Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Magmacube_tr]

And I was about to ask what this thread was. lmao

[zhijinghaofromchina]

The Democratic Progressive Party won the Taiwan election this year.

[Loud Whispers]

In a rare moment of unity, Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden all say Taiwan is China

[EuchreJack]

While I have no great love for Biden, it's a bit of a misquote that requires reading the remainder of the article.
https://www.reuters.com/world/biden-us-does-not-support-taiwan-independence-2024-01-13/#:~:text=WASHINGTON%2C%20Jan%2013%20(Reuters),party%20a%20third%20presidential%20term.

"In a show of support for the government, Biden plans to dispatch an unofficial delegation to the self-governed island, according to a senior Biden administration official.

The delegation is likely to include some former high-ranking American officials, according to the official, who said the names have not been finalized. Similar delegations have been sent to Taiwan in the past."

The US presence on the island is a commitment to provide further security.

[Loud Whispers]

Probably the most reasonable of the choices. Don't do anything to needlessly antagonise China but also maintain support for autonomous Taiwan

[Starver]

(Mainland) China, or at least the leadership and those that accept the leadership line[1], is probably desperate to get either 'de facto' or 'de jure' control of the island nation, in leiu of the whole umbrella, and right now they're losing their passive (and psychological) grip on both.

I can't see them backing off any, really. Status Quo is probably the best we can hope for, leaving the tipping-point away in either direction always just as imminent. If it tips at all, it'll probably be from too much doubling-down[2] and fall into far more non-passive moves.

Like Ukraine, though, the blame for any outright conflict has to be laid at the one who initiates the conflict, which I can only see being one party (hint: not the ROC/DPP, nor their distant allies). Unlike Ukraine, though, it probably would (at the moment[3]) actually draw significant RotW nations into it. This is the one reason I can believe that Xi will talk hard, maybe play hard ('military exercises'), to keep the pressure up, but not actually follow through with anything more. Hopefully.

But with unknown future tendencies for the balance of power to change. New guy at the top, internal pressures, significant global changes (like Footnote-3). Or some other hotspot just flares up and makes today just look like another interbellum era as various diplomatic dominos topple and makes the fate of Taiwan not even a sideshow. (But that's also beyond the scope of this thread....)


[1] This latter group being a supermajority of the country is, of course, the whole aim for any leadership, and CCP are certainly no slackers in that regard. To the reader(s) who are in the country, I can well imagine that a phrase such as "fish have no word for water" applies, and I'm not even going to go down the route of describing how air-breathing creatures would risk drowning in the environment they find entirely livable...

[2] Sorry, I hate that phrase (outside of original context). It seemed to invade political speech over the last decade or so, usually to describe those who are playing with a bad hand. In that respect, I'm using it wrongly here. But only because it's a wild west saloon game of poker with the threat of gunplay on top of cards.

[3] A certain returning POTUS could essentially do a withdraw of support at least as dangerous (probably more so) as the Afghan one he set up. With much less actual reason to do so. But that's beyond the scope of this particular post/thread.

[Lord Shonus]

In a rare moment of unity, Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden all say Taiwan is China

This is nothing more than restating what the official position of the United States, the People's Republic of China, most of Europe, and Taiwan itself has been for decades. Taiwan insisting on being a de jure independent state would be tantamount to a declaration of war against the PRC. Anybody else insisting on it would be essentially forcing Taiwan into that war.

[Loud Whispers]

This is nothing more than restating what the official position of the United States, the People's Republic of China, most of Europe, and Taiwan itself has been for decades. Taiwan insisting on being a de jure independent state would be tantamount to a declaration of war against the PRC. Anybody else insisting on it would be essentially forcing Taiwan into that war.

On the other hand: banter

[EuchreJack]

Telling a country to fuck off because they're being stupid is not a declaration of war, otherwise we would never have peace.

[Loud Whispers]

Telling a country to fuck off because they're being stupid is not a declaration of war, otherwise we would never have peace.

[send scornful insult]
[diplomatic insult casus belli]

[Magmacube_tr]

Telling a country to fuck off because they're being stupid is not a declaration of war, otherwise we would never have peace.

[send scornful insult]
[diplomatic insult casus belli]

"Your people are descended from limbless space slugs!"

"You'll look good over my mantlepiece!"

[Loud Whispers]

"Your people are descended from limbless space slugs!"

"You'll look good over my mantlepiece!"

Joe Biden hears this in the oval office

[zhijinghaofromchina]

A terrible situation happened in Zhuhai yesterday.

A car driven by a man rushed into a sports centre , caused 35 death, 43 severely injured and more than 100 mildly injured. This severe accident had shocked the Party Central Committee, president Xi has instructed that the department of judgement should deliver a judgment quickly and heavily.

Since the foudation of the people's republic of China , maybe it's the most severe accident except the "political storm on tiananmen square''. Even in the USA , a coutry where the gun violence is rampant, it could still be a TOP-3 malignant event.

So...where is the funds for maintaining stability ? It's claimed that China's funds for maintaining stability is higher than the funds for the military. The number of this year's malignant cases is higher than the past years. I have nothing to say and nothing to do but to protect myself.

RIP for the victims.

[Starver]

A terrible situation happened in Zhuhai yesterday.

A car driven by a man rushed into a sports centre , caused 35 death, 43 severely injured and more than 100 mildly injured. This severe accident had shocked the Party Central Committee, president Xi has instructed that the department of judgement should deliver a judgment quickly and heavily.

This was on UK news, earlier, actually. Details sketchy.

I think it was also said that the driver was 65 (if I heard correctly), as another detail. It didn't suggest this, but older drivers (not that 65 is old) have been known to hit the wrong controls at the wrong time and there was a sad case of car crashing into a London school's outdoor play area not long ago, and the Glasgow bin-lorry incident of a few years back was brought back into the news again, recently, for reasons I can't now remember. But, then again, we have had deliberately weaponised cars as well.

There was a recent case quite close to me of an ex-policeman crashing into a Scottish funeral home in order to try to target someone (ex-wife?), for which I think he's now convicted of attempted murder. And the death of Heather Heyer in Charlottesville is just the last name I can remember, with there being several other cases since, that made the world news-wires from out of the US. And I don't know how the investigation into the recent Israeli bus-stop incident went (or is going), to determine what happened there.

But, pure tragic accident or deliberate crime, 35 deaths (and the rest, especially as those hospitalised may still not be out of danger) is definitely at the high end, especially in any event that it actually wasn't deliberate. But the news may know far more now, especially more locally, than when it popped up in my ears an hour or three ago.



How to legislate (or enforce) against such things is tricky, this side of 100% perfect and unhackable driverless vehicle use. After just such an attack attempt on a UK airport, some years ago (and amongst various other incidents, accidents and ram-raiding of shops having added to the perceived need), there was a big programme in the UK of setting up strong bollards and/or semi-fixed concrete partitioning blocks at the boundaries of prominant pedestrianised areas and across buildings' glass fronts. (Although, from that actual incident, it seemed that the most effective counter-measure might be to have Glaswegian staff members on hand, everywhere... Even setting yourself on fire, isn't going to stop a Paisley baggage-handler from tackling you!) Some of the 'subtle but sturdy' open-area architectural street-furniture choices can actually enhance the look of a place, without looking at all like Czech Hedgehogs or Dragon's Teeth, and can often include seating and/or decorative planting.

RIP for the victims.

I'll echo that. Whatever the cause turns out to be, and whether/however it might even have been mitigated.

[martinuzz]

Yeah, terrible news. My newspaper writes that the Chinese police said in a statement that the man did this out of anger over a judge's ruling in his divorce case.
The perpetrator tried to commit suicide after the deed with a knife, but police arrested him before he completely succeeded. He is in coma in a hospital so he cannot be questioned.

RIP for the victims and strenght with their loss for those left behind.

Also, zhijinghaofromchina: a terrible action by a lone actor like this is hard if not impossible to prevent, even if half of your country would be police officers. It is sad but can happen. No amount of 'funds for stability' will prevent such a thing.

EDIT: unrelated, geesh, LW hasn't been active since march. That's a long abscence, hope LW is okay.