Taiwan deserves full US support but as we continue to poke China's leaders we must be ready
It's important to stand with Taiwan against China. But we must recognize that Beijing's leaders view visits by US lawmakers as a provocation
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Communist China will accelerate its plans to attack Taiwan if we keep poking the regime in the eye. However, we must not cower in fear of the Chinese tyrant. Rather, we will stand firm with our democratic friend and at the same time prepare our forces to strike back.
The latest "poke" at the Chinese regime came on August 26th when Senator Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., led the third U.S. congressional delegation this month to the island nation further testing Washington’s tense relationship with Beijing. Earlier in the week, Indiana Democrat Gov. Eric Holcomb also stopped in Taiwan to meet with that nation’s President Tsai Ing-Wen.
This flurry of congressional and other government visits no doubt caught the attention of the Beijing regime. Expect a quick response to these recent unwelcomed visits, likely more military saber-rattling but one of these days soon the sword will be drawn and not put away before a full-fledged assault takes Taiwan.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}SEN. BLACKBURN IN TAIWAN: CHINA'S 'BULLYING' TACTICS MUST STOP, US MUST CURB CCP'S 'AGGRESSION'
Communist China’s response to outside interference in Taiwan, which it considers an internal Chinese matter, is inevitable. This situation reminds me of a caution made almost 200 years ago by French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte who warned about the inevitable return to greatness of the Chinese: "China is a sickly, sleeping giant. But when she awakes the world will tremble."
Our focus must be on preparing our Taiwanese friends with both weapons and encouragement albeit while growing our military’s preparedness
Folks, the regime in Beijing is wide awake and if we keep poking it in the eye over what it considers sovereign territory, the "province" of Taiwan, she will act and the world will indeed "tremble."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}It's almost as if we dare China to strike Taiwan and invite others to join the fight to share in the suffering. The latest taunt comes from Sen. Blackburn who boasted on Friday, "Together, we will proudly stand up to the New Axis of Evil," a reference to China’s ambitions in the region.
Meanwhile, to add insult to injury, Indiana Democrat Gov. Eric Holcomb visited on August 21, accompanied by commerce officials and also met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in Taipei. Holcomb’s visit was the third of now four high level U.S. delegations this month to the island nation following those led by Democrats House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sen. Marsha Blackburn arrives in Taiwan on August 26, 2022.
Holcomb’s trip to Taiwan comes on the heels of the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, which is expected to boost our production of critical microprocessors, the heart of modern technologies. It’s noteworthy and not a coincidence that Taiwan leads the world in microprocessor production.
Of course, Beijing monitors such visits by American officials and will now likely announce more military drills as a means of protest.
COMMUNIST CHINA IS THE BIGGEST THREAT FACING OUR COUNTRY AND BIDEN IS ASLEEP AT THE WHEEL
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Keep in mind Communist China unleashed the Peoples’ Liberation Army to conduct exercises in response to both Pelosi’s and Markey’s trips. The communist regime’s Eastern Theater Command labeled these visits and the receptions by Taiwan as actions by "secessionists" and American "interventionist" forces. The PLA’s response included cross-service exercises in the sea and airspace in the Taiwan Straits – testing "integrated combat capabilities" which included missile launches, fighter jet maneuvers that violated Taiwan’s airspace and beach assaults.
Might China assault Taiwan? Yes, and unfortunately the U.S. has a bad track record at anticipating whether an enemy might fight: Vietnam, Iraq, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and more. But the key question is: Why would the U.S. fight China over Taiwan, after all, we have no treaty obligations with Taipei.
Trade is the key reason and the aforementioned importance of semiconductor production is the glue – Taiwan produces nearly 90 percent of the world’s supply of that technology. Our western way-of-life is tethered to chips, a critical national interest.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}(Office of Sen. Marsha Blackburn)
We ought to reconsider our engagements with Taipei, however. That is until we are appropriately poised to act with both the means and will to fight.
Right now, based on recent wargaming, the U.S. would suffer a tremendous cost if we rush to Taiwan’s defense and it remains unclear what if any allies will join a future fight with the Communist Chinese.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In the meantime, until diplomacy utterly fails and warfighting becomes inevitable, what we ought to do is make certain Taiwan has the appropriate defense that includes anti-ship mines, mobile weaponry and attack helicopters rather than more expensive capabilities which the communists can easily target such as airstrip-dependent fighter jets.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., receives the Order of Propitious Clouds with Special Grand Cordon, Taiwan’s highest civilian honour, from Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen, right, at the president's office on Aug. 3, 2022 in Taipei, Taiwan. (Handout/Getty Images)
Unfortunately, the Taiwanese haven’t been appropriately preparing themselves for a PLA assault. Over the past two decades Communist China annually increased its military budget to produce a near-peer armed force to the U.S., yet at the same time the Taiwanese military budget remained flat.
Further, the Taiwanese lack sufficient trained jet pilots, depend on a conscription force to fill its ranks and field a personnel-starved armed force. That reality puts a much heavier burden on outside forces like the U.S., which could ultimately pay a high price should the mainland revert to the use of military might, which appears all but inevitable.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Let there be no doubt that should intimidation fail, Communist China will assault Taiwan to reclaim what it considers sovereign territory.
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Further, expect that the more we engage Taiwan through high-level visits the sooner that assault will very likely happen. However, as Napoleon predicted, we must never "tremble," much less cower in fear of Beijing.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Our focus must be on preparing our Taiwanese friends with both weapons and encouragement albeit while growing our military’s preparedness to hit back should Communist China unwisely assault that free island nation.