Are we close to WW3?

@BlueVeins It will start here in the United States with our own civil war 2.0, and other countries will pick sides.

@BlueVeins Dont forget about North Korea
Trying to flex whatlittlenpmucles it has
Though
Unfortunately..their a Nuclear force

@TheDisciplinarian All North Korea wants to do is prevent the US and PRC from invading it, and both powers are going to heed its warnings. Only thing that can happen at this point is North Korea collapsing, and while that would be disastrous, it wouldn't trigger a world war.

@BlueVeins The Biggest problem is their making good on a Threat
Though..that wouldnt persay trigger a war
Though many still can die as a result

@BlueVeins
the United States recognized the Government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal government of China, acknowledging the Chinese position that there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China. It’s called the one china policy.

So there’s that.

The Biden administration has reiterated this position just last year.

The vast majority of Taiwanese citizens don’t want war and are not seeking independence.

Nobody in Taiwan wants the island to become like Ukraine and the dynamics are entirely different.
Regardless of what war mongers are pushing.

How can we not see the ridiculous contradiction between openly supporting the one china doctrine and at the same time condemning a potential war between china and Taiwan?? When we have accepted that Taiwan is in fact part of china.

It makes zero sense.
Our foreign policy is geared towards conflict and confrontation, not compromise and cooperation.

What we should be negotiating is a joint economic partnership between Taiwan and the mainland for a period of time ( 50 or 100 years) ending with independence of Taiwan instead of arming and posturing for a war that nobody should want

@Onestarlitnight Taiwan is already a de facto independent country, and the only reason why its constituents don't want to "declare independence," why the US and other countries are unwilling to state directly that Taiwan is its own country, is that China is coercing everyone into nominally maintaining this fiction. The only reason why a country such as China would sink so much resources into delegitimizing its neighbor's sovereignty is to give itself a de facto right to invade without it being considered illegal. That's really it.


How would this help? China does not want an independent Taiwan, regardless of who it's trading with. The PRC would absolutely not accept this deal because it would do nothing to change the fact that the PRC's maritime trade routes are impossible to defend. It would do nothing to change the fact that democracy in Taiwan demonstrates that Chinese people can, in fact, elect their own leaders, and that it works really well. It would not ameliorate the vulnerability of China's own trade routes, should another country declare war on it or vice versa for any reason.

Quite simply, this is about power. If we do not stand against China's aggression, then they will have no reason to restrain themselves.

@BlueVeins You said: "However, the PRC has been setting the table for an invasion of Taiwan for decades now and it's really down to their choice whether or not they want to attack. If they do, the US will probably step in to defend Taiwan."

You have got it wrong. China has no reason to attack Taiwan, a Chinese province. Taiwan's economy is closely linked to China, her largest trading partner. China's military buildup is meant for a confrontation with the US in the South China Sea. Such a conflict with the US will not take place either. There is no way for the US to project power across the Pacific in a major battle. America's strategy is to goad China. The Chinese are not stupid.

@BlueVeins
The United States ACTIVELY acknowledges and the administration PUBLICLY supports the one china doctrine.
This is a fact.
The administration DOES NOT support Taiwan independence.
This is a fact.
Our foreign policy regarding Taiwan is inconsistent with our accepted position of china regarding the sovereignty of china over Taiwan.

Taiwan has been allowed to act independently but remains a sovereign part of china. That is the current position of china and the United States.

@sree251 The idea that Taiwan is a province of China is pure fiction. Taiwan has an independent head of state and military. It has a de facto embassy in the US and vice versa. The US sends diplomatic missions there in addition to their missions in China, itself. It has a completely separate legislature and the laws of mainland China do not apply to Taiwan. There is no material sense in which the two are part of the same country. China has explicitly threatened to forcibly reunite itself with Taiwan on numerous occasions and used aerial maneuvers near Taiwan as a show of force.

@Onestarlitnight The current position of the United States is delusional beyond description. All parties involved are aware of this.

@Onestarlitnight You said: "Taiwan has been allowed to act independently but remains a sovereign part of china. That is the current position of china and the United States."

Taiwan will always be allowed to act independently, in the same way Hong Kong and Macau are given freedom in a "one country two systems" arrangement. China even takes precaution to protect those two administrative regions from being swarmed by mainland Chinese. Foreign tourists have longer extended stays in Macau and Hong Kong than mainland Chinese who are not allowed work permits. Foreign expats can live and work in Hong Kong and Macau.

@BlueVeins You said: "The idea that Taiwan is a province of China is pure fiction."

It is not an idea but a fact that is acknowledged even by Taiwan which, as defined by its own constitution, is the Republic of China (ROC) of which Taiwan is a province.

@BlueVeins I agree with your points. Taiwan is a likely spark to the powder keg.

@sree251 And? Just because they say it doesn't make it true. North Korea says in its constitution that it's a democracy, but we all know they're autocratic as all hell.

@BlueVeins You said: "And? Just because they say it doesn't make it true."

I agree. However, I was merely stating a fact of the situation. There are politicians in Taiwan who want independence just as everywhere else in the world. Politicians are shortsighted, selfish individuals who can be bought to do the bidding of their sponsors. The fact remains that the Taiwan situation came out of a civil war between Chiang Kai Shek (ROC) and Mao Tze Tung (PRC), both of whom vied for power over their motherland, China. This is why Taiwan's ROC constitution defines its territory as that of the whole of China.

@BlueVeins I disagree. Israel/Palestine is hotter that China/Taiwan.
2 billion Muslims around the world are really angry. They’re gonna force their governments to so something. So Israel should really level up their famous intelligence services.

@eMortal Even if every Muslim-majority country which was capable of projecting its power to Israel attacked, that would still not constitute a world war. Not that they would bother, seeing as that would put them directly in the US's crosshairs. Most of these countries are autocracies, which insulates them from public opinion, and most of them have really shitty militaries anyway.

@BlueVeins That’s mistake Israel recently made, underestimate their enemies.

@eMortal The only Muslim-majority country which is even close to having the capability to invade an unsupported Israel is Turkey, but Turkey can't invade because it's in NATO, and also there's a US carrier strike group right off the coast. Closest reasonably powerful country that's not heavily aligned with the US is Iran, and the supply lines they'd have to use would be comically vulnerable, stretching directly through two completely flat war-torn countries. And Iran's military is really more of an asymmetric force anyway, just not well specialized for that kind of operation.

@BlueVeins what makes you think Turkey won’t flip on NATO. You hear Erdogan every night on TV accusing Nato of looking away.