Why do you believe China has a desire to break the Western world?
Looking at the diplomatic wins China has racked up recently, it's entirely possible Taiwan willingly folds itself into China within a decade.
After what happened with HK they do not believe China can be trusted at any capacity.
China is banking on KMT winning next year so they can try and invade from the inside. But Taiwan won’t go peacefully.
Taiwan absolutely wont go willingly.
What do you think all the military exercises (by both sides) are for if China and Taiwan think it’s going to be resolved peacefully?
Which part do you not understand?
Sure. I wasn’t born then. But I would like to think society and governments have grown up since then and we can agree that invasion is wrong. Abuse of power is wrong.
Britain has given up a lot of what it took. It has no control or say in australia or New Zealand. It gave HK back. Left Singapore, Myanmar, India. Etc.
Obviously we can’t change what happened. None of us on HN or our families etc had any say in what happened for generations before we were born.
But in 2023 we should be at a point where we can acknowledge it’s wrong and stop it from happening.
Russia and China haven’t got that memo yet.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Governor-General_of_Australia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_Australian_constitutional...
https://www.euronews.com/2020/07/14/australian-governor-who-...
- China has openly supported Macron's "strategic autonomy" principle which aims to distance EU from USA.
- Ever since Xi got his regime extended, they've been inviting nation leaders to increase their influence. In last 5 months, they've invited Germany, Iran, Spain, France and Brazil.
- They've brokered a peace deal between Iran and Saudi. Which is another loss for US influencer in middle east, threatening the current petrodollar hegemony.
Note that I'm not condemning China. It's just an observation. And honestly, they would be dumb if they didn't do this while US is pissing off their key allies with rate hikes and the IRA Act.
I find this completely normal, but also shortsighted in a way. A more strategically autonomous and assertive EU wouldn't blindly follow US' follies (cf. Iraq), but that doesn't mean it won't side with the US for a just cause (cf. Ukraine). The democratic values in the US, Canada, UK and EU are too similar for a complete strategic divergence in policies. Therefore we'd get a more strong, integrated and assertive EU leading the way in many areas trade, manufacturing and regulations-wise, that still collaborates with US and friends when it makes sense and the cause is just (so not in invading Iran on imaginary pretenses, but if China invades Taiwan brutally à la Russia invading Ukraine, probably).
In longer term, (pure speculation) I think China may believe that after a while, China would have so much global influence that even strategically autonomous EU would be reluctant to side with US even for blatantly "unjust" cause.
For all intents and purposes Taiwan is a separate independent country nowadays thay doesn't actively claim to be China, but it's too late to change the situation (like by amending their constitution or status to say they're a separate country, Taiwan, and don't have anything to do with China anymore) because anything done today just might piss off China(PRC). Technically if China invades Taiwan, they'd be within their internationally recognised legal rights to retake a runaway province from the losers of a civil war. From a humanitarian perspective it would be a disaster of course, but on what grounds does anyone defend Taiwan when barely any country recognises Taiwan exists in the first place?
Countries gain sovereignty either when the country they split off of allows it or they have the means to occupy and defend the land they claim is soverign.
Dubious. The current legality of the situation is that Taiwan is de jure part of China (PRC), and the ROC is nobody. Nobody is enforcing that with force, it's maintained by the unwillingness of the ROC to provoke the PRC, and the unwillingness of the PRC to risk their credentials and trade over this, or they're hopeful one day the ROC will peacefully join them if relations and trade are good enough.
> Countries gain sovereignty either when ... they have the means to occupy and defend the land they claim is soverign.
Haiti, or much more recently Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Transnistria, North Cyprus, etc. prove this wrong. Even if you have full control of some land and claim to have full sovereignty over it, unless others recognise you, you're in a very bad situation. No international recognition -> no trade or international relations -> perpetually poor.
The stupid shit that China pulled in Hong Kong just a few years ago has pretty much put a nail into the coffin of that hope any time soon.
All China had to do was keep to the "one country, two systems" approach in Hong Kong that had been working so well.
But they couldn't even manage to do that, instead violating the agreement they themselves negotiated.
So, it's pretty easy to see why the majority of Taiwanese want them fuck right off. ;)
And just to be clear, the US had a massive part of the Allied war effort against the Axis, but they didn't singlehandedly win the war or free anyone, it was a joint effort with similarly massive Soviet and British (and Commonwealth) parts. As a reminder, Britain spent months fighting alone, and the vast vast majority of German troops were always on the Eastern Front while the Western Allies fought against subpar foreign "volunteers" or third-rate recovering German troops on the continent.
Only because of isolationist "not my problem"s like GP, the current fringe right in the US, and others on HN. That's what we're fighting to not be like.
Everything you said is pretty much true. It's also true that without the US, and especially US+UK, WW2 would've turned out very differently. Soviets could not beat the Nazis themselves. So you can still appreciate the US, UK, and the Soviets for freeing Europe. And the US and UK are telling Europe that you don't get to be saved by us and then shirk your responsibility to save someone else.
No, China hasn’t set foot in Taiwan. If it does, by murdering thousands, then yes Apple would be rightfully seen as collaborators. As would you for supporting indifference to a murderous bloody invasion.
"Break away" as in "separate" or "remove from the group".