•  Ninmi   ( @Ninmi@sopuli.xyz ) OP
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        2 years ago

        I’m trying encourage thinking a little further than just immediately giving in to any demands, no matter how unreasonable. Giving in to such demands will only further instill the malign influence and anyone suggesting we just give in to it all to avoid conflict plays their part in dooming this planet in to aggressive authoritarian hellholes.

        When I say “they’re just trading goods”, I’m saying they’re not the ones doing anything wrong here and blaming the US for a potential conflict is ridiculous.

        • Yes of course. It’s just the imperial mentality of “we own you” so Russia needed to demonstrate that it exerts control over Ukraine, China needs to demonstrate that it controls Taiwan even though neither country wants that at all, it’s something that needs to be forced.

        • I ain’t about to pretend China isn’t the bully here. They are.

          The thing is, if someone is waving a rifle around and saying “I’m gonna start killing people if anyone steps closer” and you deliberately and openly step closer in spite of several warnings – Then yeah mate, you escalated that conflict and at least part of the guilt for that is on you.

          China has a nuclear arsenal and a huge army. Taiwan has none of those. Like the absolute best case scenario here is that China invades Taiwan and a bunch of innocents die while the US washes their hands off the entire conflict and acts like they had nothing to do with it. Worst case scenario, the US retaliates and we go into full MAD scenario.

          • I think the recent US visits indicate that you could as well extend Taiwan’s forces to include the US ones. In the long run however it would of course be best to reduce the threat by acknowledging the immense risks involved in codependency with Chinese trade and start eliminating it ASAP. We’re feeding the problem ourselves.

            • The thing is that in this scenario if the US lends their forces to Taiwan, there is no way this doesn’t turn into a full-scale war. And a full-scale war between global superpowers in the present century means a genuine chance of nuke-y stuff happening.

              •  Ninmi   ( @Ninmi@sopuli.xyz ) OP
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                2 years ago

                No one wants nukes to fly, not the US, not China, not Russia. But the second we give the threat any influence to extend borders forcibly is when we’ve lost, and you can already see it in the hesitance to actually help Ukraine with boots on the ground.

                And if Ukraine and NATO has proven anything, it’s that there has to be a real military and political deterrence to prevent conflicts.

                The US visits enforce this deterrence, so of course China’s going to be displeased at the increased barrier for hostility. They then host military drills and achieve two things: get people blaming the US for their lunacy and getting to actually practice the hostility itself.