"It therefore makes sense to advocate for military deterrence, as William Hague did in May and to entertain a willingness to supply #Taiwan with the sorts of nimble weapon systems that would help rebuff #Beijing’s advances." ft.com/content/55e354…
"It also makes sense for the US to remind #China that, in the event of an invasion, it could block the Malacca and Sunda straits through which China’s oil arrives from the Middle East. Even the threat of interdiction would be sufficient to discourage ship owners."
"But military deterrence is the smaller part of the story. There are good economic reasons why the Chinese Communist party will not invade.
The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company produces the majority of the world’s advanced semiconductors. Its CEO has declared that it would not be allowed to fall into Chinese hands."
"If that were not enough, most of Taiwan’s nearly $200bn exports to China are components in China’s own exports. Their disappearance would reduce Beijing’s exports by trillions.
Other countries’ trade and investment would dry up. Shipping and insurance costs would rise enormously."
"Deterrence means magnifying existing restraints. The governments of free and open countries need to make it clear to the CCP that invasion or an extended blockade would trigger sanctions."
"This threat needs to be believable (it is worth noting that even Switzerland has said that it would follow whatever sanctions the EU imposed on China if it invaded). Governments need to convey this message to the CCP quietly and now."
"The CCP is not good at reading foreigners. But sanctions would happen — and not just in the form of spontaneous boycotts of Chinese goods led by civil society."
"The clamour from ordinary people, the press, parliamentarians and others, many of whom may not understand the consequences of sanctions, will be irresistible for western governments.
The US will lead and expect its allies to follow.
This is MAD — mutually assured destruction, the basis of cold war deterrence."
"The consequences for all would be horrible, but especially for China and the CCP. Resources, supply chains and components would dry up.
Unemployment, already at around 20 per cent among young people in China, would boom. And in the absence of a meaningful social security system, the resulting poverty and desperation would lead to protests and riots."
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North Korea on Tuesday fired a ballistic missile over Japan, its neighbors said, escalating tests of weapons designed to strike key targets in regional U.S. allies amid stalled nuclear diplomacy. apnews.com/article/seoul-…
The Japanese prime minister’s office said at least one missile fired from North Korea flew over Japan and was believed to have landed into the Pacific Ocean.
It said authorities have issued an alert to residents in northeastern regions to evacuate buildings nearby in what was reportedly the first such alert in five years.
“At least 13 #Uyghurs have died as a result of poisoning from disinfectants sprayed in their homes last week used to fight a wave of coronavirus infections in a county in northwestern #China’s #Xinjiang region, local residents and officials said.”rfa.org/english/news/u…
The Uyghurs who died were all residents of Guma county (in Chinese, Pishan), Hotan (Hetian) prefecture. They are said to be among thousands of people in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) reported to have been poisoned by disinfectants used to fight the COVID-19 virus.
Many videos shared online show authorities spraying inner walls, furniture, bedding as well as inside refrigerators in homes in the region. Residents said planes with sprayers have flown over the area frequently since the lockdown.
“As world leaders congratulated #China on its Oct. 1 National Day, protesters gathered in cities around the world to protest against the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s ongoing persecution of ethnic minorities and dissidents.” rfa.org/english/news/c…
Hong Kongers, Tibetans and Uyghurs organized around 15 protests in U.K. cities to mark the 73rd National Day and "say no to the CCP," ...
... as Russian president Vladimir Putin, Cuban president Miguel Diaz-Canel and Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni added their congratulations, according to state news agency Xinhua.
Paraguay is 1 of 14 countries that still officially recognize #Taiwan. However, concerns are growing after Paraguay's president urged Taipei to invest $1 billion in his country to help resist pressure to switch diplomatic recognition to #China. My latest:dw.com/en/will-taiwan…
In an interview with the Financial Times newspaper last week, Abdo said agricultural producers in the South American nation have been urging the government to gain access to the Chinese market amid falling meat prices.
"We are working with the president of Taiwan so that the Paraguayan people feel the real benefits of the strategic alliance," he told the FT during a trip to the US.
"#Taiwan's military is facing a recruitment problem, as the over-18 population is forecast to decline significantly in the coming years, due to the country's low birth rate, according to a recent government report." focustaiwan.tw/politics/20221…
The number of registered births in Taiwan has dropped over the past decade, from 196,627 in 2011 to a record low of 153,820 in 2021, the report said, citing data from the Ministry of the Interior (MOI).
The decline is expected to continue over the next few years, which poses a problem for the recruitment of military service men and women, according to the assessment report released last Friday by the Legislative Yuan's Budget Center.
"#Taiwan should be proud of its democratic development, a visiting German lawmaker told President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) at the Presidential Office on Monday." focustaiwan.tw/politics/20221…
During the meeting, Klaus-Peter Willsch, chair of the German-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group, recalled that he and Tsai first met in Berlin in 2011, when the latter was chair of the then opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ...
... while his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) was the ruling party of Germany.