08-23-2019, 06:05 AM
(08-22-2019, 10:23 AM)John J. Xenakis Wrote: ** 22-Aug-2019 World View: Hong Kong and Taiwan
(08-21-2019, 06:23 PM)David Horn Wrote: > I'm more concerned about Taiwan. This entire affair has to be
> unsettling there. Any thoughts of declaring independence and
> walking away have to be off the table while DJT is in the White
> House. Just too risky. Then again, not everything is
> controllable, and Xi may decide that now is the perfect time to
> crack down. Who knows?
The Chinese have always made it clear that they will annex Taiwan to
China at some time, by military force if necessary. They know that
independence sentiment is growing, as survivors of the communist
revolution civil war die off and are replaced by younger generations
with greater allegiance to the West. Those sentiments have been
growing even faster, as you suggest, because of the CCP's thuggish
activities in Hong Kong. So a war of annexation on Taiwan is a
foregone conclusion, but the timing of such a war is independent of
any action in Hong Kong, since the latter is already part of China.
Triggering events are triggering events, and HK smells like one to me. Xi needs to win one, and Taiwan is a big one, albeit not easy. You've been looking for a crisis war, and this may be the entre.
Intelligence is not knowledge and knowledge is not wisdom, but they all play well together.