China weaponizes sand dredgers in pressuring Taiwan
taipeitimes.com
taipeitimes.com
Right. The mainland is less than 6 miles from Matsu. Taiwan is over 100 miles away. This was something Nixon and Kennedy were arguing about on television in 1960. Taiwan decided it wants control of these islands right up against the mainland, and has been going through contortions to control the coastal zone around them for 70 years. Control which China has never recognized (well Taiwan's position is that the mainland belongs to it too).
“We don’t want to be ruled by mainland China,” he said. “We have freedom, which is limited over there.”
Edit: and to the person who just downvoted this, I invite you to explain why this statement is wrong? Downvotes are easy, justifying yourself - in front of a critical audience - is another story...
A Chinese sand dredger risking the boat getting impounded right outside their home port if they veer into waters patrolled by the Taiwanese coast guard is another.
The article frames it as a deliberate attack, but it's not like the Chinese captains want to lose their source of income.
Since Matsu is part of Taiwan, that would make Taiwan zero miles away. Perhaps you meant Taipei, the capital?
What is the name of the island Taipei is on?
Otherwise I really don't see the relevance of pointing out that a part of the country Taiwan lies far from an island coincidentally also named Taiwan.
The RoC controls only two provinces of China, Fujian and Taiwan province. The Fujian province is the only province of China where both the Republic of China(ROC) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) have split control. This is the byproduct of an unfinished civil war.
Even their identity is different, most people living there don't consider themselves "Taiwanese" but citizens of the Republic of China. They would definitely not consider themselves part of "Taiwan".
And given that the residents of Matsu islands (official name Lienchiang county) have never in its history voted for the DPP, the pro Taiwanese independence party, and have only voted for the KMT party and PFP, two parties who believe ROC IS China , it's unlikely most residents there would view Taiwan as a country in the first place.
In case you claim I'm a Chinese shill (of which I'm not, I'm from Singapore), I would like to point out that even Taiwanese independence advocates in Taiwan also don't think that the Matsu islands, the Kinmen islands, Penghu islands, etc. are part of Taiwan. Many of them would like to abandon these islands to the PRC in the process of gaining taiwanese independence.
Issues of identity in Taiwan is really not that clear cut as many outsiders would like it to be.
I wonder how likely this is. It would be an absolute disaster for the Western world if China were to invade Taiwan. Prices for many electronics including computers and mobile phones would skyrocket, and stock markets would crash. AAPL alone is 7% of the S&P 500.
Right after the Biden administration has taken over, we immediately see Myanmar Coup, Russian persecution of oppositions, China sailing to Japan's Senkaku Islands, not to mention China's constant provocation in Taiwan's airspace.
They are testing the limit the Biden administration. And if it's like the Obama era, the USA won't react in any meaningful manner. The EU, which looks up to the US, can't do much.
When one of the most powerful nations on Earth is in the process of committing genocide using such horrific methods, intimidating its neighbors, imposing ever-stricter control over its vast population, and pushing for dominance in a multitude of technologies -
"History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes"