TAIWAN:  I think I've mentioned it before, but I really can't recall a time when this country was confronted by so many threats simultaneously.  And we're not doing well in countering any of them.  I fear that it will take a costly shock to wake us up, and that shock is likely to come from our most formidable enemy, China.  Taiwan is the target, and we have a tendency to put it out of our minds.  From Fox: 

China has more than just historical claims behind its ambitions to take Taiwan, specifically greater industrial production capabilities available on the island as well as an operational foothold in the area that could break up U.S. influence in the region, according to defense and intelligence experts.

"We're talking about a place that manufactures chips, which make the entire world economy move, and … we are way behind when it comes to manufacturing those chips here in the United States," Ilan Fuchs, adjunct professor at American Public University System, told Fox News Digital. "The current administration is trying to catch up, but it's going to take years and years and years to do."

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regularly touts its historical claim to Taiwan, looking to re-integrate the country through diplomatic means and, potentially, military action, if necessary. Party officials last summer issued a policy document on Taiwan that outlined a "one country, two systems" approach similar to that of Hong Kong and Macau, which have "special administrative region" status.

But Hong Kong has watched that status mean less and less after the CCP introduced a new security law to punish citizens found guilty of secession, subversion or "terrorism." Critics viewed the law as an effort to restrict opposition within the regions.

Military action, therefore, seems increasingly likely if Beijing seeks to take control of Taiwan. Such action might seem extreme to exert a historical claim over a territory, but experts made it clear that Taiwan offers significant advantages economically and strategically.

"If the Chinese can then turn Taiwan into a base of operations, they have direct access to the deep waters of the Pacific Ocean," said Brent Sadler, senior research fellow in naval warfare and advanced technology at the Center for National Defense. "Most of the East China Sea is pretty shallow."

"That has a problem when you get into submarine and anti-submarine warfare, it's a lot more conducive to submarines in the Pacific," he said. "So, if you're trying to break out of the first island chain, Taiwan is one way of doing that."

Sadler noted that there is belief that if China can "break" Taiwan, it can break "all the U.S. security alliances that are perceived as a threat."

COMMENT:  The Chinese navy is now much larger than the U.S. Navy.  China has nuclear weapons.  An earlier, more primitive Chinese force inflicted severe casualties on the United States during the Korean War.  And China is developing hypersonic missiles that could pose a chilling, possibly fatal threat to American aircraft carriers.

It is not a good picture for us.  If China attacks Taiwan, and we back down, we're finished as an Asian power.  If we fight alongside the Taiwanese, the battle could be bloody, and long, with no guarantee of success.

I don't want Joe Biden to make the decisions. 

March 27,  2023