, but the rest of her family resides in Taiwan. I'll have to ask her more about her take on the Taiwan situation when I see her next.
With the rise of Chinese power and their desire to dominate Asia, I fully expect China to go after Taiwan once their military has reached the point where it makes the job easier. I have to assume that Taiwan's recent move towards democracy is getting China worried. I would suspect that makes their aggression more urgent.
How bitter it would be to once have had freedom and then be absorbed into a totalitarian situation. Shades of Hong Kong.
Another interesting finding is that 90% of the population does not favor re-unification with China or declared Independence from China. They are content with the current state of affairs. At least that is how they respond to polls. My guess is that they want to keep their current level of freedoms, so although they don't want to agitate China into a war, they don't want to have their lives taken over by the communist socialists.
It is tiny in comparison to China, but it has very defensible geographic features. It sounds like it would be an expensive invasion for China.
I think the most likely way that China would begin the process of conflict is with a full embargo of the island nation. They would surround them with a superior navy and stop all traffic in our out. How would the world react to that? It would disrupt the world supply of computer chips for sure.
My wife has a good friend who is a native of Taiwan. She lives in Columbus now, but the rest of her family resides in Taiwan. I'll have to ask her more about her take on the Taiwan situation when I see her next.
With the rise of Chinese power and their desire to dominate Asia, I fully expect China to go after Taiwan once their military has reached the point where it makes the job easier. I have to assume that Taiwan's recent move towards democracy is getting China worried. I would suspect that makes their aggression more urgent.
How bitter it would be to once have had freedom and then be absorbed into a totalitarian situation. Shades of Hong Kong.