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Re: China

Post by blindpig » Wed Jul 27, 2022 2:37 pm

Chinese Defense Ministry Warns “PLA Will Not Sit Idly by if Pelosi Visits Taiwan Island”
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on JULY 26, 2022
Zhang Hui and Cui Fandi

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Tan Kefei Photo:mod.gov.cn

After the Chinese Foreign Ministry stressed that China had made sterner warnings to US officials and China is fully prepared for any eventuality over US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s planned Taiwan trip on Monday, the Chinese Defense Ministry on Tuesday vowed that if the US insists, the Chinese military will by no means sit idly by and strong measures will be taken to thwart any external interference and “Taiwan independence” separatist attempts.

Chinese analysts said the strong warnings from the Chinese military meant that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is well prepared for all the possible challenges if Pelosi visits the island, and they advised the PLA Rocket Force to conduct drills with new missiles targeting any possible US aircraft carriers and other large military vessels that may be involved in Pelosi’s visit.

Tan Kefei, a spokesperson of China’s Ministry of National Defense, said on Tuesday that if Pelosi, as the No.3 US politician, visits Taiwan, it will be a serious violation of the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués, and it will seriously damage China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as the political basis for China-US relations. It would certainly cause severe damage to bilateral military relations and lead to escalating tensions across the Taiwan Straits.

China demands the US to fulfill its commitment of not supporting Taiwan secessionism and not arrange Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, Tan said, noting that if the US persists, the Chinese military will by no means sit idly by and will take strong measures to thwart any external inferences and “Taiwan independence” secessionist attempts and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Tan’s remarks indicate that PLA is fully prepared for all responses if she does visit the island,” Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert told the Global Times on Tuesday.

The New York Times reported on Monday that internal worries have sharpened in recent days, as the Biden administration quietly tries to dissuade Pelosi from going through with the proposed visit.

The reports describe a scenario that China could send aircraft to “escort” her plane and prevent it from landing if she visits Taiwan, possibly on a US military aircraft, and a US official said the scenario is a legitimate concern.

Hu Xijin, a commentator for the Global Times, said that he expected to see PLA’s aircraft flying together with Pelosi’s plane into the airspace of Taiwan island. That would set a great precedent for the PLA to patrol above the island, which would be far more meaningful than Pelosi’s visit.

Sooner or later, the PLA’s aircrafts will enter the airspace above Taiwan in a legitimate and righteous move to manifest China’s sovereignty over the island. To do this, we need an opportunity which could prompt the international community to better understand the mainland’s move is natural rather than a provocation. Pelosi’s potential visit to the island will lead to major changes on the situation in the Taiwan Straits, and PLA’s strong reaction is in line with the expectation of the international community and the visit will offer PLA a good reason to send aircraft over the island, Hu said.

So, the ball has come to Pelosi and the Biden administration that is cooperating with her and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) on the island. We have to make full preparations this time for a showdown to them. If they dare to take a small step, we will take a major step to fiercely crack down the US and the DPP’s arrogance and provocation, Hu said.

Xin Qiang, deputy director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University, told the Global Times that the US executive branch is very worried that this potential visit will cause a conflict to break out between China and the US, or even trigger a crisis.

“Pelosi doesn’t care that she might make a big mess of US-China relations, because the executive branch and the military will be the ones forced to take the consequences and deal with the aftermath,” he said.

Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that he believes Pelosi has seen clearly that those incited her to go to Taiwan are mostly Republicans who only want to create more chaos in the US so they can get more gains in the midterm elections.

No matter how divided the US politicians are on the issue, one thing for sure is that the Chinese mainland will by no means make any concessions on the issue, and the response will not just target Taiwan but also the US, as European politicians and Japanese politicians may want to follow the US, Yuan Zheng, deputy director and senior fellow of the Institute of American Studies of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

Yuan advised the Chinese government to sanction Pelosi and her immediate family members if she visits Taiwan, banning them from entering the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao and that companies and institutions associated with them are also restricted from doing business with China.

He said the similar measures against US former secretary of state Mike Pompeo were effective.

Song said he believes the Chinese military should declare the entire Taiwan island as PLA’s drill zone intercepting all unauthorized planes flying in the zone if Pelosi visits the island.

Meanwhile, the PLA Rocket Force could conduct drills with new missiles targeting any possible US aircraft carriers and other large military vessels that may be involved in Pelosi’s visit, Song said, noting the drills could be conducted in areas surrounding Taiwan island from the east side.

In 1995 and 1996, in response to then Taiwan leader Lee Teng-hui’s visit to the US challenging the one-China policy, the Chinese mainland conducted exercises that included testing missiles in waters surrounding Taiwan.

Now the PLA Rocket Force is much stronger than it was, indicating that it could do a lot more, Song said.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2022/07/ ... an-island/

Hubris or desperation, the errand boys(and girls) of the ruling class are committing the most elementary faux pas of statecraft, inciting a two front war. This cannot end well for them, or we US peons for that matter. We have sat on our hands licking crumbs from the bourgeois banquet while the rest are brutalized and robbed. We should not complain too loudly when the shit rain starts to fall on us. We will get no sympathy from the South and deserve none. Only action on our part here in 'the belly of the beast' can ameliorate our shame.
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: China

Post by blindpig » Fri Jul 29, 2022 3:57 pm

Pelosi must abandon provocative plan
By Zhu Songling | CHINA DAILY | Updated: 2022-07-29 07:05

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US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. [Photo/Agencies]

That US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is planning a trip to Taiwan next month, according to a Financial Times report on July 19, has grabbed the media's attention again. "Again" because a few months ago some media reports in Japan and Taiwan had said Pelosi might visit the island in April.

However, it appeared that Pelosi (or the Joe Biden administration or the China hawks in Washington) was testing China's response to the news, because she cancelled her earlier plan after China took strong exception to her proposed visit, although she cited the excuse of testing positive for the novel coronavirus to avoid getting into trouble and continue playing her political games.

True to US politicians' nature, Pelosi is still secretive about her plan. As a senior leader in US politics, Pelosi's move, irrespective of whether she visits Taiwan or not, will directly affect Sino-US ties and the situation across the Taiwan Straits.

Pelosi is playing the Taiwan card because the Democratic Party appears to be at a disadvantage in the midterm elections scheduled for November, and the Republican Party has repeatedly accused the Democratic administration of going soft on China. And playing the Taiwan card is the most effective way of showing the administration is acting tough with China.

Both the Democratic and Republican parties are adept at playing the Taiwan card. Congress members from the two parties often take advantage of cross-Straits tensions to garner votes. As leader of the House of Representatives, Pelosi is more likely to attract media attention, prompt a furious reaction from China, and show the Republicans that the Democrats can "take on" Beijing. Perhaps she always knew what China's response would be, but still released information about her proposed trip.

Besides, the US administration believes it can use the speculation over her proposed visit to the island as a bargaining chip in negotiations with Beijing. As inflation in the US has been soaring and its sanctions against Russia have proved almost ineffective, the Joe Biden administration needs China's help to address many issues both at home and abroad. But the administration's arrogance will not allow it to directly ask China for help, and Pelosi believes her proposed visit would push Beijing to the negotiating table and thus save Washington's face.

Pelosi's visit also depends on whether the Democrats can turn the tide against the Republicans in the midterm elections. Pelosi's planned trip implies that the Democrats are currently the underdogs in the midterm elections, and even though the Taiwan question is of little importance to US elections, politicians' remarks on the issue can draw media attention and give Democrats a boost.

The US is likely to continue its zero-sum games. But attempts to force China into a corner do neither country any good. Besides, one of the major tasks for the US government now is to contain inflation, which it can do to a certain extent by lifting the punitive tariffs on Chinese goods which incidentally can also ease Sino-US tensions.

Therefore, it is likely that the Biden administration will let Pelosi play her little games and lower some of the tariffs at the same time. And if Pelosi makes the trip, Biden can excuse himself by saying he has no right to stop the House speaker from visiting the island because of the separation of powers.

If Pelosi's proposed visit to Taiwan is just a trick, it will prompt a spat between Beijing and Washington. But if it is true, it will be the first such visit by a House speaker in 25 years and, more importantly, will be a gross violation of the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques, and pose a serious challenge to China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Pelosi's trip to Taiwan, if it takes place, will deal a severe blow to Sino-US ties, further intensify cross-Straits tensions, and elicit a very strong response from Beijing. The Taiwan question is the most sensitive of China's core interests. Beijing is strongly against Pelosi's visit and is militarily prepared to deal with any eventualities. If Pelosi goes ahead with her plan, the US should be ready to bear the consequences of being excessively bold.

http://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/20220 ... 6f00d.html

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Provoking Beijing
Yves Smith is aghast about the U.S. eyepoking of China:

The neocons above all seem unable to process that the days of US hegemony are over. It boggles the mind that they are not just eyepoking but escalating greatly with China via the still-planned Pelosi visit to Taiwan in August. As we’ll explain, China is fully cognizant of the fact that Pelosi is number two in line after Harris should something happen to the increasingly addle-brained Biden. And they don’t buy for a second that Pelosi is operating without the explicit approval of the Administration.

Note that it’s entirely possible that Pelosi revived her Taiwan trip plan (recall she put it off after coming down with Covid) all on her own. The Pentagon gave her a face-saving out by saying they didn’t recommend it.

China, which is routinely screechy when it is upset about what it perceives to be foreign transgressions, has managed to find new registers in its objections the proposed Pelosi visit.


Pelosi is not only number two in line but has been hostile to the Chinese government for more than 30 years. In 1991 she and two other members of Congress made a stunt on the Tiananmen square where two years before protests had taken place.

The multiday protest in the square had ended peacefully. But outside of the square bloody riots took place over several days and nights during which hundreds of soldiers and rioters got killed.

The protest and riots had been a U.S. instigated color revolution attempt with the father of the color revolution concept, Gene Sharp, being personally in the Beijing and consulting the protest leaders. After the attempt had failed the CIA organized the exit of hundreds of protest leaders and agents to Hong Kong where they formed the base for the 2020 color revolution attempt there. Lots of those 'activists' have now moved to Taiwan.

In 1991 Pelosi and two congressmen unfolded a banner on Tianamen in front of the international media that said: "To those who died for democracy in China." Police immediately intervened and ended the stunt.

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The stunt had a positive echo in U.S. media (Note: The video title says it is 1989 but the announcer says it is two years later).

Pelosi may think she can recreate another positive media echo by traveling to Taiwan.

But the China of 2022 is no longer the China of 1991. It is now the world's biggest economy and its military force rivals the one the U.S. has. It no longer condones eyepoking and 'human rights' stunts. It knows a U.S. provocation when it sees one.

In the 1950s and 60s the U.S. financed terrorism in Tibet. In 1989 it coached and financed a bloody color revolution attempt in Beijing. In the 1990s it brought Islamist terrorism to Xinjiang. In this century the U.S. instigated several periods of riots in Hong Kong.

But note a pattern. Tibet is now a peaceful province of China, Beijing does well and the Chinese people are happy with their government. Xinjiang is now the most visited tourist region of the world and Hong Kong is under full Chinese control.

The U.S. is trying to push Taiwan to declare independence and to sucker China into some military reaction. It should take note of the fact that its other attempts to poke China have not ended well for its side.

Yves says that China is ready to response should the planned Pelosi stunt take place:

If the Chinese level of ire is any guide, having Chinese fighter jets deny Pelosi a landing in Taiwan is on the mild end of possible responses. If that were to happen and the plane was escorted to land in mainland China, I could see the Chinese rubbing salt in the wound by not letting anyone in the aircraft deplane.
China is considering how to use a Pelosi visit to set far more important precedents. Hu in the Global Times clip above mentioned declaring a no-fly zone or having PLA jets fly with Pelosi’s plane into Taiwan airspace. As the Global Times noted: “That would set a great precedent for the PLA to patrol above the island, which would be far more meaningful than Pelosi’s visit.”

As with provoking Russia, the US may be about to get what it sought with Taiwan and find out that the results are not to its advantage. And as an American, it’s depressing to see so much incompetence and arrogance on display.


There is more incompetence and arrogance to come. Pelosi has now asked other lawmakers to join her on the trip:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has invited other members of Congress to join her in a visit to Taiwan next month, signaling that she still plans to make the trip despite the fact that the US military thinks it risks provoking China.
Rep. Michael McFaul (R-TX), the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Wednesday that Pelosi invited him and Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-NY), who chairs the committee.

McFaul said he couldn’t go to Taiwan due to a prior engagement but expressed support for the trip. “Any member that wants to go, should. It shows political deterrence to President Xi,” he said. “But she should also pay attention to the military if it’s going to cause a blowback and escalate things.”


The Pentagon had warned that the trip could mean serious trouble but it is now increasing that trouble potential by moving more forces into the area:

Officials told The Associated Press that if Pelosi goes to Taiwan — still an uncertainty — the military would increase its movement of forces and assets in the Indo-Pacific region. They declined to provide details, but said that fighter jets, ships, surveillance assets and other military systems would likely be used to provide overlapping rings of protection for her flight to Taiwan and any time on the ground there.

That is indeed the dumbest thing the Pentagon could do. More forces in the region means more potential for a screw up where one thing goes wrong and everything escalates into a bloody war:

The biggest risk during Pelosi’s trip is of some Chinese show of force “gone awry, or some type of accident that comes out of a demonstration of provocative action,” said Mark Cozad, acting associate director of the International Security and Defense Policy Center at the Rand Corp. “So it could be an air collision. It could be some sort of missile test, and, again, when you’re doing those types of things, you know, there is always the possibility that something could go wrong.”
...
“It is very possible that ... our attempts to deter actually send a much different signal than the one we intend to send,” Cozad said. “And so you get into ... some sort of an escalatory spiral, where our attempts to deter are actually seen as increasingly provocative and vice versa. And that can be a very dangerous dynamic.”


Yesterday China's foreign ministry spokesperson made it clear that China will not back down:

AFP: A US official said that if Pelosi goes to Taiwan, the military would increase its movement of forces in the Asia-Pacific, including fighter jets. What is your comment?
Zhao Lijian: Perhaps you missed our briefings in the past few days. We have repeatedly made clear our our firm opposition to Speaker Pelosi’s potential visit to Taiwan. If the US side insists on making the visit and challenges China’s red line, it will be met with resolute countermeasures. The US must bear all consequences arising thereof.


President Joe Biden has refrained from stopping Pelosi's trip plans. Today he is supposed to call president Xi. The Chinese have not confirmed a call so it may not happen. Will Biden ask that Pelosi be allowed to visit Taiwan? If he does he surely will get a quite harsh response.

Taiwan is part of China. This is by the way also the official position of the government in Taipei. But seen from Beijing that government is only that of a Chinese province and not one that is allowed to have an independent foreign policy. Any attempt to change that will see strong resistance from Beijing, if necessary by force.

The U.S. government is currently watching as its proxy force in the Ukraine gets systematically dismantled by Russia which is destined to win that war. There is nothing that the U.S. can do about that. Any conflict around Taiwan would have a similar outcome.

Washington may think that would be a great opportunity to isolate China.

But isolate from whom? It would be the U.S. and its allies which would be most hurt by it while the much larger rest of the world would simply continue to work with China just as it does now with Russia.

But with incompetence and arrogance ruling in Washington (and Brussels) one can no exclude that that is exactly their plan.

Posted by b on July 28, 2022 at 15:50 UTC | Permalink

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/07/p ... .html#more

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Chinese ‘imperialism’ in Hong Kong concerns US Media; Puerto Rican, Palestinian colonies, not so much
We’re pleased to republish this article from 2020 by Joshua Cho, originally published in FAIR, about the startling hypocrisy in the media coverage of Hong Kong, particularly when compared to the coverage of Puerto Rico and Palestine. There was a storm of articles about the national security law in Hong Kong, with numerous Western media outlets describing it as an example of “colonialism” – ignoring the rather important fact that Hong Kong is part of China. Meanwhile, these same media outlets participate in a conspiracy of silence around the very real colonialism of the US against the people of Puerto Rico and the Israeli state against the Palestinians.

The article has lost none of its relevance in the period since its original publication.
When China passed a national security law for Hong Kong on June 30, criminalizing terrorism, secession and subversion of the Chinese government, as well as collusion with foreign governments, massive condemnations resounded all over Western media.

Vox (5/21/20) described it as an “official death sentence” for the “one country, two systems” model of governance in Hong Kong. Business Insider’s headline (7/1/20) described China’s national security law as having “killed Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement in less than a year.” The Washington Post (7/3/20) ran an op-ed mocking China’s actions as “nothing less than imperialism with Chinese characteristics.” The Atlantic (7/1/20) described Hong Kong as a “colony once more,” equating the Chinese government with previous British and Japanese “overlords in a distant capital” making “decisions on Hong Kong’s behalf.”

Of course, while Western media describe the national security law as something China “imposed” on Hong Kong, these same outlets rarely if ever present the “one country, two systems” model of governance in Hong Kong as something that was imposed on China by British imperialism, when London refused to unconditionally return the former colony to China. Hong Kong was violently seized from China with the Treaty of Nanking in 1842, after the British waged a war to impose the opium trade on China, causing about 90 million Chinese people to develop an addiction by the end of the 19th century.

FAIR studies (10/26/20, 12/6/20) have found that Hong Kong protests received dramatically more media attention than contemporaneous protests in US client states like Chile, Haiti and Ecuador. FAIR found that the disparity in coverage couldn’t be explained by the protests’ size, significance, number of casualties or response from the authorities, as police crackdowns in US dependencies have been far more brutal and lethal than the crackdown in Hong Kong. The disparity is better explained by corporate journalists considering Hong Kong protesters “worthy victims,” more deserving of coverage because they are protesting against an Official EnemyTM of the US, rather than a government friendly to Washington.

While one cannot describe China’s national security law as an act of “colonialism” or “imperialism,” since Hong Kong is part of China, FAIR conducted a study comparing media coverage of Hong Kong’s national security law and actual colonialism by the US in Puerto Rico, and by its ally Israel in Palestine. From June 16 to July 14, FAIR searched for all relevant results for “Hong Kong+security law,” “Israel+annex” and a general search for “Puerto Rico” on the New York Times and Wall Street Journal’s websites, as well as a Nexis search for CNN’s coverage. FAIR included all relevant results, except reposted content from newswires like Reuters and the Associated Press. Full documentation, including links to all the articles in the sample, can be found here.

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In total, there have been 113 articles on China’s new national security law in Hong Kong, 12 on Israel’s plans to unilaterally annex parts of the West Bank on July 1 (which have currently been stalled), and six altogether on Puerto Rico.

Puerto Rico is currently the world’s oldest colony, incorporated into the US empire as spoils of war following the Spanish/American War of 1898, and it currently enjoys less political participation than it did during the Spanish monarchy (Washington Post, 12/13/17). The US has consistently exploited Puerto Rico’s economy for over a century, and has denied the colony representation in Congress or the right to vote in presidential elections (CounterSpin, 8/2/19, 3/18/20). Washington has imposed neoliberal shock doctrine on the island, withholding aid following the devastation left by Hurricane Maria, earthquakes and coronavirus (FAIR.org, 2/9/18; Common Dreams, 1/9/20).

Puerto Rico’s local sovereignty is also compromised by the fact that the Jones Act and the PROMESA Act render it totally dependent on the US federal government for its economic viability, along with having an unelected, Washington-appointed body overseeing the colony’s finances. In 2019, the human rights group Kilómetro Cero documented the police killing of at least four civilians on the island. Puerto Rico’s police have a long history of racist violence and suppression of free speech, suspending the First Amendment after 11 PM to terminate protests in part of 2019.

In FAIR’s sample, two of the six articles on Puerto Rico (New York Times, 7/10/20; CNN, 7/12/20) also discussed the revelation that Trump considered selling Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria, referring to it as an “asset,” demonstrating the US’s mercantile attitude towards its colony–though neither of these articles used words like “colony” or “imperialism.”

While Israel’s settler colonialism has been going on for decades, FAIR’s search focused on Israel’s plans to annex the West Bank on July 1, because it was a contemporaneous measure taken by a US ally that would permanently end prospects for Palestinian independence under a two-state solution (FAIR.org, 1/31/20, 2/7/20). While some of the disparity in coverage could be explained by the postponement of the planned annexation on July 1 due to coronavirus and international condemnation, even if we confine coverage from the Times, Journal and CNN from June 16 to July 1, there are still 44 articles on China’s national security law for Hong Kong, compared to 12 on Israel’s planned annexation of Palestinian territory.

If, as Israel’s annexation asserts, the West Bank is not an independent nation deserving of self-determination, than Israel/Palestine is an apartheid state where millions of Palestinians are denied democratic rights due to their ethnicity. The denial of these rights has a heavy human cost: According to the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem (1/1/20), Israeli security forces killed 133 Palestinians in 2019, including 28 children. Fifty-six of the people killed took no part in hostilities against Israel, making them victims of Israeli state terrorism.

Corporate media’s particular interest in Hong Kong protests cannot be explained by the Hong Kong police force’s crackdown being exceptionally brutal. After Chinese revolutionaries waged what Chinese people call the War of Liberation against Western and Japanese colonizers, Communists in Hong Kong led uprisings against British colonial rule in 1967, during which colonial police shot to death or otherwise killed at least 17 people. In contrast, while instances of police brutality have been documented during the current Hong Kong protests, none of the four deaths of protesters reported so far in the current unrest have been directly and credibly attributed to police violence. Hong Kong protesters, meanwhile, have set a man on fire, bombed subways, beaten elderly people and young women, and murdered a 70-year-old man by hurling a brick at his head (South China Morning Post, 11/12/19, 6/3/20).

Nor does international condemnation explain the greater attention US media pay to China’s assertion of control over its own territory compared to actual colonialism in Puerto Rico and Palestine: More countries support China’s actions defending its sovereignty than oppose them, and the UN has passed numerous resolutions calling for Puerto Rican and Palestinian self-determination.

Not only was far more media attention given to the national security law in Hong Kong, there was also a huge difference in tone in the coverage. The Journal ran numerous editorials (7/1/20, 7/8/20, 7/14/20) and op-eds (7/2/20, 7/13/20) worrying about Hong Kong’s “endangered elections,” and mulling over how to best “punish China” for its “illegal takeover,” as well as ways to “curb Chinese intimidation” of Western corporations, pointing to laws forbidding companies to boycott Israel as a model. However, the Journal only ran one op-ed (7/1/20) on the West Bank, which advised Netanyahu to “slice some pieces off the annexation salami,” because Israel’s illegal takeover works better as a “bargaining chip” than “as a fait accompli,” and only one column on Puerto Rico (6/22/20), a celebration of the privatization of Puerto Rico’s bankrupt public utility.

The Times’ editorial board (7/1/20) urged Trump to “pressure” China, because “history will not be kind to those who did nothing to try to stop Beijing’s human rights abuses”; the paper did not speculate on history’s attitude toward the US’s own human rights abuses in Puerto Rico, or its support for those of its ally Israel in Palestine.

The paper ran numerous articles (7/7/20, 7/8/20, 7/14/20) on the national security law’s suppression of political expression in Hong Kong, noting that the Times will be moving part of its Hong Kong bureau to Seoul. The paper unironically noted that it must partially relocate to South Korea for that country’s “independent press,” and because some journalists fear Beijing will “crack down on activism and speech.” South Korea’s defamation laws can imprison people for three years for publishing true statements its government deems not in the public interest, and its authoritarian National Security Act censors and punishes people for reading and voicing opinions favorable to North Korea.

Judging by the volume and tone of media coverage about China’s national security law, one might get the impression that the law is an unprecedented and obvious threat to civil liberties. While there are legitimate concerns about how widely it can be applied (the vaguely worded law appears to assert “long-arm jurisdiction” for violations committed outside the territory, although the Chinese government denies this), China passed a similar law in 2009 for its other autonomous region, Macau—which was returned to China by Portugal in 1999—and Macau still remains autonomous. Plenty of other countries, including the US, already have anti-sedition laws on the books.

CNN (6/29/20) notes that anti-separatism is the “norm worldwide,” and a UN resolution states:

Any attempt aimed at the partial or total disruption of the national unity and the territorial integrity of a country is incompatible with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

While Hong Kong protesters wave US and British colonial flags for varying reasons, some have called on US President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to “liberate” the territory and “fight for us.” The US government funded last year’s protests through the US Agency for Global Media (FAIR.org, 7/15/20). The National Endowment for Democracy (NED)—which performs the foreign government–subverting work the CIA used to do more covertly—has also given millions of dollars in support. Some of its leaders have openly colluded with US officials, and yearn for a return to British colonialism, which had little semblance of democracy throughout most of its occupation. Given that the United States criminalizes foreign interference in its elections, it should hardly be surprising or shocking that China would pass similar laws.

https://socialistchina.org/2022/07/25/c ... t-so-much/
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: China

Post by blindpig » Sat Jul 30, 2022 3:01 pm

Xi Jinping and Biden Conversation and the Law of Chips and Science
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on JULY 29, 2022
Yoselina Guevara López

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This Thursday, July 28, Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden, held a telephone conversation for more than two hours, in one of the most tense moments between China and the United States due to the security situation around the Taiwan Strait, the alleged plan of the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, to visit the island of Taiwan and the approval of the Law of Chips and Science.

This communication exchange between the two leaders is important because it is a sign that there is still room for diplomacy and that there is still a willingness between the two powers to manage their differences through dialogue; although it must be taken into account that the economic pressure the United States is going through is also one of the key reasons why diplomatic channels remain open.

Press agencies reported that the two presidents had a sincere communication and exchange on the relations between China and the United States, dealing with matters of mutual interest. For his part, the Chinese leader openly criticized the U.S. policy on China, including its strategy that places it as a “primary rival”. This shows that Beijing has always refused to define relations between the two countries from the perspective of being rivals or at worst enemies, because this could lead to worst-case scenarios.

The Chinese president again warned the U.S. side about the seriousness and importance of the Taiwan issue, which is very clear, as are the facts and the status quo that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one and the same China. The three joint communiqués by Beijing and Washington embody the political commitments made by both sides, and the “one China” principle is the political foundation of China-U.S. relations. In this regard, Xi Jinping said that China firmly opposes the separatist movements in Taipei and the interference of outside forces, adding that they will never allow any space for the forces that support the so-called “Taiwan independence”. He referred to the consistent position of the Chinese government and people on the Taiwan issue, which is to resolutely safeguard China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity, noting that it is the firm will of the more than 1.4 billion Chinese people. President Xi Jinping stated that “one cannot defy public opinion. Those who play with fire will perish for it. Hopefully, the United States is clear about this.”

This is evidently a clear and forceful warning, adding to those already made by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of National Defense, so if Mrs. Nancy Pelosi insists on her provocative plan to visit Taiwan, her country will face serious consequences in which nothing is out of the question.

As we have pointed out in other articles Biden and Pelosi are divided over the president’s possible trip to the island, as Pelosi is considering the mid-term elections and her own political interests. While the U.S. president is looking at it from the perspective of the White House, that is, as the person responsible for Washington’s national interests.

The American Law of Chips and Science

Adding to the tensions generated by Pelosi’s possible visit to Taiwan is the recent Law of Chips (Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors) and Science passed by the U.S. Senate. The legislation aims to address the severe chip shortage through massive subsidies to the semiconductor industry. The goal of the legislation is twofold; first, to boost U.S. competitiveness in the technology war against China and second, to slow the inevitable decline of U.S. manufacturing.

U.S. industry is a leader at the high end of the chip value chain, primarily in design and R&D, but relies on Asian industries for the middle end of the chain; South Korea and Taiwan dominate core component production, China, chip assembly. With this law Washington seeks independence from Beijing in the global semiconductor value chain.

For the United States, securing domestic chip production is essential for a wide range of consumer goods as well as military assets. It is no coincidence that Biden has called approval of the proposal crucial to “national security.” For its part, the Chinese embassy in Washington had already commented that the bill appears to be “rooted in the Cold War mentality.” For now, tensions between the two powers are simmering, the chess game is still open with the US nuclear aircraft carrier “Ronald Reagan” bound for the South China Sea. It is not clear exactly what the moves of the pieces will be.

Adding to the tensions generated by Pelosi’s possible visit to Taiwan is the recent Law of Chips (Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors) and Science passed by the U.S. Senate. The legislation aims to address the severe chip shortage through massive subsidies to the semiconductor industry. The goal of the legislation is twofold; first, to boost U.S. competitiveness in the technology war against China and second, to slow the inevitable decline of U.S. manufacturing.

U.S. industry is a leader at the high end of the chip value chain, primarily in design and R&D, but relies on Asian industries for the middle end of the chain; South Korea and Taiwan dominate core component production, China chip assembly. With this law Washington seeks independence from Beijing in the global semiconductor value chain.

For the United States, securing domestic chip production is essential for a wide range of consumer goods as well as military assets. It is no coincidence that Biden has called approval of the proposal crucial to “national security.” For its part, the Chinese embassy in Washington had already commented that the bill appears to be “rooted in the Cold War mentality.” For now, tensions between the two powers are simmering, the chess game is still open with the US nuclear aircraft carrier “Ronald Reagan” bound for the South China Sea. It is not clear exactly what the moves of the pieces will be.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2022/07/ ... d-science/

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China Defies US Sanctions with Computer Chip Breakthrough
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on JULY 29, 2022
Brian Berletic

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The Western media lamented China’s most recent breakthrough in computer chip manufacturing, achieving standards in production that were thought impossible because of sanctions imposed by the United States specifically designed to stifle Chinese advances.

A report from early July by CNBC would discuss these sanctions. In their article, “US mulls fresh bid to restrict chipmaking tools for China’s SMIC,” CNBC would report:

The Biden administration is considering new targeted restrictions on shipments of chipmaking tools to China, seeking to hamstring advances by China’s largest chipmaker, SMIC, without slowing the flow of chips into the global economy, five people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The Commerce Department, which oversees export policy, is actively discussing the possibility of banning exports of chipmaking tools to those Chinese factories that make advanced semiconductors at the 14 nanometer node and smaller, the people said, to stymie China’s efforts at making more state-of-the-art chips.


The very notion of one nation dictating to another what it can and cannot manufacturer and specifically to keep one nation subordinated to another as its “factory,” helps illustrate the true nature of the United States’ “rules-based international order,” an order in which the US makes rules solely serving its interests and achieved at the expense of all other nations. Those who refuse to follow these rules become “adversaries” as China clearly has.

Despite these sanctions, China’s Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) has managed to surpass the 14nm mark and is in fact producing chips with nodes as small as 7nm.

Bloomberg in a more recent article, “China’s Top Chipmaker Achieves Breakthrough Despite US Curbs,” would admit:

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. has likely advanced its production technology by two generations, defying US sanctions intended to halt the rise of China’s largest chipmaker.

The Shanghai-based manufacturer is shipping Bitcoin-mining semiconductors built using 7-nanometer technology, industry watchers TechInsights wrote in a blog post on Tuesday. That’s well ahead of SMIC’s established 14nm technology, a measure of fabrication complexity in which narrower transistor widths help produce faster and more efficient chips. Since late 2020, the US has barred the unlicensed sale to the Chinese firm of equipment that can be used to fabricate semiconductors of 10nm and beyond, infuriating Beijing.


The Bloomberg article notes that attempts to stifle China’s technological advances have been ongoing, spanning multiple US presidencies with US President Donald Trump having targeted SMIC during his administration, followed by additional sanctions imposed by the Biden administration.

America’s Inability to Compete, or Even Cheat

Clearly US sanctions have not had their desired impact, nor should they have been expected to. The notion that the United States can stifle Chinese technological advances by denying it equipment and components from beyond Chinese borders reflects the West’s thinking toward China that the nation and its people are inferior and are incapable of achieving significant advances without “stealing” intellectual property or using equipment made by the “much more advanced” West.

However this is clearly not true with several prominent Chinese companies, including Huawei and DJI, creating products with quality unrivaled worldwide.

Yet even amid this most recent advance in chip manufacturing, the Western media is attempting to suggest China made this achievement through “copying” the technology of others, namely Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). The fact that Taiwan is part of China appears to escape those across the Western media making this claim.

An article in tech media outlet Tom’s Hardware, “China’s SMIC Shipping 7nm Chips, Reportedly Copied TSMC’s Tech,” attempts to make the argument that SMIC copied TSMC’s technology. The article reports:

According to analyst firm TechInsights, Chinese foundry SMIC has been producing chips based on its 7nm process node for a Bitcoin Miner SoC, and they’ve been shipping since July of 2021 (h/t to SemiAnalysis). TechInsights has reverse-engineered the chip, saying the “initial images suggest it is a close copy of TSMC 7nm process technology,” a telling discovery after Taiwan-based TSMC has sued SMIC twice in the past for copying its tech. The discovery comes as China continues to build out its own homegrown semiconductor production, with the heavily-sanctioned SMIC leading the way. Meanwhile, the US government is on the cusp of approving large subsidies for US-based chipmakers.

Of course, lawsuits filed against China regarding “intellectual property” are often filed in the United States and used as part of a much wider effort to isolate and contain China’s economic and technological rise. This is done by using legal maneuvers and the outcomes of lawsuits to bar Chinese companies from first US markets, and through pressure from the US State Department, markets around the globe.

This method of attempting to contain China has emerged out of America’s inability to compete against China head-to-head. Even through increasingly desperate measures, it is clear the US is losing its advantage as an economic, industrial, and even technological leader.

China’s Technological Rise is Driven by Forces the US Cannot Contain

Tom’s Hardware in their recent article also notes that while the US continues attempting to stifle China’s chipmaking industry, it will only succeed in perhaps slowing it down, not stopping it. The article reports:

[China] has continued to plow money into developing its own chipmaking tools and software (EDA) ecosystem. As SMIC has proven, it can use less-sophisticated equipment to create advanced process nodes even if it is less profitable, and that opens the firm up to even more sales from chip designers. Whether or not those chips will come with export restrictions due to legal challenges remains to be seen, but China has its own burgeoning ecosystem of chip designers that could use their designs in-country, perhaps sidestepping the impact of punitive measures.

The article’s latter point about China’s “own burgeoning ecosystem of chip designers that could use their designs in-country” cannot be overstated. As Chinese President Xi Jinping has observed, “the Chinese economy is a sea, not a pond.”

Regardless of how successful US pressure may be in barring Chinese products from certain markets around the globe, Chinese industries will continue to advance even if simply serving Chinese domestic markets. The same could be said about other advanced industries including telecommunications and China’s growing aerospace industry – both of which are also targets by the US.

Driving China’s technological rise is the massive number of graduates produced across the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). China leads the world in this respect and far outpaces the United States or any other Western nation.

A 2017 Forbes article titled, “The Countries With The Most STEM Graduates [Infographic],” would note:

According to the World Economic Forum, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) has become a pretty big deal in China’s flourishing universities. In 2013, 40 percent of Chinese graduates finished a degree in STEM, over twice the share in American third level institutions.

STEM graduates have become a vital cog in the wheel of global prosperity and unsurprisingly, China is leading the way. The World Economic Forum reported that China had 4.7 million recent STEM graduates in 2016. India, another academic powerhouse, had 2.6 million new STEM graduates last year while the US had 568,000.


This is a trend that has only continued.

Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology in a more recent 2021 paper titled, “China is Fast Outpacing US STEM PhD Growth,” would claim:

Based on current enrollment patterns, we project that by 2025 Chinese universities will produce more than 77,000 STEM PhD graduates per year compared to approximately 40,000 in the United States. If international students are excluded from the US count, Chinese STEM PhD graduates would outnumber their US counterparts more than three-to-one.

Regarding the quality of Chinese higher education, the paper would note:

Our findings also suggest the quality of doctoral education in China has risen in recent years, and that much of China’s current PhD growth comes from high-quality universities.

The paper notes that this serves as a key indicator of a nation’s future competitiveness in STEM fields which includes high-tech industries like chipmaking.

The US labors under the flawed assumption that the only way China can advance its chipmaking capabilities is with machinery and components from Western corporations or through “theft” of intellectual property. This is an outlook rooted in generations of Western thinking that other nations and peoples beyond the West are inherently inferior.

It is clear that China has invested heavily in the most important resource of all, human resources. Together with the large amount of natural resources China has access to, it has everything it needs within its borders to continue advancing all of its high-tech industries including chip manufacturing, independently of the West.

The West, through its belligerent policies aimed at China are not only going to fail in stopping China’s rise as a technological superpower, they will have isolated themselves from the benefits other nations working with China will enjoy as China’s rise continues.

Above all, US policy towards China is driven by a desperate and entirely irrational desire to prevent China’s rise. China is a nation with over four times the population of the United States. It graduates millions more in essential fields including STEM disciplines driving national development, has access to plenty of natural resources, and has created a foundation of world-class infrastructure upon which to continue building up its society.

China’s rise as the largest, most powerful nation on earth is inevitable. The resources, energy, and time the United States is wasting in attempting to contain China’s rise and assert itself above all other nations could be used instead to find a constructive role to play among all other nations as a still powerful, influential nation with much to offer humanity, just not the most powerful or influential. The United States, like many empires before it in history, unfortunately, appears determined to squander this opportunity to peacefully transition to one powerful nation among many, and instead faces the prospects of holding neither primacy over the planet, nor significant prominence among the nations on it.

https://libya360.wordpress.com/2022/07/ ... akthrough/

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Chinese spokesperson slams NATO for strategic concept referring to China
2022-07-29 05:42:30XinhuaEditor : Wang Fan

A Chinese defense spokesperson on Thursday voiced firm opposition to certain content regarding China in a strategic concept document published by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Wu Qian, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks in response to a press inquiry regarding the issue.

The document distorts facts, instigates confrontation and conflicts, and makes irresponsible remarks on China's normal military development and national defense policy, said Wu.

China is a consistent builder of world peace, a contributor to global growth, a defender of the international order, and a provider of public goods. China's military development not only underpins efforts to safeguard the country's sovereignty, security, and development interests but also promotes world peace and stability, and provides more public security goods worldwide, said Wu.

Over the years, the Chinese military has been actively engaged in international peacekeeping, naval escort, humanitarian aid, and anti-pandemic missions, making substantial contributions to safeguarding world peace, Wu said.

In stark contrast, since its inception, NATO has initiated or engaged in wars globally, killing innocent civilians and turning tens of millions into displaced refugees. In its essence, NATO is a war machine, a military tool in furtherance of the United States hegemony, and a systemic threat to world peace and stability, said Wu.

Gone are the days when the Chinese people were at the mercy of others, Wu said, urging NATO to stop fabricating lies, stoking confrontations, and causing tensions.

China will firmly defend its national sovereignty, security and development interests, and will not allow external forces to destabilize the Asia-Pacific region, Wu said.

http://www.ecns.cn/news/military/2022-0 ... 3938.shtml

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Shenzhou-14 Crew Enters Wentian Lab Module, as China’s Space Station Is Near Completion
JULY 29, 2022

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The Shenzhou-14 crew members, Chen Dong (center), Liu Yang (right) and Cai Xuzhe salute from the Wentian (Quest to The Heavens) lab module on July 25, 2022 from some 400 kilometers above the Earth. The three taikonauts checked in to their office and home unit in space at 10:03 am. Photo: cnsphoto.

The Shenzhou-14 crew of three taikonauts, who watched live the epic launch of the Wentian [Quest to The Heavens] lab module from some 400 kilometers above the Earth and cheered it on with applause on Sunday, did not wait long to check into their office and home unit in space, as they opened the gate of the freshly docked new module and entered the Wentian at 10:03 am on Monday, the Global Times learned from the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

It was a historic first that the taikonauts entered the scientific lab module in orbit, the CMSA noted in a statement it provided to the Global Times on Monday morning, while disclosing that the crew shall execute missions including space station combination attitude control, verification of robotic arms, and use of the Wentian airlock and its small robotic arm to perform spacewalks under the plan.

The Wentian lab module conducted a smooth rendezvous and docking with the China Space Station’s Tianhe core module at the front port at 3:13 am on Monday, some 13 hours after it was launched via a giant Long March-5B carrier rocket from South China’s tropical island province of Hainan.

It was a first for two pieces of 20-ton level spacecraft to execute the “heavenly kiss” in the country’s history, and it also marked an unprecedented milestone event that took place while the China Space Station combination was carrying taikonauts onboard, the CMSA announced.

Before China, only the former Soviet Union and the US were capable of assembling ultra-large spacecraft in orbit.

Designed mainly to support space science and biology experiments, the 23-ton Wentian lab module is heavier than any other single-module spacecraft currently in space, including those with the International Space Station (ISS), the Global Times learned from the mission contractor, the state-owned space giant China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp (CASC).

The Wentian also hosts eight experimental cabinets onboard. It will mainly focus on the study of space life sciences, which can support the growth, development, genetics and aging of multiple species of plants, animals and microorganisms under space conditions, Lü Congmin, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and deputy chief designer of the space utilization system of China Manned Space programs, told the Global Times.

More than 10 research directions have been planned and more than 40 scientific projects have been established for the Wentian, Lü said.

To meet the high energy requirements for the large number of scientific experiments in space, the Wentian is equipped with a pair of the largest flexible solar panels that the country has ever developed.

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The full wingspan of the solar panels on the Wentian is more than 55 meters, longer than half a soccer field, and each panel has an unfolded area of about 110 square meters. Photo: Courtesy of CASC

The full wingspan of the solar panels on the Wentian is more than 55 meters, longer than half a soccer field, setting a new record for solar panels used for China’s spacecraft. Each panel has an unfolded area of about 110 square meters, the Global Times learned from the developers.

The two solar panels will effectively collect more solar energy, generating an average of more than 430 kilowatt hours per day and providing sufficient power for space station operations. If placed on Earth, the daily power generation of the solar panels would be enough to support the power demand of an average Beijing household for a month and a half.

During the “heavenly kiss,” the enormous wings of the Wentian unfolded in two stages by plan, where the solar panels were only partially unfolded to sustain the power supply needed during the docking and became fully unfolded afterwards, which was done to avoid any damage from the impact of two giant modules with fully unfolded wings.

Explaining to the Global Times, the solar panel system developer, the Shanghai Academy of Spacecraft Technology, said that if the Wentian’s wings were unfolded all at once, it would be approaching the Tianhe core module with one giant sail on each side. In that case, even trivial shaking of the sail would affect the control precision of the velocity, relative location and attitude control of the Wentian, so that it would add difficulties to its safe rendezvous and docking with the Tianhe module.

The Global Times learned from the Second Academy of the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp (CASIC) that microwave radar developed by the academy’s 25th institute also played a guiding role in the rendezvous and docking process.

Also, the Wentian is equipped with a urine recycling system developed by the CASIC’s second academy Institute 206, the second of its kind onboard the China Space Station combination. The first was installed on the Tianhe core module and successfully supported the space stays of the Shenzhou-12 and -13 crews. The urine recycling system on the Wentian will serve as a backup for the Tianhe, the CASIC told the Global Times.

According to the official plan, the Mengtian, another space lab, will be launched in October.

And before that, the Wentian will move to the right side of the Tianhe core cabin, forming an L-shaped structure, China Space News, the official joint news outlet of the China Aerospace Science and the Technology Corp and the China Academy of Space Technology, reported. For this to happen, the Shenzhou-14 taikonauts will perform three complex steering maneuvers to adjust the Wentian to a vertical position with the help of the robotic arm.

In the coming months, people on Earth will be able to witness the construction of the China Space Station, which will be completed at a speed that has no precedent in mankind’s history.

The first ever space station in history, the Salyut 1, launched by the former Soviet Union, had its core module delivered into orbit in 1986. In 10 years’ time, the station completed the assembly of six modules with a total weight of 130 tons.

Construction began on the ISS in 1998 and took 12 years, with the coordination of 15 countries, to build its 15-module structure.

The China Space Station is planned to become fully operational before the end of 2022, aiming to accomplish the in-orbit assembly of the country’s most ambitious program in less than one year and a half since the launch of the Tianhe core module in April 2021.

https://orinocotribune.com/shenzhou-14- ... ompletion/
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Re: China

Post by blindpig » Mon Aug 01, 2022 2:30 pm

How China Warns Of Pelosi's Taiwan Trip
Three days ago a mandarin speaker posted an interesting thread about the use of Chinese language phrases to express a threat.

Wen-Ti Sung @wentisung - 5:29 UTC · Jul 27, 2022
A short thread on China's #rhetoric on @SpeakerPelosi 's rumored plan to visit Taiwan. So far Beijing's wording has been far below the threshold of the kinds of words & phrases that China historically used for signaling impending war/brinkmanship.

Let's start with MFA spokesperson's recent words: "China will act strongly to resolutely respond to it and take countermeasures. We mean what we say" (中方必將採取有力措施予以堅決應對和反制。我們說到做到) Many observers take 'forceful response' to mean war. That may be overselling it. Note his key operative words '有力' can mean 'forceful' or 'effective'. If they meant war, they would have said '武力 or 非和平' (military/non-peaceful measures).

China's rhetoric is currently in say borderline 3rd gear. Another level up would be #懸崖勒馬, or "you are standing on the edge of the cliff". Translation: if you take more one step, you'll fall and die". That's unfortunate, but the cliff is a wonder of nature, not a man-made trap. So the fall is partly a tragedy of circumstance. So next levels focus on anthropogenic factors.

Next up, we have '是可忍孰不可忍', or "if we could put up with this, what else can't we put up with?". This means the perceived provocation from others not only threatens China's interests, but threatens its #identity, too. This rhetoric invokes the familiar 'century of humiliation' and Chinese nationalism narratives, and are meant to signal China has no room to back down. It shows a readiness to use #brinkmanship. E.g. China used this language before skirmishes with India (1962), Vietnam (1979).

Finally, top gear is '勿謂言之不預', literally "don't say I didn't warn you", aka 'last warning'. China used this language before skirmishes with India, Vietnam, and Soviet Union (1967).

In short, China's current language is tough but far from its toughest. It can mean either:
1) China is still deciding what to do, so they keep harsher words in reserve for now. OR
2) China is trying (not too successfully) to make it less costly for Pelosi & US to back down.

The upcoming Biden-Xi phone call will tell us whether China has made up its mind, and whether the so-called strategic '#guardrails' they have built up -- precisely for containing these tactical-level turbulences from runaway escalation -- are effective.


The Chinese English language readout for the Biden -Xi phone call does not use any of the above phrases. The most 'threatening' part is this:

China firmly opposes separatist moves toward “Taiwan independence” and interference by external forces, and never allows any room for “Taiwan independence” forces in whatever form. The position of the Chinese government and people on the Taiwan question is consistent, and resolutely safeguarding China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity is the firm will of the more than 1.4 billion Chinese people. The public opinion cannot be defied. Those who play with fire will perish by it. It is hoped that the US will be clear-eyed about this.

That is a warning of self harm, not a threat of an active measure. It is thereby on a "you are standing on the edge of the cliff" level, serious but not harsh.

But then I recognized a phrase mentioned in the above tweets when it appeared as the centerl top headline of the Global Times homepage.

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Don’t say we didn’t warn you – Symposium of China’s top think tank sends classic, pre-war warning to provocative Pelosi

"Don't say we didn't warn you!" - a phrase that was used by the People's Daily in 1962 before China was forced to fight the border war with India and ahead of the 1979 China-Vietnam War, was frequently mentioned during a forum held Friday by a high-level Chinese think tank, as analysts warned that open military options and comprehensive countermeasures ranging from the economy to diplomacy from China await if US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gambles with a visit to the Taiwan island during her Asia tour.

...
As far as I know the top gear phrase meaning 'last warning' has not yet been used by official government sources. But the top think tanks in China are all official, not corrupt private clubs like most U.S. think tanks are. The Global Times is the CPC's major English language outlet and it posted the phrase at the top of its homepage. Does that not in itself make it somewhat official?

The spokesperson of the Chinese military has said there would definitely be military responses to a trip. But that could be some maneuvers or fly-bys, not a war.

Pelosi is traveling in Asia on a U.S. military plane. That plane is unlikely to fly to Taiwan which is in Beijing's understanding part of China's air space. Pelosi will most likely use a civilian plane, maybe even a regular scheduled on, to fly from Singapore to Taiwan. Most likely in the middle of next week.

If the Chinese learn which flight she is on they can use a number of counter measures and/or divert the flight.

If she turns up in Taipei without intervention the Chinese government will lose some face and will have to think of other measures it can enact. Some missiles flying towards Taiwan to then drop into the sea might be a possibility. The Global Times piece above mentions others.

The visit is not necessary and risks creating a conflict that could be greatly damaging to the U.S., China and the global economy.

It is a stupid thing to do.

Posted by b on July 30, 2022 at 17:39 UTC | Permalink

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/07/h ... .html#more

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China’s PLA Holds Military Drills Across Taiwan Strait

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China conducts military exercises amid tensions with US: Beijing held live-fire drills near the Taiwan Strait just as US lawmaker Nancy Pelosi began her controversial Asia trip. | Photo: Twitter @AndyVermaut

Published 31 July 2022

The military exercises are taking place ahead of the 95th anniversary of the establishment of the People's Liberation Army in China, as well as an upcoming visit of Nancy Pelosi, the U.S. House Speaker, to Taiwan.

On Saturday, the Chinese People's Liberation Army is holding military drills with a live-fire exercise in Fujian, a province in the southeastern region of China, across the strait of Taiwan, according to the maritime administration of Pingtan county.

Beijing issued a warning that live-fire military drills will be held from 8 am to 9 pm local time, and the designated maritime area will close down for entry to all vessels.

The Chinese military has been also holding drills on Friday and Saturday in Hainan Strait, which separates the Guangdong province from the island of Hainan as well as near an island close to southern Guangdong.

The military exercises are taking place ahead of the 95th anniversary of the establishment of the People's Liberation Army in China, as well as an upcoming visit of Nancy Pelosi, the US House Speaker, to Taiwan.


Earlier this month, media reported that Pelosi will be visiting Taiwan in August, which prompted Beijing to warn Washington about the violation of the one China principle.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry, in the event of Pelosi's visit, threatened to take decisive measures to protect its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and warned the U.S. will be responsible for the consequences that will spring from the visit.

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Chi ... -0001.html
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Re: China

Post by blindpig » Tue Aug 02, 2022 1:55 pm

TAIWAN AS US PAWN
PROVOCATION AGAINST CHINA: PELOSI PLAYS WITH MUCH MORE THAN FIRE
1 Aug 2022 , 9:28 pm .

Image
Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States Congress (Photo: AFP)

Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the US House of Representatives, has deliberately been in the spotlight for her trip to Asia, with the addition that she could make a stop in Taiwan.

This of course has brought new clashes with the Chinese leadership, which they see as a provocation and a direct affront by the United States to its "One China" policy. However, it is not very clear when the Democratic legislator would land on Taiwanese territory.

The ambiguity and secrecy of Pelosi's Asia route would be designed to make it appear that Pelosi's plane could land in Taiwan, while maintaining plausible deniability that the capital Taipei was never on the agenda. Why this strategy?

One can venture the hypothesis that Washington is putting China on a high alert state to fabricate a propaganda frame in which Beijing remains as a possible aggressor. It is about manufacturing a situation of tension with which it could criminalize China.

The dominance of the media by the United States plays in favor of that narrative, and appeals to it even though Beijing has never shown signs of aggression against American manned aircraft, much less if a high-ranking member of Washington politics is among the passengers. .

An adjacent goal would also be to push for Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and Malaysia (countries that are expected to host Pelosi) to agree to further US militarization against China, and even join in a new round of siege and smother what the American establishment calls "Asia-Pacific".

But this provocative act could have different responses from the Xi Jinping government, and not the attempt to shoot down a US plane with Pelosi as a passenger.

"DON'T SAY WE DIDN'T WARN YOU"

The Chinese media Global Times reviewed a meeting that took place last Friday, July 29, that brought together a group of high-level Chinese experts, where they warned that China has open military options and broad countermeasures that range from the economy to diplomacy if Nancy Pelosi risks visiting the island of Taiwan during her tour of Asia.

President Xi Jinping himself spoke by telephone with Joe Biden to urge that the provocations cease.

While shooting down the US plane is not considered, the head of the Institute for Taiwan Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Yang Mingjie, told the Global Times that sending fighter jets to intercept Pelosi's aircraft, the statement of air and sea zones around the island of Taiwan as restricted zones for military exercises are part of China's systematic responses, and will not be limited to a small scale, given the seriousness of the situation and the damage to the political trust of the relations between China and the United States, increasingly on a knife edge.

Indeed, China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) is in formation and combat-ready as a deterrent as it commemorates the 95th anniversary of its establishment.

[youtube]http://twitter.com/i/status/1554106370114605057[/youtube]

The aforementioned Global Times article mentions the multiple military options that China can carry out if Pelosi steps on Taiwanese soil: from aerial and missile deterrence maneuvers, to military drills around the island, and "even in the waters between the island of Taiwan and Japan, as well as between the island of Taiwan and Guam The PLA drills will also include joint efforts from all service branches of the PLA, with all combat elements, including electronic warfare, long-range missile and rocket attacks range, the seizure of air superiority and control of the sea, amphibious landing, as well as anti-access and area denial against external military interference".

The last time there was a similar situation was during the 1995-1996 Taiwan Strait crisis , when Taiwan was seeking to become independent by force, with the United States as an active participant with a hitherto unusual deployment throughout Asia; Beijing's response was military. China today argues that on that occasion it did not hit hard enough: this time, it warns that it would hit harder.

Wu Yongping, director of the Institute for Taiwan Studies at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times that "if Pelosi insists on making the visit, China can turn the incident into an opportunity to take control of the situation in the Taiwan Strait and promote the reunification process, and such a consequence must be assumed by the island and by the United States, since the international community will also clearly see the provocation of the United States and that any action that China takes is determined to defend its sovereignty".

It all depends on how Pelosi interacts with Taiwanese secessionists, if she does land in Taipei. From there will come the Chinese response and the effects of its forcefulness. "Don't say we didn't warn you" is a phrase that resonates in the Chinese media regarding the Democrat's provocation.

In an editorial note published on August 1, the Global Times stated that "the PLA is not afraid to fight to defend sovereignty and security." These are not minor words coming from an official communication body in Beijing.

AMERICA'S DOMESTIC DISASTER TRAVELS TO ASIA
Relations between the United States and China have undergone essential changes after Trump launched his economic and trade war that was accompanied by a high degree of Sinophobia.

This direction in relations has not changed with the Biden administration, as Washington sees China as a consistent source of threat to curb its imperial ambitions, without yet understanding that its unipolar moment has died.

However, it seems that there could still be some kind of diplomatic reasoning as Chinese and US leaders improve communication to control disputes, as has happened so far with Taiwan and Ukraine.

In fact, Beijing understands that Pelosi is engaged in a political maneuver to break the consensus reached by Xi and Biden, which highlights the internal political disorder of the United States since the current administration cannot play its role in fulfilling the promises of non-confrontation with China.

There is even an international law reason for China to understand the brewing crisis around Taiwan and the Democratic representative as aggression. Says Asia Times analyst David Goldman in a trill: "Just to be clear: Pelosi is constitutionally second in line to the President of the United States, so this is a state visit from the point of view of diplomatic protocol. That, as a former American ambassador to the UN told me, is a clear violation of the 1972 Shanghai Communiqué . That's why China will respond."


From the Asian giant they consider that, if the United States challenges China's fundamental interests, not only will relations between Beijing and Washington be turbulent, but they will also have a negative impact throughout Asia and the Pacific region and will even slow down the recovery of the economy. world.

Pelosi's possible visit would have a negative influence on bilateral Sino-US cooperation in the economy, global supply chain, energy and food security, vertices that are at the forefront of the global crisis of the capitalist system at the moment.

The so-called "pivot towards China" of the Obama era is taking on more and more substance, taking into account that the Asian country is leading, together with Russia and other powers, the rise of a new multipolar order, still in its infancy but growing decisively.

With this moment, the United States shows that it is experiencing an unprecedented political crisis internally, making decisions that are counterproductive for world stability and for itself as a power in debacle. A military confrontation with China could happen, but with the deployment of NATO in Ukraine we already know that the strategic capacity of US planners borders on mediocrity and denotes a high degree of ignorance of the world we live in today.

https://misionverdad.com/globalistan/pr ... -que-fuego

Google Translator

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Pelosi's proposed Taiwan visit will make trouble beyond her remedy: China Daily editorial
chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2022-08-01 21:01

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The Taipei 101 skyscraper commands the urban landscape in Taipei, Taiwan. [Photo/Xinhua]

Despite the stern warnings of multiple parties, there has been growing speculation that United States House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi might visit Taiwan during her Asian tour that began with a stop in Singapore on Monday.

If she makes the visit, she will be doing so despite US President Joe Biden reassuring the Chinese leader in their talks on Thursday that the US policy on Taiwan has not changed, and the US strongly opposes unilateral efforts to change the status quo or undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits. And despite the Pentagon advising her it would not be a good idea.

The hoopla surrounding the possibility of her visiting the island and the glee of the anti-China politicians in Washington all point to the worrying fact that the troublemaker is being encouraged to make trouble beyond her remedy.

Her visit would constitute a grave challenge to China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. It would seriously violate the one-China principle the US committed to in the three communiques that are the foundation for diplomatic relations between the two countries, and thus belie Biden's reassurances.

The whole world knows which side is eating its own words, which side is stirring up trouble, and which side is taking unilateral actions to change the status quo of the Straits.

China has full legitimacy in international law to take all necessary means to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity. The US' flexing its military muscles — no matter how many aircraft carrier strike groups it has sent to the region — will only consolidate China's resolve to accelerate reunification.

Should Pelosi visit Taiwan, it will be a watershed event in cross-Straits relations as well as Sino-US relations. On the one hand, it would take no more evidence to prove that the secessionist-minded Tsai Ing-wen administration on the island is incurably deluded.

On the other, the Biden administration would lose Beijing's trust by challenging the latter's redline again. The separation of powers in the US by no means makes Pelosi's Taiwan trip excusable.

If she does visit the island, it will deal a heavy blow to the already precarious Sino-US ties and add even more uncertainties to the already volatile global situation.

No force can stop China from achieving national reunification between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland. National reunification has never been a matter of yes or no, but a choice of path and time. If Washington tries, through such a provocative move as Pelosi's visit to the island, to test Beijing's tolerance of how far it can push the redline, it will soon know how badly the move has backfired.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202208/0 ... 6f968.html

Pelosi visit won't be tolerated
By MO JINGXI | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2022-08-01 23:54

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Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian. [Photo/fmprc.gov.cn]

China warned on Monday that its military will "not sit idly by" should United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visit Taiwan.

"The Chinese side is fully prepared for any eventuality," Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a regular news conference on Monday. "China will definitely take strong and resolute measures to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity."

When asked what measures China will take if Pelosi visits Taiwan, Zhao said: "If she dares to go,then let's wait and see."

The warning came as Pelosi arrived on Monday in Singapore, the first stop of her Asian trip, which will also take her to Malaysia, the Republic of Korea and Japan. Although Taiwan is not on her itinerary, international media such as CNN quoted unidentified Taiwan and US officials as saying that she might visit the island.

China has expressed its strong opposition to the US to a potential visit by Pelosi to Taiwan.

During a phone conversation with US President Joe Biden last week, President Xi Jinping said that it is the firm will of the more than 1.4 billion Chinese people to resolutely safeguard China's national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The will of the people cannot be defied and those who play with fire will perish by it, Xi said.

Zhao said that "it is believed the US must have been fully aware of the strong and clear message sent out by the Chinese side".

If Pelosi, who is second in the line of succession to the US presidency, visits Taiwan, it would be a gross interference in China's internal affairs, severely undermine China's sovereignty and territorial integrity and trample on the one-China principle, Zhao said.

The spokesman added that such a visit would severely threaten cross-Straits peace and stability and undermine China-US relations, thus leading to a very serious situation and consequences.

China urged the US side to honor the commitment made by Biden of not supporting "Taiwan independence" and not to arrange for Pelosi to visit Taiwan, he said.

Zhao also criticized the irresponsible remarks made by US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby, who said at the White House on Friday that there's no reason for China and the US "to come to blows" should Pelosi visit Taiwan.

"Since the US has recently started to stress the need to uphold a country's sovereignty and territorial integrity, we hope the US will first honor its words on the Taiwan question and stop applying any double standard," Zhao said.

The People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theater Command posted a video on its social media platform on Monday, saying that the Chinese military is fully prepared for any eventuality, and will act upon the order to fight and bury all invaders. The military will fight to the end for victory, it said.

Also on Monday, China's Qinglan Maritime Safety Administration in Hainan province issued a statement saying that military training exercises would take place in designated waters of the South China Sea from Tuesday to Saturday and the passage of any vessel that is not associated with these activities will be prohibited.

When meeting with Pelosi on Monday, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong highlighted the importance of stable US-China relations for regional peace and security.

Andrew Korybko, a Moscow-based analyst of US politics, said that there's no legitimate reason for any US representative, let alone one as prominent as Pelosi, to visit the Taiwan region.

"The vast majority of the international community, including the US, recognizes the island as an integral part of China. To continue talking about traveling to Taiwan is therefore extremely disrespectful to this major country and goes against basic diplomatic decorum," he said in an opinion piece published on the website of the China Global Television Network.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202208/0 ... 6f98b.html

Pelosi's expected visit to Taiwan spurs protest
By LIA ZHU in San Francisco | China Daily Global | Updated: 2022-08-02 09:14

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Activists from Pivot to Peace, ANSWER Coalition, CODEPINK, Veterans for Peace and leaders of the Chinese community in San Francisco hold a demonstration in front of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office at the San Francisco Federal Building on Monday. LIA ZHU/CHINA DAILY

Peace activists and community members on Monday protested US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's expected visit to Taiwan, demanding that she cancel the trip and focus on issues facing ordinary Americans.

The rally, organized by a few groups, included members of Pivot to Peace, ANSWER Coalition, CODEPINK, Veterans for Peace and leaders of the Chinese community. People from different walks of life participated, holding signs proclaiming that "China is one", "US hands off Taiwan", and chanting, "China is not our enemy."

"China is not an existential threat. What is an existential threat is racism and American policy that drives us to war. … The Cold War tactics and agenda by leaders, particularly Pelosi, is unwarranted," said Julie Tang, co-founder of Pivot to Peace and a retired Superior Court judge in San Francisco, at the rally outside Pelosi's local district office.

"Let's together join up and urge her to come home and deal with our local issues, homelessness, monkeypox and all those issues that are killing our people," Tang said.

In past decades, US-China relations have had ups and downs, said David Ewing, San Francisco chapter president of the US-China Peoples Friendship Association, but Pelosi's planned trip is "one of the more dangerous moments".

"China has always sought peace and friendship with the American people," he said, but he said the actions of the US in the last year or two — the challenges to Chinese territories in the Pacific and now more direct intervention in Taiwan, are "very reckless".

Pelosi is expected to visit Taiwan on Tuesday and stay overnight, according to media reports, though the island is not currently on her public itinerary.

The California Democrat had previously planned to lead a US congressional delegation to Taiwan in April but canceled the trip after she tested positive for the coronavirus.

She would be the highest-level US official to go to Taiwan since 1997, when then- House Speaker Newt Gingrich made a visit.

"There is no basis for Speaker Pelosi, the third person in succession to the presidency, to travel to Taiwan in disregard of the commitments made by our government," said the protesters in a statement.

In the three joint communiques issued by the United States and China in 1972, 1975 and 1982, the US acknowledged that there is only one China, and that Taiwan is a part of China. That one-China policy was echoed by the protesters Monday.

"Speaker Pelosi and other political leaders and office holders should be directing their attention to solving the problems facing our country, not to provoking tension and possible confrontation with China," they said.

"The people of this country are hurting," Cynthia Papermaster, CODEPINK's chapter coordinator in the San Francisco Bay Area, told China Daily at the rally.

"I have an electric car but my colleague who came over today said it cost her $100 at the gas pump. That's just one symptom of the problems, but people are living on the street; children are going hungry every night; veterans need support; the climate is burning all over the US," she said.

"All of those resources and her attention should be focused on us here at home, and then whatever resources we have to help other people as well. We're all one world, aren't we?" said Papermaster. "Pelosi really needs to open her heart and feel what we're saying."

Bob Spies, a web developer in the Bay Area, started a petition calling on Pelosi to cancel the Taiwan trip. The petition has received more than 1,300 signatures in five days.

"It's continuing to gain more," said Spies. He will deliver the petition to Pelosi's office when it reaches 2,000.

"We need her back here working on the problems we have in this country because we certainly have enough of them. And we don't need her over there trying to inflame tensions and potentially get us into a nuclear conflict," Spies told China Daily.

Pelosi's possible visit to Taiwan has resulted in stern warnings from Beijing and mounting concerns in Washington.

China's Defense Ministry has warned of serious consequences of a visit. The Chinese military will "absolutely not sit idle" if Pelosi visits Taiwan, it said.

"By disregarding the advice of many experts and forging ahead with her plan to visit Taiwan, Nancy Pelosi has imperiled regional and even global peace. History will judge her very harshly. And we will all pay the price for her shortsightedness," Stephen Roddy, professor of East Asian Studies at the University of San Francisco told China Daily.

Maybe the publicity of a visit by Pelosi to Taiwan will help her Democratic Party in the midterm elections in November, said George Koo, a retired international business advisor in Silicon Valley, but as the speaker of the House of Representatives, her actions represent the official position of the country.

"If you step over the red line China has laid down, it can't back down and not react. We don't know what its response would be, but it would be dangerous — potentially explosive, in fact," said Koo.

http://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/20220 ... 6fa88.html

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On The 'Woke' Flight To Taiwan
Is this the most 'librul' rubbish headline ever?

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Investing in Real Estate as Self-Care
Many women seeking independence after a breakup or divorce have discovered emotional empowerment and even healing in real estate investment.


What is the definition of 'many'? I wonder at what tiny slice of the market this 'woke' advertisement for buying real estate is targeted.

---

Anyway - More seriously.

That too old 'woke' lady with the massive freezer full of very expensive ice-cream let it know through Taiwanese media that she wants to arrive in Taipei tomorrow, August 2, at 22:30 local time (14:30 UTC) and stay over night.

Pelosi's trip is a stupid thing to do but she is a politician and stupid things are what they generally do.

Michael D. Swaine @Dalzell60 - 12:26 UTC · Aug 1, 2022
I have been told that Pelosi has said she will only not go 2 TW if Biden publicly discourages her n she can blame him. Anyone else heard this? Sounds like Pelosi. Why can’t they both confer n conclude it’s not a good idea? Why the blame game, if true?
Pelosi expected to visit Taiwan, Taiwanese and US officials say


I can think of several reasons why Pelosi will not arrive in Taiwan. Here flight might, for example, get diverted. But it is also possible that it happens but is followed by huge consequences, likely to the disadvantage of the U.S. and Taiwan.

There is also this thought, by Cynthia Chung, which might become relevant:

In October 2019, Jake Sullivan, who became U.S. National Security Advisor in 2021, stated in an interview that the U.S. needed a clear threat to rally the world and play the role of saviour of mankind and that China could be that organizing principle for U.S. foreign policy. In the 2019 interview, he acknowledges that the problem was that people were not going to believe that China is a global threat, that their view of China is too positive and that the United States would need a “Pearl Harbour moment,” a real focusing event to change their minds, something he calmly stated that “would scare the hell out of the American people.”

She correctly traces such 'Pearl Harbour moment' thinking back to neo-conservative movement. Chung closes with this:

Thus, when Jake Sullivan observes that there is not enough anti-China sentiment to bolster an image of the United States as a “saviour of mankind” against China and that America is in need of a “Pearl Harbour moment” I would be very wary.

The circus around Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan in the coming days, and evident glee that is coming forth from many of these neocons frothing at the mouth over this prospect is a clear sign that something incredibly reckless and stupid is about to happen.

Pelosi’s airplane might indeed be shot down on her completely irrelevant and unnecessary trip to Taiwan, and if it is, don’t be surprised if it was the Americans themselves who are behind it, who have shown they are willing to do anything for that “Pearl Harbour moment.”


I for one surely hope that the above does not happen.

Posted by b on August 1, 2022 at 15:54 UTC | Permalink

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/08/o ... .html#more

That rather unnecessary preamble does nicely illustrate the class bias of the mainstream women's movement. How could it be otherwise, they own the 'mainstream'.

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Taiwan Is a Distraction
ORINOCO TRIBUNE2 AUGUST 1, 2022

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A man stands in front of a glass cabinet displaying the Global Times newspaper that features a front page article about U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Asia tour in Beijing, China, August 1, 2022. The front page headline reads: "Pelosi visits Asia in the smell of gunpowder." REUTERS/Thomas Peter

By Amarynth – Jul 28, 2022

The current hot war of words regarding Nancy Pelosi’s announced visit to Taiwan is reaching a dangerous nexus and threatening to spill over into military action.

China considers this belligerent approach as a threat to their stated One Country, Two Systems policy as well as a threat to the 1992 consensus. The two sides of the Taiwan Strait reached the consensus in 1992 that “both sides belong to one China and will work together toward national reunification”. It defines the fundamental nature of the cross-Strait relationship and lays the political foundation for its development.

Taiwan is being used as a casus belli (an act or an event that either provokes or is used to justify war) in the very same way that Ukraine was used and is currently used. A war of media, tremendous even brutal propaganda to their own citizens to paint the enemy as evil to justify their own actions, continual accusations using a human rights platform, and doubling down! We see fantastical accusations that Huawei equipment sitting atop poles is spying on the US, China is infiltrating the US Fed, and in professional statements and documentation, China is the second biggest enemy of the US. The latest are threats to attempt to impose sanctions on Russian oil supplies to China.

The trajectory is exactly the same toward China, using Taiwan as the hot button, as what we observed during the run-up to the Russia SMO with the Ukraine as the hot button. It is:

blatant and intentional provocation and total denial of International Law.
Another point of convergence is that while professing ‘support for Taiwan’ (the very same as for the Ukraine), they are actually harming Taiwan (the very same as for the Ukraine).

A short history of the current dangerous brouhaha is:

• Nanci Pelosi announced a visit to Taiwan in April, and China said NO! Pelosi developed Covid.
• During May, June and July, timeframe, the US announced a 5th sale of weapons to Taiwan and China delivered strong demarch on the US to cancel this. There was also a continual stream of US dignitaries and ex-dignataries e.g., Pompeo, visiting Taiwan in some or other professional capacity
• Pelosi announced a new visit to Taiwan in August,

The Chinese are not simply saying no, they have handed this matter to their Military. Whereas their foreign office spokesperson comments, we now get the commentary from the Chinese military spokesperson.

Our army will not sit idly by if U.S. House Speaker Pelosi visits Taiwan, will take decisive measures to curb foreign interference – Chinese Defense Ministry

The Taiwan question is the most important of China’s core interests. Safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity is the bounden responsibility of every Chinese, and no one, force or country should dream of separating Taiwan from China – Chinese SC & FM Wang Yi:

• The latest is that US President Biden & China’s Xi Jinping will hold bilateral talks today amid this crisis because the Chinese see this as a direct assault on One Country, Two Systems, as well as the 1992 consensus between China and Taiwan.

If Pelosi tries to visit Taiwan, the Chinese will respond militarily.

Asked to comment on a recent Financial Times report which suggested Beijing would respond military should the speaker of the House visit Taiwan, China’s government confirmed the contents as true.

“We are seriously prepared,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said in regards to the article.

“If the US side is bent on going its own way, China will take strong measures to resolutely respond and counteract. The United States should be held responsible for any serious consequences,” the official added.

We do not know what kind of military response, but at the moment, the American aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and its strike group, including a guided missile destroyer and a guided missile cruiser, set out from Singapore on Monday heading northeast towards the South China Sea, according to ship-tracking information provided by Beijing-based think tank the South China Sea Strategic Probing Initiative. The US military has not disclosed its final destination, but the route would bring the carrier group to the Taiwan Strait if it continues in the same direction.

The US administration fears that China could introduce a no-fly zone over Taiwan ahead of a possible visit by Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to the island to disrupt the plans of the American side – CNN

These provocations are a threat to the whole world, as are the provocations to Russia. Yet, the US and its cronies have failed to overthrow Hong Kong, they have failed to create an economic disaster in Xinjiang to destabilize this crossroad on the Belt and Road, and they failed in the Tibet Autonomous Region which is now a thriving region with no abject poverty or slave ownership of serfs and with protected religious and social mores, they failed the Trump trade war, and they will fail in Taiwan. They are failing in Latin America, they are even failing in Panama to safeguard their neoliberal democratic ‘free world’.

While failing everywhere, they live in virtual reality and most seriously believe that the world belongs to them.

“China will not allow “sanctimonious preaching” or bullying from foreign forces, and anyone who tries “will find themselves on a collision course with a steel wall forged by 1.4 billion people”. Xi Jinping:

Taiwan is a distraction and a belated and hopeless but dangerous attempt at ongoing relevance from the US.

Caitlin Johnstone epitomized their dilemma: Russia: Don’t cross our red lines in Ukraine or we’ll take action. US politicians: They’re bluffing. Cross those red lines. *Russia invades.* China: Don’t cross our red lines in Taiwan or we’ll take action. US politicians: They’re bluffing. Cross those red lines.

We wait to see the outcome and it will be China’s national reunification with its recalcitrant province on China’s terms, not imposed terms. Bear in mind that Taiwan is not a candidate currently for independence. The current government does not dare to call for a referendum as 75% roughly of Taiwanese will vote for remaining with the Chinese mainland.

China Daily reports: For National Reunification we are willing to go to war.

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202206/ ... 62e27.html

https://orinocotribune.com/taiwan-is-a-distraction/

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The Anti-China Brainwashing Is Working: Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix

[img]

If someone criticizing the most dangerous agendas of the most powerful and destructive government on earth looks like “Russian propaganda” or “Chinese propaganda” to you, it’s because you yourself have been brainwashed by propaganda.



The western propaganda campaign against China is succeeding, even among many who consider themselves anti-war or critical of establishment power. Whatever sick future agendas they’re manufacturing consent for, they’ll be able to roll right on out. People’s brains are turning to soup.



The best case scenario for Nancy Pelosi’s Taiwan visit — the absolute best case — is that it ratchets up cold war tensions with China that threaten us all and benefit ordinary people in no way. The worst case scenario is as bad as anything you can possibly imagine.

So why are we being told that it’s still happening? Well, as Antiwar’s Dave DeCamp reminded us a few months ago, one major factor is that it facilitates US military expansionism geared toward encirclement strategies against China.

“The United States no longer sees Taiwan as a ‘problem’ in our relations with China, we see it as an opportunity to advance our shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Raymond Greene, the deputy director of the de facto US embassy in Taipei, said last year.



Imagine if the Democratic Party fought against Republicans as hard as they fight against world peace.



“A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit.”
~ Ancient Greek proverb

“A society grows radioactive when old women try to start World War Three on a planet they know they won’t have to live on.”
~ New Australian proverb



Taiwan is a US military asset, not a US ally. That’s a very significant difference that everyone, especially the Taiwanese, would do well to keep in mind.



Empire simps like to say that Taiwan being governed by Beijing would cut the world off from microchips.

Right, sure, because if there’s one thing we know about China, it’s that it never sells anything to other countries.



To be clear I don’t actually care whether Beijing has a legitimate claim to Taiwan. Do not give a fuck. To me that’s just empty narrative fluff. My sole concern is that we appear to be sliding toward a massive conflict that will hurt everyone and may end up getting us all killed.



It’s a safe bet that a minority of Americans could find Taiwan on a map, and that of these the overwhelming majority believe it’s just some island nation that China randomly decided it hates.



The US has no business talking about another nation potentially seizing an island territory by force. This by itself doesn’t validate Beijing’s claims to Taiwan, it just means the US is the very last nation on earth who has any business talking about it.

The US colonized Hawaii. Just took it, and now they say it’s theirs. Now imagine if Hawaii was 25 times closer to the continental United States, and if Hawaii had been American for centuries, and if the Confederates had taken Hawaii after the Civil War, and if the Civil War was much more recent and also was still unresolved. That’s how much the US needs to shut the fuck up about Taiwan.



The single dumbest theory in right wing conspiracy circles today is that Pelosi and “the CCP” are secretly conspiring to help China by inflaming tensions over Taiwan. Rightists cannot accept that they simply have the same position on China as Democrats.

Rightists suck at conspiracy analysis in general, but when it comes to China their brains turn into pure shaving foam. Just complete slobbering idiots. China is not being helped by more US war machinery being moved to its surrounding waters you absolute morons.



There needs to be a major war every generation or two, otherwise peace becomes normalized and becomes the expectation. If you allow that to happen then war begins to stand out against expected norms like the freakish abomination that it is, and militarism looks insane.

They use propaganda to facilitate war, but they also use war to facilitate propaganda. Keeping the wars going helps the propaganda machine spin war as something normal and expected and to be continuously prepared for. It acts as an immunosuppressant against the public’s natural, healthy rejection of war. The more normalized war becomes, the more suppressed our collective immune system’s rejection of it becomes.

War is the absolute worst thing in the world. It’s the most insane thing humans do. The most destructive. The least sustainable. The most conducive to human suffering. Only by very aggressive narrative management can the public be dissuaded from insisting on peace.

Eliminating “Vietnam syndrome” (American reluctance to engage in wars after Vietnam) wasn’t just an effect of the Gulf War, it was a major reason for it. I remember when Bush Sr started bombing Baghdad during the Gulf War and my dad held his head in his hands in shock. He kept saying, “This is an invasion!” They insisted it wasn’t. Now they don’t even mind you using that word, because we are so inured to it.

My dad is a Boomer who missed conscription to Vietnam by one day. He rightly perceived war as an unnatural horror to be avoided except in the most dire of necessities. That healthy response is what they’re continuously working to suppress in us with all the perception management.



Westerners are only encouraged to contemplate the horrors of war when it is someone else’s war.

https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2022/08/02 ... ve-matrix/.
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: China

Post by blindpig » Wed Aug 03, 2022 3:28 pm

Statement by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Pelosi’s Visit to Taiwan
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on AUGUST 2, 2022

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The following statement was released by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs shortly after Nancy Pelosi landed in Taiwan. Pelosi’s visit is a gross violation of China’s sovereignty and the One China principle that the US has claimed to uphold since 1972. Furthermore it is an affront to the dignity of the Chinese people and a dangerous escalation in Washington’s New Cold War. – Friends of Socialist China

On 2 August, in disregard of China’s strong opposition and serious representations, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi visited China’s Taiwan region. This is a serious violation of the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-U.S. joint communiqués. It has a severe impact on the political foundation of China-U.S. relations, and seriously infringes upon China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. It gravely undermines peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and sends a seriously wrong signal to the separatist forces for “Taiwan independence”. China firmly opposes and sternly condemns this, and has made serious démarche and strong protest to the United States.

There is but one China in the world, Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory, and the Government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China. This has been clearly recognized by United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, 181 countries have established diplomatic relations with China on the basis of the one-China principle. The one-China principle is a universal consensus of the international community and a basic norm in international relations.

In 1979, the United States made a clear commitment in the China-U.S. Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations — “The United States of America recognizes the Government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal Government of China. Within this context, the people of the United States will maintain cultural, commercial, and other unofficial relations with the people of Taiwan.” Congress, as a part of the U.S. Government, is inherently obliged to strictly observe the one-China policy of the U.S. Government and refrain from having any official exchanges with China’s Taiwan region. China is all along opposed to the visit to Taiwan by U.S. congressional members, and the U.S. executive branch has the responsibility to stop such visit. Since Speaker Pelosi is the incumbent leader of the U.S. Congress, her visit to and activities in Taiwan, in whatever form and for whatever reason, is a major political provocation to upgrade U.S. official exchanges with Taiwan. China absolutely does not accept this, and the Chinese people absolutely reject this.

The Taiwan question is the most important and most sensitive issue at the very heart of China-U.S. relations. The Taiwan Strait is facing a new round of tensions and severe challenges, and the fundamental cause is the repeated moves by the Taiwan authorities and the United States to change the status quo. The Taiwan authorities have kept seeking U.S. support for their independence agenda. They refuse to recognize the 1992 Consensus, go all out to push forward “de-sinicization”, and promote “incremental independence”. The United States, for its part, has been attempting to use Taiwan to contain China. It constantly distorts, obscures and hollows out the one-China principle, steps up its official exchanges with Taiwan, and emboldens “Taiwan independence” separatist activities. These moves, like playing with fire, are extremely dangerous. Those who play with fire will perish by it.

The position of the Chinese Government and people on the Taiwan question has been consistent. It is the firm commitment of the more than 1.4 billion Chinese people to resolutely safeguard state sovereignty and territorial integrity. It is the common aspiration and sacred responsibility of all Chinese sons and daughters to realize the complete reunification of the motherland. The will of the people is not to be defied, and the trend of the times cannot be reversed. No country, no forces and no individual should ever misestimate the firm resolve, strong will and great capability of the Chinese Government and people to defend state sovereignty and territorial integrity and to achieve national reunification and rejuvenation. China will definitely take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity in response to the U.S. Speaker’s visit. All the consequences arising therefrom must be borne by the U.S. side and the “Taiwan independence” separatist forces.

China and the United States are two major countries. The right way for them to deal with each other lies only in mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, no-confrontation and win-win cooperation. The Taiwan question is purely an internal affair of China, and no other country is entitled to act as a judge on the Taiwan question. China strongly urges the United States to stop playing the “Taiwan card” and using Taiwan to contain China. It should stop meddling on Taiwan and interfering in China’s internal affairs. It should stop supporting and conniving at “Taiwan independence” separatist forces in any form. It should stop its acts of saying one thing but doing the opposite on the Taiwan question. It should stop distorting, obscuring and hollowing out the one-China principle. It must take credible actions to observe strictly the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-U.S. joint communiqués, deliver on the “five noes” commitment made by the U.S. leadership (i.e. not seek a “new Cold War”; not seek to change China’s system; the revitalization of its alliances is not against China; not support “Taiwan independence”; not look for conflict with China), and not go further down the wrong and dangerous path.

Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan is a gross violation of China’s sovereignty and the One China principle that the US has claimed to uphold since 1972. Furthermore it is an affront to the dignity of the Chinese people and a dangerous escalation in Washington’s New Cold War.

— Friends of Socialist China (@socialist_china) August 2, 2022


https://libya360.wordpress.com/2022/08/ ... to-taiwan/

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US bears all the responsibility for consequences of Pelosi's risky trip: China Daily editorial
chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2022-08-02 23:08

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Activists from Pivot to Peace, ANSWER Coalition, CODEPINK, Veterans for Peace and leaders of the Chinese community in San Francisco hold a demonstration in front of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office at the San Francisco Federal Building on Monday. LIA ZHU/CHINA DAILY

The way US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan has unfolded since it was first proposed in April has explicitly demonstrated that the escalation of tensions in the Taiwan Straits is solely attributable to the United States' unilateral provocations.

The visit constitutes a grave violation of China's sovereignty and territorial integrity and seriously shakes the political foundation of the ties between the two countries. It lifts the lid on a Pandora's box.

Adding to the absurdity of her action, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed on Monday that Pelosi's visit is entirely her own decision and tried to pin the blame for the rising tensions on China, saying that "If the speaker does decide to visit and China tries to create some kind of crisis or otherwise escalate tensions, that would be entirely on Beijing".

China has full legitimacy to take all necessary countermeasures to safeguard its territorial integrity. In a salami-slicing manner, the US is trying to void its commitment to the one-China principle and distort the Taiwan question by falsely portraying it as an issue of "democracy" versus "authoritarianism", rather than what it is, an internal affair of China.

If the House speaker is simply taking a vacation, her sizable retinue, including the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier strike group that has been escorting her all the way after she neared the First Island Chain, lays bare how willing the Joe Biden administration is to accommodate her sight-seeing. Not to mention that provoking China to take actions satisfies the Biden administration's wish to consolidate the formation of its "Indo-Pacific" gang.

The lengths the Tsai Ing-wen administration has gone to in its preparations to receive the "distinguished guest" speaks volumes of its role as a pawn of the US. Although its awareness that it has been hoisted by its own petard in garnering the support of senior US politicians for its secessionist cause is evidenced by reports in the Taiwan media that Tsai withdrew her invitation, only to reissue it after being scolded by Pelosi.

Beijing's stance on the Taiwan question and Sino-US relations is consistent, and it could not have made it any clearer: It will resolutely safeguard China's sovereignty, security and territorial integrity. If the US persists with its risky antics, it will be held responsible for any and all consequences of its "thief crying catch the thief" game.

Pelosi's visit to the Chinese island, contrary to the Biden administration's claims of innocence, is wanton and dangerous interfering in another country's internal affairs. The whole world should be aware that in seeking to create space for the secessionists, the US is breaking the basic norms of international relations in a bid to open a second front in Asia and transform its attempts to contain China into a siege. That's a ruinous proposition for all.

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Re: China

Post by blindpig » Fri Aug 05, 2022 2:42 pm

How Pelosi's Visit Hurts Taiwan

When Nancy Pelosi made her 'woke' flight to Taiwan the U.S. seemed to hope for a Chinese military reaction to it. It positioned an aircraft carrier and two amphibious landing ships in the region. It also shipped additional fighter planes to Japan and South Korea.

Chinese and international commentators drew up potential scenarios for a clash like a forced diversion of Pelosi's plane. However, the Chinese government kept its calm. The reintegration of Taiwan into China is not an urgent matter. It had planned for longer term measures designed to press the pro-independence government in Taiwan into obedience.

Chinese military exercises will now be held around the island without regard for what Taipei claims as its borders. These missile launches, sea and air maneuvers will not be threatening enough to cause a dangerous military confrontation. But they will be repeated over the next years and will steadily move closer and closer to Taiwan's coast.

Image

The median line between China and Taiwan, never officially recognized but adhered to, will now be ignored.

China essentially decided to boil the proverbial frog of Taiwanese independence by slowly, slowly increasing the pressure:

China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is closing off six areas around Taiwan from Thursday to Sunday and is expected to hold drills, including live-fire exercises, in some areas within 12 miles of the island.

The drills are expected to be bigger than the missile tests China launched during the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis that was sparked in 1995 by the US granting a visa to former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui.

Both Chinese and American analysts believe that the unprecedented military exercises could become routine, a consequence of Pelosi’s provocative visit.


Taiwan depends on sea trade. The Chinese military maneuvers will essentially block it for the next few days. It is demonstration of what might come should China get really serious.

This military posturing will be aided by selected economic sanctions designed to remove the support for Taiwan's current pro-independence government:

China also imposed sanctions on Taiwan because of Pelosi, including a ban on the export of natural sand, and a halt on imports of fish and fruit products from the island.

A ban on the export of natural sand, 90% of which Taiwan imports from China, may sound harmless. But if you live on a rock in an area prone to earthquakes you may want to build your high rises with concrete. No sand no concrete. Building costs in Taiwan will rise and the government will be blamed for it.

Taiwan's soft power will also be curbed:

The authorities will take punitive measures against the "Taiwan Foundation for Democracy" (TFD) and the "International Cooperation and Development Fund" (ICDF), two organizations that have close ties with diehard secessionists, said Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesperson of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.

Enterprises that have donated to the two funds, such as Speedtech Energy, Hyweb Technology, Skyla Corporation, Skyeyes GPS Technology, are to be prohibited from conducting any transactions or cooperation with mainland organizations, enterprises and individuals. The persons responsible for these enterprises are banned from entering the mainland.


The people of Taiwan did not support Pelosi's grand standing:

News sites ran polls, with almost two-thirds of UDN’s respondents saying the visit was destabilising. Talk radio discussed preparation and escape plans, and walked listeners through their growing anxieties.

That wasn't helped by Pelosi's tone deafness:

At a news conference with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday, Pelosi was asked what she could offer Taiwan to offset the possible costs the island would incur — including economic retaliation from China — as a consequence of her visit.
She answered that her visit was part of a broader U.S. effort to have “better economic exchanges” with Taiwan, and she said “significant” Taiwanese businesses are already planning to invest in manufacturing in the United States.”


"You will get sanctioned while we will steal your prime advantage in chip manufacturing," is not exactly an uplifting message.

Other countries which Pelosi also visited felt sidelined by her anti-China antics:

Ms. Pelosi’s visit may also damage a push by the White House to shore up support against China from key allies in the region who analysts say have felt sidelined by the trip, and frustrated by the spiraling tensions. With much recent attention eaten up by China’s fulminations over the visit, allies suggested that they wish they had been better consulted ahead of Ms. Pelosi’s journey.

South Korea, where a recent economic imbalance and trade deficit has raised concerns, snubbed Pelosi:

President Yoon Suk-yeol plans to speak by phone with visiting U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi later Thursday, his office said, after officials said earlier that a meeting between the two is not planned as Yoon is on summer vacation.

Pelosi wasn't amused:

Korea Pro @southkoreapro - 2:00 UTC · Aug 4, 2022
Yoon administration and the ROK National Assembly did not send any delegation to welcome Pelosi’s arrival last night. Pelosi was not pleased about the situation, multiple reports said.


All together Pelosi's trip was not the success she may have thought it would be. It was a trap she had set for herself when it first 'leaked' that she would visit Taiwan. If she had not gone the Republicans would have blasted her as a coward. Now she will carry the responsibility for further deteriorating U.S. relations with China.

Taiwan, which all the brouhaha is allegedly about, will further lose in its economic relations with China and will wither away as an economic power.

Eventually the people of Taiwan will vote for another party and unification will again come into sight.

Posted by b on August 4, 2022 at 9:14 UTC | Permalink

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2022/08/h ... .html#more

*******************

Clearly focused military operations
August 4, 17:45

Image

Clearly focused military operations

The PRC is gradually revealing maps of "clearly focused military operations" announced in response to speaker Nancy Pelosi's dramatic boarding visit to Taipei airport. Our friend Artem Maltsev understood the details. In short, welcome to the Fourth Taiwan Strait Crisis.

As in 1996, ballistic missile launches, as well as naval maneuvers and actions to practice a landing operation, are the main argument so far. NOTAMs of planned exercise areas have already been published. At first glance, one might get the impression that the PRC surrounds the island from all sides, preparing for a blockade or something worse. Infographic samples replicated in Chinese social networks ( https://ram.komica2.net/00/src/1659594333981.jpg)cthe deployment of aviation and navy right off the coast of the island is clearly aimed at creating just such an effect.

In fact, the closest squares to the southwest and northeast of Taiwan are missile arrival zones, while aircraft and surface ships are likely to keep some distance. The latter is clearly seen in the example of the previous crisis of 1995-1996, when the corner of one of the "arrival squares" neatly touched the border of the 12-mile zone. Today, the corresponding square has been demonstratively shifted deep into the territorial waters, gently touching the border of the now internal waters of Taiwan. In truly independent states, sovereignty over inland waters is equivalent to sovereignty over land. For the PRC, of ​​course, as well as for a good half of the international community, there are no sovereign waters near the island of Taiwan, because China is one and indivisible.

Now about #rivets : over the past day, we have already seen at least 11 launches of short and medium-range ballistic missiles: according to preliminary data, these are DF-11 and DF-15 complexes. After mass production in the 1990-2000s. the arsenal of these missiles can approach 1.5 thousand units. For comparison, during the two years of the previous crisis, China launched only 6 missiles of the same class.

In addition, the latest MLRS PHL-16 of an unusual caliber: 370 mm took part in the shelling. In fact, this complex is specially designed for shelling the main territory of Taiwan as a more “cost-effective” replacement for short-range ballistic missiles (in this role it can be compared with the now well-known HIMARS MLRS, well, and mention the thesis about rapprochement and mixing that has already been repeatedly voiced). "heavy MLRS" and "tactical BR").

In the near future, launches of more advanced ballistic missiles can also be expected: the notorious "aircraft carrier killer" DF-21D and its older intermediate-range sister DF-26. Rumors are circulating about the demonstration of the DF-17 with a newfangled hypersonic glider. It would be interesting to see the results of tests of these missiles against mobile surface targets, but, frankly, it is doubtful that the Chinese towed the target ship to the desired area in advance.

In general, the PRC missile arsenal today is a kind of unknown ratio between large-scale samples of complexes of past generations and their more modern and advanced counterparts. Accordingly, mass launches of such ballistic missiles, such as, for example, DF-16 and DF-21, can be a signal of confidence in the depth of the newest part of their “powder magazine”. The reverse is also true.

In any case, the islanders can only enjoy the fireworks: despite Taiwan having a fairly advanced missile defense system (Patriot PAC-3 and local Tien Kung-III), it still falls short of the firing areas.

From a military point of view, it is clear that these launches will not introduce anything fundamentally new into the "strait equation". The possibility of a massive "bombing-calibration" of Taiwan has long been considered one of the main trump cards of the PRC in the event of an escalation of the conflict. But the experience of well-known events shows well that even with the objectively limited usefulness of missile defense systems, the armed forces scattered in urban agglomerations are able to perfectly absorb such strikes while maintaining stability.

(c) Watfor

https://t.me/boris_rozhin/59491 - zinc

PS. Japan's Ministry of Defense says China launched four ballistic missiles over Taiwan, which flew over the island and fell into the ocean. Earlier, Japan reported that during rocket firing, 5 Chinese rockets fell in the economic zone of Japan.

In addition to muscle jiggling, the exercises have caused problems with air traffic and shipping in Taiwan. So far, local. Whether they will be systemic will depend on how long China maintains a high degree of military activity around the island, which, due to the difficulties it creates for transport, causes economic damage to Taiwan.

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Re: China

Post by blindpig » Sat Aug 06, 2022 2:55 pm

FROM THE MILITARY TO THE ECONOMIC
CHINA AND THE US: AN UNDERMINED RELATIONSHIP
5 Aug 2022 , 6:14 pm .

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The bilateral relationship between the world's two great economic powers is fracturing in fast motion (Photo: Jason Lee / Reuters)

China's first reaction to Democrat Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan was diplomatic, through a statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejecting official actions by the United States in the face of the "One China" policy, of which there are agreements signed since the 1970s between Beijing and Washington around reunification and Chinese sovereignty over the island.

Before the US side crossed the Rubicon on Tuesday, August 2, President Xi Jinping spoke by phone with Joe Biden to instruct him to prevent the Speaker of the US House of Representatives from avoiding the stop in Taipei. There was no separate agenda to stop the flight of the octogenarian politician, who later justified her brief stay in the Taiwanese capital in The Washington Post "in defense of democracy against autocracy."

The immediate thing on the part of China was to announce military exercises around the island, larger than those carried out between 1995 and 1996 since they cover much more maritime territory, include larger combat components and use live fire as a deterrent.


Although the People's Liberation Army, the Chinese military, has not participated in any war for almost 40 years, such a position does not prevent China from being able to take large-scale military defensive positions with national objectives. In an editorial note on Monday, August 1, the Global Times states : "Over the past 10 years, the combat capability of the Chinese armed forces has greatly improved, and the weaponry and equipment, the organizational system, the actual combat training , military theory and the cultivation of talents have made historic progress."

At the meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Cambodia, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi canceled the meeting with his Japanese counterpart, Hayashi Yoshimasa, after the G7 (of which Japan is a part ) rejected Beijing's military measures and positioned itself firmly, as expected, in favor of the US position.

On August 4, China announced the issuance of sanctions against Nancy Pelosi herself and her family. In addition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued the information on a series of countermeasures in response to the US provocation.

*It shuts down communications between Chinese and US military commanders.
*Cancel the China-US Defense Policy Coordination Talks (DPCT).
*Cancels the meetings of the Military Maritime Consultative Agreement (MMCA) between China and the United States.
*Suspends cooperation between China and the United States on the repatriation of illegal immigrants.
*Suspends cooperation between China and the United States on legal aid in criminal matters.
*Suspend cooperation between China and the United States against transnational crime.
*Suspends cooperation between China and the United States in the fight against drug trafficking.
*Suspend talks between China and the United States on climate change.

The seriousness of the matter has led China to understand that the commitments of the United States are a dead letter if it is a question of superimposing its interests over a point of balance in the international arena. That is why it carries out the aforementioned series of actions that interrupt the cooperation carried out by both countries in different areas: political and military-security.

AN UNDERMINED RELATIONSHIP

Since the 1970s, both China and the United States have been interested in an improvement in bilateral relations that resulted in a particular symbiosis that changed much of the international dynamics in several areas, especially in the economic, financial and commercial.

Mao Zedong's meeting with Richard Nixon in Beijing (1972) and Deng Xioaping's visit to Washington DC during the government of Jimmy Carter (1979) were the foundations of a relationship that was maintained above all by economic interests over geopolitical ones. , always subject to high-level communications between presidents and important officials of each administration.

This has continued to this day: the aforementioned call from Xi and Biden was a last-ditch effort to maintain some kind of political-diplomatic balance in an already unstable relationship in recent times.

The United States understands its bilateral treatment with China as a " strategic competition " for global dominance, while Beijing defines itself as a "defender of the international order" under the understanding that the North American country is "the greatest source of disturbance of the real world order ". One seeks to hinder the rise of another, while the multipolar world is growing by leaps and bounds amid global turmoil.

And China wants the world model it defends to be consolidated within a certain framework of stability and from a vision " of building a community with a shared future for humanity . "

At this time there does not seem to be a convergence between the two positions, however, this was not always the case, since the bilateral relationship had a solid foundation in trade, investment and security issues.

While the United States was looking for commercial, export and profit opportunities in China, Beijing was looking for direct investment in its industries, new technologies and political-diplomatic support for its insertion in international organizations dominated by Washington, such as the World Trade Organization. and the United Nations Organization.

A US Congressional report from last March reports that China exports to the US almost three times the value of the goods that the US exports to China. In 2021, China was the largest source of US imports (with 506.4 billion dollars), denoting the current dependence of North America on the Asian giant.

The United States increased its foreign direct investment in China by more than 1,000% from 2000 to 2021. In the aforementioned report, it also says that since 2016 there is much more exchange between the two countries in terms of technology licenses, research, risk capital and financial investments.

Image

Find more statistics at Statista

As for profits, the US services trade surplus with China was $24.8 billion in 2020, according to the US presidential office . And this sum represents a decrease compared to previous years.

Both countries have benefited from a stable relationship in the economic-financial-commercial field. For example, the Chinese economy grew an average of 9.5% annually from 1979 to 2018, helping to sustain an unprecedented boom that has made it one of the fundamental pillars of the nascent multipolar order. It is not for nothing that Washington considers him a "competitor", even though he has benefited enormously from his rival.

For now, Beijing's countermeasures against the American provocation do not touch these interests, but it is possible that they escalate to a point where the debt payment of almost 1 trillion dollars in Treasury bonds is demanded . This would put the already fragile financial architecture of the Federal Reserve at risk and put Washington's portfolio in serious deficit.

Bilateral military communications had already been having major disruptions (as happened in trade during the Trump era), but the Chinese countermeasures strengthen a tendency towards asymmetric responses that will very possibly escalate to a point where dependency will be too noticeable. of its relationship with China, while the Asian giant continues to build an alternative to the decadent unipolarity of the West.

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STUPID RUBICON: THE TAIWAN STRAIT, NANCY PELOSI AND THE POINT OF NO RETURN

Diego Sequera

4 Aug 2022 , 1:36 pm .

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This is the Rubicon sewer. The true point of no return began to walk (Photo: Sam Yeh / AFP)

On August 2, 2022, a new Rubicon was crossed. But the sign of that crossing is not that of an emperor willing to cross the river that demarcated how far his control would go and where he wanted to expand. Not even the official leader of the current empire crosses it, but the third in the chain of command.

Nancy Pelosi, and not the official leader of the country, decided to fracture the "strategic ambiguity" based on the "One China" principle , the pillar and foundation of the People's Republic as the only state and government of all of China, including the island of Taiwan. (The countries with relations with the latter are of an unofficial nature, focused, at least in principle, on commercial and/or cultural exchanges).

43 years if considered from its implementation, 50 if taken from its conceptual appearance, when the normalization process began, in its first joint communique, in 1972, during the Nixon administration, they were definitively committed to the eventful 19-hour visit of the president of Congress.

This is not a de jure break , because even the congresswoman herself affirms, in formal terms, that she recognizes the "One China" principle.

"Our visit - one of several congressional delegations to the island - in no way contradicts the enduring policy of one China, guided by the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, the US-China joint communiqués and the six assurances. United States continues to oppose unilateral efforts to change the status quo," he said in a Washington Post article that was to complement the official statement from his office in the lower house.

And, of course, he accuses Beijing of being responsible for changing the status quo. Whenever the accusation/justification follows the usual path: oppressor of Tibet, genocide of Xinjiang, repressor of Hong Kong; than human rights and political freedoms.

"The solidarity of the United States with Taiwan today is more important than ever, not only for the 23 million people on the island but also for the thousands of others oppressed and threatened by the People's Republic of China," he said, cliché in hand, grandiloquently. .

But that language, that tone and those acts little consider the real consequences of their actions. That vocabulary and that slang point to her own country, to the compromised and delicate situation of the numbers of her party (of which she demonstrates with this act to be the unquestionable leader, above the president). Taiwan and the current ruling party in Taipei, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), are nothing more than elements in the scene, items that set up the narcissistic set design and "art direction" of the event. The narrative. the meme

But it would be trivial to reduce it only to those domestic elements (there are more, in his own personal situation): it was a state action, it was supported after the fait accompli by Secretary of State Blinken, when everything had already happened. The stitch and the thimble. There have been other moments of provocation, the most conspicuous in 1996 (the "missile crisis"), and then the visit of then also President of Congress, Newt Ginrich, in 1997. Pelosi is, in this one and only act, the entire American system.


Aware that the visit was going to trigger a crisis, the Taiwanese media commented that the DPP government itself had secretly decided to revoke the invitation, but that Pelosi herself called the Taiwanese "ambassador" insisting that she would go, because she decided to persist in carrying out a personal historical position.

Without a doubt, history is making. "Pelosi's visit has confirmed to the world that the United States is the biggest destroyer of peace in the Strait. Any countermeasure that China adopts is necessary and justified. This will objectively accelerate the process of reunification of China," says an editorial of the Global Times of August 4 . The Global Times is close to the Communist Party, and sometimes acts as an unofficial mouthpiece.

In the Taiwanese party ecosystem, only current president Tsai Ing-Wen's party, the DPP, is openly and proactively "independence." Not even the Kuomintang, the party that occupied the island when Chiang Kai Shek's troops were defeated in 1949, today adopts a secessionist position, even if there are variations on how to understand the "One China" principle. Their weaknesses as consular drivers of liberalism are already bearing definitive fruit.

The chain of economic, financial, commercial, communication and military measures that began yesterday, everything indicates, will continue to rise:

"The series of military exercises on the mainland to counter the escalation of the US-Taiwan collusion will in fact form a temporary blockade of the island (...) Some secessionists are already beginning to wonder how many days natural gas can last them. Pelosi, who in Taiwan bragged about 'solidarity', will he even care? Who will believe that there will be 'good friends' to rescue them when 'Taiwan independence' reaches a dead end? They will be abandoned like the pawns they are." thundered the same editorial in the Global Times on August 4.

And here we all know what the answer is for that expensive episode on a tour that is already around 90 million dollars from taxpayers. But the positive impact on your constituency will be absolutely nil. Like out of it. And this brings us to one more layer of information that could explain her decision: her husband Paul, already under investigation for dealing information with his wife that would impact his actions on the stock market, also has a open filefor a traffic accident, with alcohol in the blood, in May 2021, which could bring him closer to jail or to some type of settlement with the judicial system. Something had to be done to divert attention from that scandal in an election year that will hardly bring any profit to the 82-year-old congresswoman.

The scope and banality of their acts of survival do not take into account the geopolitical effects in the short and medium term, since, in addition, they aspire to save their skin, and for that they used the entire apparatus of the system. The United States opened the missing front to further stretch a series of fronts and conflicts that are also directed towards its own population. Now the world is a single pressure zone.

It was by crossing the river and facing the unknown and unnameable that Julius Caesar said that the die was cast, according to commonplace (based on Suetonius's version). He did it in defiance of the Senate. In this repetition (that of the farce?), on this occasion, it is a tribune that challenges the emperor, for pedestrian reasons. This is the Rubicon sewer. The true point of no return began to walk.

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************************************

Support voiced for China's countermoves
By MO JINGXI | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2022-08-05 02:53

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State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi (left) is welcomed by Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen during a meeting at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Wednesday. [KOK KY/CAMBODIA'S GOVERNMENT CABINET/AFP]

China's countermeasures in response to United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan are necessary and legitimate, as they are taken to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as the principles governing international relations, officials and experts said.

State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday that if China does not resolutely resist the "manic, irresponsible and highly irrational" act of the US side, the principle of international relations on respecting sovereignty and territorial integrity will become empty words, separatists and extremists will become more rampant, and the region's hard-won peace and stability will be seriously jeopardized.

What China has done and will do are necessary and timely countermeasures that aim to warn against provocateurs and also protect regional stability and peace across the Taiwan Straits, he said.

China's countermeasures include staging military drills near Taiwan, conducting large-scale air and naval activities, punishing organizations related to die-hard "Taiwan independence" elements, and suspending natural sand exports to Taiwan, as well as the imports of some farm produce from the island.

Wang, who is attending the "ASEAN-plus" foreign ministers' meetings in Cambodia, canceled a scheduled meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa after Yoshimasa, with other foreign ministers of the Group of Seven nations and the high representative of the European Union, issued a joint statement about Taiwan.

The statement groundlessly accused China of escalating tensions across the Taiwan Straits.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular news conference on Thursday that tensions across the Taiwan Straits are fundamentally caused by the US' connivance on Pelosi's visit to Taiwan by taking a military plane, disregarding China's strong opposition.

The Chinese government is justified and has the right to do whatever is necessary to respond to such a major incident, which substantially upgraded relations between the US and the Taiwan region in violation of the one-China principle, she said.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the spokesperson for the Chinese Mission to the EU also refuted the joint statement, saying the smearing of China by foreign hostile forces and separatists in Taiwan cannot hide their sinister intention of separating Taiwan from the motherland.

The measures adopted by the Chinese government to safeguard sovereignty and territorial integrity are absolutely necessary and very appropriate, and they reflect the common aspirations of the more than 1.4 billion Chinese people, the spokesperson said.

Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said on Thursday that the measures China has taken to safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests in accordance with international law and basic norms governing international relations are justified, legitimate and reasonable.

The international community has also voiced its support for the one-China principle following Pelosi's visit to Taiwan and for China to take all necessary measures to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reiterated the UN's support for the one-China principle on Wednesday. "We abide by General Assembly resolutions, by the one-China policy, and that is the orientation that we have in everything we do," he said.

In a joint statement published on Thursday, foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations who are meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, also reiterated ASEAN member states' support for the one-China principle.

George Muntu, an analyst on international politics and foreign affairs based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, said that the US and the Democratic Progressive Party authorities in Taiwan have employed a salami-slicing tactic of pressing step by step in seeking the island's independence.

"It should be understood that China, as a sovereign state, has every reason to defend itself and protect its territories by any means. The international community should criticize Pelosi's provocative visit to Taiwan and urge the US to respect the one-China principle and stop interfering in China's internal affairs," he said.

Xu Bu, president of the China Institute of International Studies, said the US is seriously misleading the international community by falsely blaming China for changing the status quo across the Taiwan Straits.

The truth is that the DPP authority is trying to violate the one-China principle by soliciting US support, he said.

"The US should realize the severe harm of 'Taiwan independence', stop interfering in China's internal affairs and not go further on the wrong path," Xu said.

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Re: China

Post by blindpig » Mon Aug 08, 2022 1:56 pm

No U.S. war on China!
August 4, 2022 Sharon Black
China is no threat to the people in the United States or to the world; Wall Street and the Pentagon are.

Image
SPAR19 — a U.S. Air Force plane carrying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from Malaysia to Taiwan as seen on a Flightradar24 map.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the third highest ranking U.S. government official, landed in Taiwan on August 2. This reckless and aggressive move that infringes on the sovereign rights of over 1.4 billion Chinese people pushes the needle ever closer to a larger, more destructive global war.

The capitalist press portrays Pelosi as a lone individual, a political leader who single-handedly is defying the Chinese government. Nothing can be further from the truth.

Pelosi flew on a U.S. military plane flanked by Air Force F-35 fighters. Instead of flying directly over the South China Sea, her aircraft flew west around the Philippines. All the while, the massive nuclear-powered USS Ronald Reagan carrier strike group lay nearby. This battle group, armed to the teeth, includes a guided missile cruiser and nuclear submarines.

U.S. violates “One China” policy

Taiwan is part of China, a fact that even the U.S. officially recognizes through the “One China” policy. The U.S. has signed three separate agreements with China confirming the One China policy. “One China” is also recognized by the United Nations

In response to Pelosi’s hawkish actions, the Chinese government issued a statement on August 2 that reads, in part:

“Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, 181 countries have established diplomatic relations with China on the basis of the one-China principle. The one-China principle is a universal consensus of the international community and a basic norm in international relations.

“In 1979, the United States made a clear commitment in the China-U.S. Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations – ‘The United States of America recognizes the Government of the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal Government of China. Within this context, the people of the United States will maintain cultural, commercial, and other unofficial relations with the people of Taiwan.’”

(Link to full Chinese Foreign Ministry statement)

Words and treaties are one thing with U.S. imperialism, but deeds are another. The Indigenous Nations could attest to this.

The Pentagon seeks to turn Taiwan into a military outpost

House Speaker Pelosi’s visit, while publicly lighting the match, has not been the only action by U.S. imperialism egging on and propping up Taiwan separatism.

In November 2021, Struggle-La Lucha, reported:

“On Oct. 7, (2021) the Wall Street Journal reported that about two dozen U.S. special operations and support troops were ‘secretly operating in Taiwan to train military forces there for at least a year.’”

The Global Times points out that:

“Since the U.S. has exposed the news through anonymous officials, it has taken a step forward to undermine, from covertly to semi-overtly, the key conditions for the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Chinese mainland and the U.S.”

From the same Struggle-La Lucha report:

“The U.S. government officially recognizes that Taiwan is a province of China, not a separate nation. Therefore, what the Biden administration is now doing — secretly sending special forces into the Chinese province — is in violation of both U.S. and international law.”

Additionally, in March 2021, Nikkei Asia reported that the United States was discussing stationing offensive missiles on Taiwan that would have violated the INF treaty.

Taiwan is manufacturing center for semiconductor chips

Taiwan is a major manufacturing center for semiconductor computer chips that power cars, laptops, phones and appliances. It produces 92% of the world’s advanced semiconductors.

China is Taiwan’s largest trading partner. While China is building semiconductor plants on the mainland, breaking this supply chain is obviously intended to disrupt Chinese global production. The U.S. produces a mere 12%. It faces a shortage because it was more profitable for U.S. businesses to import from Asia.

That’s what’s behind the Chips and Science Act just passed by Congress on July 28. The act includes more than $52 billion for U.S. companies to take over computer chip production. Reports indicate that the goal is to turn Taiwan production away from China and toward the U.S.

China defends itself

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is presently continuing exercises blockading the island. The Global Times reported the details of China’s response.

The headline reads: “PLA drills around Taiwan continue to ‘rehearse reunification operation’ amid Pelosi’s visit, ‘exercises blockading island to become routine’

“Joint military exercises around the island of Taiwan by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) continued Wednesday with a joint blockade, sea assault, and land and air combat trainings, involving the use of advanced weapons including J-20 stealth fighter jets and DF-17 hypersonic missiles after the drills started on Tuesday evening when US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed on the island which seriously violates China’s sovereignty.

“The exercises are unprecedented as the PLA conventional missiles are expected to fly over the island of Taiwan for the first time, the PLA forces will enter the area within 12 nautical miles of the island and the so-called median line will cease to exist, experts said, noting that by surrounding Taiwan entirely, the PLA is completely blockading the island demonstrating the Chinese mainland’s absolute control over the Taiwan question.”

The U.S./NATO proxy war — the 2014 U.S.-assisted coup and the consequent puppet regime in Ukraine — cannot be ignored by the Communist Party of China. Taiwan as a U.S. colony would be a clear existential threat to Chinese sovereignty.

China cannot allow this, and the Pentagon knows it.

U.S. imperialism wants war — we must organize to stop it!

As the global capitalist crisis deepens, the U.S. imperialist system is propelled toward war. The drive toward war is independent of political administrations or individual intentions, regardless of how venal or corrupt.

The people of the United States have nothing in common with the multi-trillion dollar war industry that profits off of dumping its weapons on Taiwan and all around the globe. The capitalist system and its bankers seek global domination while workers’ livelihoods are threatened by inflation and recession.

War brings nothing but more repression, misery, death and climate destruction.

Prepare now: This is not just Pelosi but the whole damn system.

https://www.struggle-la-lucha.org/2022/ ... -on-china/

**********************

Wang: US deliberately sabotaged peace across Taiwan Straits
By Zhao Jia | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2022-08-08 09:51


The United States has grossly interfered in China's internal affairs, connived and supported "Taiwan independence" forces and deliberately sabotaged peace across the Taiwan Straits, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Sunday during his visit to Bangladesh.

Wang noted that the US has made three mistakes regarding House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's reckless visit to China's Taiwan region.

Taiwan is not a part of the US but China's territory and Washington has already made open commitments on the question.

Yet, the US, disregarding China's repeated notifications and warnings, arranged Pelosi, the third highest-ranking figure in the US government, to visit China's Taiwan region.

The US' action is therefore a serious infringement on China's sovereignty, he added.

Wang said the ruling Taiwan Democratic Progressive Party has included the pursuit of "independence" in its party platform, tried every possible means to push for incremental "Taiwan independence," and create "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan".

Wang emphasized that any country must safeguard national unity and never allows separatist elements behave recklessly.

Pelosi, who openly emboldens DPP and sides with separatist forces, has made her an enemy of Chinese people, he added.

It is an old trick of the US to stir up troubles first and then take advantage of them to achieve its own goals, Wang said.

As there are signs showing the US is building up its military deployment in the region, he called for parties to stay high vigilant and resolutely reject US' acts.

Wang said China's firm stance and countermeasures are justified, reasonable, lawful, necessary, open, and proportionate, aiming to safeguard China's sacred sovereignty and territorial integrity and deter US' attempt to use Taiwan to contain China.

They are also to crush the Taiwan authorities' illusion of "seeking US support for their independence agenda" and earnestly safeguard peace across the Taiwan Straits and stability in the region, he added.

Wang underscored that the principle of non-interference in each other's internal affairs is the "golden rule" for state-to-state relations and a "magic tool" for developing countries to safeguard their own sovereignty and security.

Over 170 countries and international organizations have supported China's solemn positions and reaffirmed their firm adherence to the one-China principle through different manners.

Wang expressed appreciation for the understanding and support from the international community and called for jointly upholding the basic norms of international relations and the international law, as well as safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of all developing countries.

http://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/20220 ... 70dac.html
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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Re: China

Post by blindpig » Wed Aug 10, 2022 4:26 pm

Full Text: The Taiwan Question and China's Reunification in the New Era
Xinhua | Updated: 2022-08-10 10:15

BEIJING -- The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council and the State Council Information Office of the People's Republic of China published a white paper titled "The Taiwan Question and China's Reunification in the New Era" on Wednesday.

The following is the full text of the white paper:

The Taiwan Question and China's Reunification in the New Era

The People's Republic of China

The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council and The State Council Information Office

August 2022

Contents

Preamble

I. Taiwan Is Part of China - This Is an Indisputable Fact

II. Resolute Efforts of the CPC to Realize China's Complete Reunification

III. China's Complete Reunification Is a Process That Cannot Be Halted

IV. National Reunification in the New Era

V. Bright Prospects for Peaceful Reunification

Conclusion

Preamble

Resolving the Taiwan question and realizing China's complete reunification is a shared aspiration of all the sons and daughters of the Chinese nation. It is indispensable for the realization of China's rejuvenation. It is also a historic mission of the Communist Party of China (CPC). The CPC, the Chinese government, and the Chinese people have striven for decades to achieve this goal.

The 18th National Congress of the CPC in 2012 heralded a new era in building socialism with Chinese characteristics. Under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Xi Jinping at the core, the CPC and the Chinese government have adopted new and innovative measures in relation to Taiwan. They have continued to chart the course of cross-Straits relations, safeguard peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits, and promote progress towards national reunification. However, in recent years the Taiwan authorities, led by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), have redoubled their efforts to divide the country, and some external forces have tried to exploit Taiwan to contain China, prevent the Chinese nation from achieving complete reunification, and halt the process of national rejuvenation.

The CPC has united the Chinese people and led them in fulfilling the First Centenary Goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects as scheduled, and in embarking on a new journey towards the Second Centenary Goal of building China into a modern socialist country.

The Chinese nation has achieved a historic transformation from standing upright to becoming prosperous and growing in strength, and national rejuvenation is driven by an unstoppable force. This marks a new starting point for reunification.

The Chinese government has published two previous white papers on Taiwan. One was The Taiwan Question and Reunification of China in August 1993, and the other was The One-China Principle and the Taiwan Issue in February 2000. These two white papers provided a comprehensive and systematic elaboration of the basic principles and policies regarding the resolution of the Taiwan question. This new white paper is being released to reiterate the fact that Taiwan is part of China, to demonstrate the resolve of the CPC and the Chinese people and their commitment to national reunification, and to emphasize the position and policies of the CPC and the Chinese government in the new era.

I. Taiwan Is Part of China - This Is an Indisputable Fact

Taiwan has belonged to China since ancient times. This statement has a sound basis in history and jurisprudence. New archeological discoveries and research findings regularly attest to the profound historical and cultural ties between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits. A large number of historical records and annals document the development of Taiwan by the Chinese people in earlier periods.

The earliest references to this effect are to be found, among others, in Seaboard Geographic Gazetteer compiled in the year 230 by Shen Ying of the State of Wu during the Three Kingdoms Period. The royal court of the Sui Dynasty had on three occasions sent troops to Taiwan, called Liuqiu at that time. Starting from the Song and Yuan dynasties, the imperial central governments of China all set up administrative bodies to exercise jurisdiction over Penghu and Taiwan.

In 1624, Dutch colonialists invaded and occupied the southern part of Taiwan. In 1662, General Zheng Chenggong, hailed as a national hero, led an expedition and expelled them from the island. Subsequently, the Qing court gradually set up more administrative bodies in Taiwan. In 1684, a Taiwan prefecture administration was set up under the jurisdiction of Fujian Province. In 1885, Taiwan's status was upgraded and it became the 20th province of China.

In July 1894, Japan launched a war of aggression against China. In April 1895, the defeated Qing government was forced to cede Taiwan and the Penghu Islands to Japan. During the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-1945), China's Communists called for the recovery of Taiwan. Talking with American journalist Nym Wales on May 15, 1937, Mao Zedong said that China's goal was to achieve a final victory in the war - a victory that would recover the occupied Chinese territories in Northeast China and to the south of the Shanhai Pass, and secure the liberation of Taiwan.

On December 9, 1941, the Chinese government issued a declaration of war against Japan, and proclaimed that all treaties, conventions, agreements, and contracts regarding relations between China and Japan had been abrogated, and that China would recover Taiwan and the Penghu Islands.

The Cairo Declaration issued by China, the United States and the United Kingdom on December 1, 1943 stated that it was the purpose of the three allies that all the territories Japan had stolen from China, such as Northeast China, Taiwan and the Penghu Islands, should be restored to China.

The Potsdam Proclamation was signed by China, the United States and the United Kingdom on July 26, 1945, and subsequently recognized by the Soviet Union. It reiterated: "The terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out." In September of the same year, Japan signed the instrument of surrender, in which it promised that it would faithfully fulfill the obligations laid down in the Potsdam Proclamation. On October 25 the Chinese government announced that it was resuming the exercise of sovereignty over Taiwan, and the ceremony to accept Japan's surrender in Taiwan Province of the China war theater of the Allied powers was held in Taibei (Taipei). From that point forward, China had recovered Taiwan de jure and de facto through a host of documents with international legal effect.

On October 1, 1949, the People's Republic of China (PRC) was founded, becoming the successor to the Republic of China (1912-1949), and the Central People's Government became the only legitimate government of the whole of China. The new government replaced the previous KMT regime in a situation where China, as a subject under international law, did not change and China's sovereignty and inherent territory did not change. As a natural result, the government of the PRC should enjoy and exercise China's full sovereignty, which includes its sovereignty over Taiwan.

As a result of the civil war in China in the late 1940s and the interference of external forces, the two sides of the Taiwan Straits have fallen into a state of protracted political confrontation. But the sovereignty and territory of China have never been divided and will never be divided, and Taiwan's status as part of China's territory has never changed and will never be allowed to change.

At its 26th session in October 1971, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 2758, which undertook "to restore all its rights to the People's Republic of China and to recognize the representatives of its Government as the only legitimate representatives of China to the United Nations, and to expel forthwith the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek from the place which they unlawfully occupy at the United Nations and in all the organizations related to it". This resolution settled once and for all the political, legal and procedural issues of China's representation in the UN, and it covered the whole country, including Taiwan. It also spelled out that China has one single seat in the UN, so there is no such thing as "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan".

The specialized agencies of the UN later adopted further resolutions restoring to the PRC its lawful seat and expelling the representatives of the Taiwan authorities. One of these is Resolution 25.1 adopted at the 25th World Health Assembly in May 1972. It was clearly stated in the official legal opinions of the Office of Legal Affairs of the UN Secretariat that "the United Nations considers 'Taiwan' as a province of China with no separate status", and the "'authorities' in 'Taipei' are not considered to... enjoy any form of government status". At the UN the island is referred to as "Taiwan, Province of China"[1].

Resolution 2758 is a political document encapsulating the one-China principle whose legal authority leaves no room for doubt and has been acknowledged worldwide. Taiwan does not have any ground, reason, or right to join the UN, or any other international organization whose membership is confined to sovereign states.

In recent years some elements in a small number of countries, the US foremost among them, have colluded with forces in Taiwan, to falsely claim that the resolution did not conclusively resolve the issue of Taiwan's representation. Puffing up the illegal and invalid Treaty of San Francisco[2] and disregarding the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation and other international legal documents, they profess that the status of Taiwan has yet to be determined, and declare their support for "Taiwan's meaningful participation in the UN system". What they are actually attempting to do is to alter Taiwan's status as part of China and create "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan" as part of a political ploy - using Taiwan to contain China. These actions in violation of Resolution 2758 and international law are a serious breach of political commitments made by these countries. They damage China's sovereignty and dignity, and treat the basic principles of international law with contempt. The Chinese government has condemned and expressed its resolute opposition to them.

The one-China principle represents the universal consensus of the international community; it is consistent with the basic norms of international relations. To date, 181 countries including the United States have established diplomatic relations with the PRC on the basis of the one-China principle. The China-US Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations, published in December 1978, states: "The Government of the United States of America acknowledges the Chinese position that there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China." It also states: "The United States of America recognizes the Government of the People's Republic of China as the sole legal Government of China. Within this context, the people of the United States will maintain cultural, commercial, and other unofficial relations with the people of Taiwan."

The Constitution of the People's Republic of China, adopted at the Fifth Session of the Fifth National People's Congress (NPC) in December 1982, stipulates: "Taiwan is part of the sacred territory of the People's Republic of China. It is the inviolable duty of all Chinese people, including our compatriots in Taiwan, to accomplish the great task of reunifying the motherland."

The Anti-Secession Law, adopted at the Third Session of the 10th NPC in March 2005, stipulates: "There is only one China in the world. Both the mainland and Taiwan belong to one China. China's sovereignty and territorial integrity brook no division. Safeguarding China's sovereignty and territorial integrity is the common obligation of all Chinese people, the Taiwan compatriots included. Taiwan is part of China. The state shall never allow the 'Taiwan independence' secessionist forces to make Taiwan secede from China under any name or by any means."

The National Security Law, adopted at the 15th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 12th NPC in July 2015, stipulates: "The sovereignty and territorial integrity of China brook no violation or separation. Safeguarding national sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity is the common duty of all Chinese citizens, including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan compatriots."

We are one China, and Taiwan is part of China. This is an indisputable fact supported by history and the law. Taiwan has never been a state; its status as part of China is unalterable. Any attempt to distort these facts and dispute or deny the one-China principle will end in failure.

II. Resolute Efforts of the CPC to Realize China's Complete Reunification

The CPC has always been dedicated to working for the wellbeing of the Chinese people and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Soon after its founding in 1921, the CPC set itself the goal of freeing Taiwan from colonial rule, reuniting it with the rest of the country and liberating the whole nation, including compatriots in Taiwan. It has made a tremendous effort to achieve this goal.

The CPC is committed to the historic mission of resolving the Taiwan question and realizing China's complete reunification. Under its resolute leadership, people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits have worked together to de-escalate tension across the Straits. They have set out on a path of peaceful development and made many breakthroughs in improving cross-Straits relations.

After the founding of the PRC in 1949, China's Communists, under the leadership of Mao Zedong, proposed the essential guideline, underlying principle, and basic policy for peaceful settlement of the Taiwan question. The CPC prepared and worked for the liberation of Taiwan, thwarted the Taiwan authorities' plans to attack the mainland, and foiled attempts to create "two Chinas" and "one China, one Taiwan". Through their efforts, the lawful seat and rights of the PRC in the United Nations were restored and the one-China principle was subscribed to by the majority of countries, laying important groundwork for peaceful reunification. The CPC central leadership established high-level contact with the Taiwan authorities through proper channels in pursuit of a peaceful solution to the Taiwan question.

Following the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee in 1978, with the establishment of diplomatic relations between the PRC and the United States, China's Communists, led by Deng Xiaoping, defined the fundamental guideline for peaceful reunification in the vital interests of the country and the people and on the basis of the consensus for peaceful settlement of the Taiwan question. The CPC introduced the creative and well-conceived concept of One Country, Two Systems, and applied it first in resolving the questions of Hong Kong and Macao. It took action to ease military confrontation across the Taiwan Straits, restore contact, and open up people-to-people exchanges and cooperation, opening a new chapter in cross-Straits relations.

After the Fourth Plenary Session of the 13th CPC Central Committee in 1989, China's Communists, led by Jiang Zemin, made eight proposals for the development of cross-Straits relations and the peaceful reunification of China[3]. The CPC facilitated agreement across the Straits on the 1992 Consensus, which embodies the one-China principle. It initiated cross-Straits consultations and negotiations, resulting in the first talks between heads of the non-governmental organizations authorized by the two sides of the Straits, and expanded cross-Straits exchanges and cooperation in various fields. The CPC took firm action against separatist activities led by Lee Teng-hui, and struck hard at the separatist forces seeking "Taiwan independence". It ensured the smooth return of Hong Kong and Macao to China, and applied the policy of One Country, Two Systems, which had a constructive impact on the settlement of the Taiwan question.

After the 16th CPC National Congress in 2002, China's Communists, led by Hu Jintao, highlighted the importance of peaceful development of cross-Straits relations. The CPC pushed for the enactment of the Anti-Secession Law to curb separatist activities in Taiwan, hosted the first talks between the leaders of the CPC and the Kuomintang in six decades since 1945, and defeated attempts by Chen Shui-bian to fabricate a legal basis for "independence". The CPC effected profound changes in moving the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations forward by promoting institutionalized consultations and negotiations that produced fruitful results, establishing overall direct two-way links in mail, business and transport, and facilitating the signing and implementation of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement.

After the 18th CPC National Congress in 2012, China's Communists, under the leadership of Xi Jinping, took a holistic approach to cross-Straits relations in keeping with changing circumstances, added substance to the theory on national reunification and the principles and policies concerning Taiwan, and worked to keep cross-Straits relations on the right track. The CPC developed its overall policy for resolving the Taiwan question in the new era, and set out the overarching guideline and a program of action.

At its 19th National Congress in October 2017, the CPC affirmed the basic policy of upholding One Country, Two Systems and promoting national reunification, and emphasized its resolve never to allow any person, any organization, or any political party, at any time or in any form, to separate any part of Chinese territory from China.

In January 2019, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and president of China, addressed a meeting marking the 40th anniversary of the release of the Message to Compatriots in Taiwan. In his speech, Xi Jinping proposed major policies to advance the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations and the peaceful reunification of China in the new era. These are: first, working together to promote China's rejuvenation and its peaceful reunification; second, seeking a Two Systems solution to the Taiwan question and making innovative efforts towards peaceful reunification; third, abiding by the one-China principle and safeguarding the prospects for peaceful reunification; fourth, further integrating development across the Straits and consolidating the foundations for peaceful reunification; fifth, forging closer bonds of heart and mind between people on both sides of the Straits and strengthening joint commitment to peaceful reunification.

The CPC and the Chinese government have thereby adopted a series of major measures for charting the course of cross-Straits relations and realizing China's peaceful reunification:

- The CPC and the Chinese government have facilitated the first meeting and direct dialogue between leaders of the two sides since 1949, raising exchanges and interactions to new heights, opening up a new chapter, and creating new space for cross-Straits relations. This is a new milestone. The departments in charge of cross-Straits affairs on both sides have established regular contact and communication mechanisms on a common political foundation, and the heads of the two departments have exchanged visits and set up hotlines.

- Upholding the one-China principle and the 1992 Consensus, the CPC and the Chinese government have facilitated exchanges between political parties across the Straits, and conducted dialogues, consultations, and in-depth exchanges of views on cross-Straits relations and the future of the Chinese nation with relevant political parties, organizations, and individuals in Taiwan. These efforts have resulted in consensus on multiple issues, and promoted a number of joint initiatives exploring the Two Systems solution to the Taiwan question with all sectors of Taiwan society.

- Guided by the conviction that people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits are of the same family, the CPC and the Chinese government have promoted peaceful development of cross-Straits relations and integrated development of the two sides for the benefit of both the mainland and Taiwan. We have also refined the institutional arrangements, policies and measures to promote cross-Straits exchanges and cooperation, designed to advance the wellbeing of the people of Taiwan. These include the delivery of water from the coastal province of Fujian to Kinmen Island, electronic travel passes for Taiwan residents to enter or leave the mainland, residence permits for Taiwan residents, progressively ensuring that Taiwan compatriots have equal access to public services so as to facilitate their studying, starting businesses, working and living on the mainland, and an ongoing effort to pave the way for Taiwan to benefit first from the mainland's development opportunities.

- While countering interference and obstruction from separatist forces, the CPC and the Chinese government have called on the people of Taiwan to promote effective and in-depth cooperation and people-to-people exchanges in various fields across the Straits. Having overcome the impact of COVID-19, we have held a number of exchange events such as the Straits Forum, and maintained the momentum of cross-Straits exchanges and cooperation.

- Resolute in defending state sovereignty and territorial integrity and opposing separatist activities and external interference, the CPC and the Chinese government have safeguarded peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits and the fundamental interests of the Chinese nation. We have taken lawful action against and effectively deterred separatist forces. We have handled Taiwan's external exchanges in a sound manner, and consolidated the international community's commitment to the one-China principle.

Under the guidance of the CPC, great progress has been made in cross-Straits relations over the past seven decades, especially since the estrangement between the two sides was ended. Increased exchanges, broader cooperation and closer interactions have brought tangible benefits to people across the Straits, especially of Taiwan. This fully demonstrates that cross-Straits amity and cooperation are mutually beneficial.

The volume of cross-Straits trade was only US$46 million in 1978. It rose to US$328.34 billion in 2021, up by a factor of more than 7,000. The mainland has been Taiwan's largest export market for the last 21 years, generating a large annual surplus for the island. The mainland is also the largest destination for Taiwan's off-island investment. By the end of 2021 Taiwan businesses had invested in almost 124,000 projects on the mainland, to a total value of US$71.34 billion[4].

In 1987 less than 50,000 visits were made between the two sides; by 2019 this number had soared to about 9 million. In the past three years, affected by COVID-19, online communication has become the main form of people-to-people interactions across the Straits, and the numbers of people participating in and covered by online communication are reaching new highs.

The CPC has always been the spine of the Chinese nation, exercising strong leadership in realizing national rejuvenation and reunification. Its consistent efforts over the decades to resolve the Taiwan question and achieve complete national reunification are based on the following:

First, the one-China principle must be upheld, and no individual or force should be allowed to separate Taiwan from China.

Second, it is imperative to strive for the wellbeing of all Chinese people, including those in Taiwan, and to realize the aspirations of all Chinese people for a better life.

Third, we must follow the principles of freeing the mind, seeking truth from facts, maintaining the right political orientation, and breaking new ground, and defend the fundamental interests of the nation and the core interests of the state in formulating principles and policies on work related to Taiwan.

Fourth, it is necessary to have the courage and skill to fight against any force that attempts to undermine China's sovereignty and territorial integrity or stands in the way of its reunification.

Fifth, extensive unity and solidarity must be upheld to mobilize all factors to fight against any force that would divide the country, and pool strengths to advance national reunification.

III. China's Complete Reunification Is a Process That Cannot Be Halted

Against a backdrop of profound and complex changes in the domestic and international situation, our cause of complete national reunification is facing new challenges. The CPC and the Chinese government have the strength and the confidence to deal with complexities and overcome risks and threats, and the ability to take great strides forward on the path to national reunification.

1. Complete Reunification Is Critical to National Rejuvenation

Throughout China's 5,000-year history, national reunification and opposition to division have remained a common ideal and a shared tradition of the whole nation. In the modern era from the mid-19th century, due to the aggression of Western powers and the decadence of feudal rule, China was gradually reduced to a semi-feudal, semi-colonial society, and went through a period of suffering worse than anything it had previously known. The country endured intense humiliation, the people were subjected to great pain, and the Chinese civilization was plunged into darkness. Japan's 50-year occupation of Taiwan epitomized this humiliation and inflicted agony on both sides of the Taiwan Straits. Our two sides face each other just across a strip of water, yet we are still far apart. The fact that we have not yet been reunified is a scar left by history on the Chinese nation. We Chinese on both sides should work together to achieve reunification and heal this wound.

National rejuvenation has been the greatest dream of the Chinese people and the Chinese nation since the modern era began. Only by realizing complete national reunification can the Chinese people on both sides of the Straits cast aside the shadow of civil war and create and enjoy lasting peace. National reunification is the only way to avoid the risk of Taiwan being invaded and occupied again by foreign countries, to foil the attempts of external forces to contain China, and to safeguard the sovereignty, security, and development interests of our country. It is the most effective remedy to secessionist attempts to divide our country, and the best means to consolidate Taiwan's status as part of China and advance national rejuvenation. It will enable us to pool the strengths of the people on both sides, build our common home, safeguard our interests and wellbeing, and create a brighter future for the Chinese people and the Chinese nation. As Dr Sun Yat-sen, the great pioneer of China's revolution, once said, "Unification is the hope of all Chinese nationals. If China can be unified, all Chinese will enjoy a happy life; if it cannot, all will suffer."

In exploring the path to rejuvenation and prosperity, China has endured vicissitudes and hardships. "Unification brings strength while division leads to chaos." This is a law of history. The realization of complete national reunification is driven by the history and culture of the Chinese nation and determined by the momentum towards and circumstances surrounding our national rejuvenation. Never before have we been so close to, confident in, and capable of achieving the goal of national rejuvenation. The same is true when it comes to our goal of complete national reunification. The Taiwan question arose as a result of weakness and chaos in our nation, and it will be resolved as national rejuvenation becomes a reality. When all the Chinese people stick together and work together, we will surely succeed in realizing national reunification on our way to national rejuvenation.

2. National Development and Progress Set the Direction of Cross-Straits Relations

China's development and progress are a key factor determining the course of cross-Straits relations and the realization of complete national reunification. In particular, the great achievements over four decades of reform, opening up and modernization have had a profound impact on the historical process of resolving the Taiwan question and realizing complete national reunification. No matter which political party or group is in power in Taiwan, it cannot alter the course of progress in cross-Straits relations or the trend towards national reunification.

International Monetary Fund statistics show that in 1980 the GDP of the mainland was about US$303 billion, just over 7 times that of Taiwan, which was about US$42.3 billion; in 2021, the GDP of the mainland was about US$17.46 trillion, more than 22 times that of Taiwan, which was about US$790 billion.[5]

China's development and progress, and in particular the steady increases in its economic power, technological strength, and national defense capabilities, are an effective curb against separatist activities and interference from external forces. They also provide broad space and great opportunities for cross-Straits exchanges and cooperation. As more and more compatriots from Taiwan, especially young people, pursue their studies, start businesses, seek jobs, or go to live on the mainland, cross-Straits exchanges, interaction and integration are intensified in all sectors, the economic ties and personal bonds between the people on both sides run deeper, and our common cultural and national identities grow stronger, leading cross-Straits relations towards reunification.

The CPC has united the Chinese people and led them in embarking on the new journey of building China into a modern socialist country in all respects. Following the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the mainland has improved its governance and maintained long-term economic growth; it enjoys a solid material foundation, a wealth of human resources, a huge market, strong resilience in development, and social stability. It therefore has many strengths and favorable conditions for further development, and these have become the driving force for reunification.

Grounding its effort in the new development stage, the mainland is committed to applying the new development philosophy, creating a new development dynamic, and promoting high-quality development. As a result, the overall strength and international influence of the mainland will continue to increase, and its influence over and appeal to Taiwan society will keep growing. We will have a more solid foundation for resolving the Taiwan question and greater ability to do so. This will give a significant boost to national reunification.

3. Any Attempt by Separatist Forces to Prevent Reunification Is Bound to Fail

Taiwan has been an integral part of China's territory since ancient times. Moves to separate Taiwan from China represent the serious crime of secession, and undermine the common interests of compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits and the fundamental interests of the Chinese nation. They will lead nowhere.

The DPP authorities have adopted a separatist stance, and colluded with external forces in successive provocative actions designed to divide the country. They refuse to recognize the one-China principle, and distort and deny the 1992 Consensus. They assert that Taiwan and the mainland should not be subordinate to each other, and proclaim a new "two states" theory. On the island, they constantly press for "de-sinicization" and promote "incremental independence". They incite radical separatists in and outside the DPP to lobby for amendments to their "constitution" and "laws". They deceive the people of Taiwan, incite hostility against the mainland, and obstruct and undermine cross-Straits exchanges, cooperation and integrated development. They have steadily built up their military forces with the intention of pursuing "independence" and preventing reunification by force. They join with external forces in trying to sow the seeds of "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan". The actions of the DPP authorities have resulted in tension in cross-Straits relations, endangering peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits, and undermining the prospects and restricting the space for peaceful reunification. These are obstacles that must be removed in advancing the process of peaceful reunification.

Taiwan belongs to all the Chinese people, including the 23 million Taiwan compatriots. The Chinese people are firm in their resolve and have a deep commitment to safeguarding China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the fundamental interests of the Chinese nation, and this resolve and commitment will frustrate any attempt to divide the country. When Taiwan was invaded by a foreign power more than 100 years ago, China was a poor and weak country. More than 70 years ago, China defeated the invaders and recovered Taiwan. Today, China has grown into the world's second largest economy. With significant growth in its political, economic, cultural, technological, and military strength, there is no likelihood that China will allow Taiwan to be separated again. Attempts to reject reunification and split the country are doomed, because they will founder against the history and culture of the Chinese nation as well as the resolve and commitment of more than 1.4 billion Chinese people.

4. External Forces Obstructing China's Complete Reunification Will Surely Be Defeated

External interference is a prominent obstacle to China's reunification. Still lost in delusions of hegemony and trapped in a Cold War mindset, some forces in the US insist on perceiving and portraying China as a major strategic adversary and a serious long-term threat. They do their utmost to undermine and pressurize China, exploiting Taiwan as a convenient tool. The US authorities have stated that they remain committed to the one-China policy and that they do not support "Taiwan independence". But their actions contradict their words. They are clouding the one-China principle in uncertainty and compromising its integrity. They are contriving "official" exchanges with Taiwan, increasing arms sales, and colluding in military provocation. To help Taiwan expand its "international space", they are inducing other countries to interfere in Taiwan affairs, and concocting Taiwan-related bills that infringe upon the sovereignty of China. They are creating confusion around what is black and white, right and wrong. On the one hand, they incite separatist forces to create tension and turmoil in cross-Straits relations. On the other hand, they accuse the mainland of coercion, pressurizing Taiwan, and unilaterally changing the status quo, in order to embolden these forces and create obstacles to China's peaceful reunification.

The important principles of respecting state sovereignty and territorial integrity as enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations are the cornerstones of modern international law and basic norms of international relations. It is the sacred right of every sovereign state to safeguard national unity and territorial integrity. It goes without saying that the Chinese government is entitled to take all measures necessary to settle the Taiwan question and achieve national reunification, free of external interference.

Behind the smokescreens of "freedom, democracy, and human rights" and "upholding the rules-based international order", some anti-China forces in the US deliberately distort the nature of the Taiwan question - which is purely an internal matter for China - and try to deny the legitimacy and justification of the Chinese government in safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity. This clearly reveals their intention of using Taiwan to contain China and obstruct China's reunification, which should be thoroughly exposed and condemned.

These external forces are using Taiwan as a pawn to undermine China's development and progress, and obstruct the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. They are doing so at the cost of the interests, wellbeing and future of the people of Taiwan rather than for their benefit. They have encouraged and instigated provocative actions by the separatist forces; these have intensified cross-Straits tension and confrontation, and undermined peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region. This runs counter to the underlying global trends of peace, development and win-win cooperation, and goes against the wishes of the international community and the aspiration of all peoples.

Shortly after the PRC was founded, even though the country itself had to be rebuilt on the ruins of decades of war, China and its people won a resounding victory in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-1953). We defeated a powerful and well-armed enemy through gallantry and tenacity. In doing so, we safeguarded the security of the newly founded People's Republic, reestablished the status of China as a major country in the world, and demonstrated our heroic spirit, our lack of fear, and our will to stand up against the abuse of the powerful.

China is firmly committed to peaceful development. At the same time, it will not flinch under any external interference, nor will it tolerate any infringement upon its sovereignty, security and development interests. Relying on external forces will achieve nothing for Taiwan's separatists, and using Taiwan to contain China is doomed to fail.

Tranquility, development and a decent life are the expectations of our Taiwan compatriots, and the common aspiration of those on both sides of the Taiwan Straits. Under the strong leadership of the CPC, the Chinese people and the Chinese nation have stood upright, won prosperity, and grown in strength. A moderately prosperous society in all respects has been built on the mainland, where a large population once lived in dire poverty. We now have better conditions, more confidence, and greater capabilities. We can complete the historic mission of national reunification, so that both sides of the Straits can enjoy a better life. The wheel of history rolls on towards national reunification, and it will not be stopped by any individual or any force.

IV. National Reunification in the New Era

Taking into consideration the overall goal of national rejuvenation in the context of global change on a scale unseen in a century, the CPC and the Chinese government have continued to follow the CPC's fundamental guidelines on the Taiwan question and implement its principles and policies towards Taiwan, and have made concrete efforts to promote peaceful cross-Straits relations, integrate the development of the two sides, and work towards national reunification.

1. Upholding the Basic Principles of Peaceful Reunification and One Country, Two Systems

National reunification by peaceful means is the first choice of the CPC and the Chinese government in resolving the Taiwan question, as it best serves the interests of the Chinese nation as a whole, including our compatriots in Taiwan, and it works best for the long-term stability and development of China. We have worked hard to overcome hardships and obstacles to peaceful reunification over the past decades, showing that we cherish and safeguard the greater good of the nation, the wellbeing of our compatriots in Taiwan, and peace on both sides.

The One Country, Two Systems principle is an important institutional instrument created by the CPC and the Chinese government to enable peaceful reunification. It represents a great achievement of Chinese socialism. Peaceful reunification and One Country, Two Systems are our basic principles for resolving the Taiwan question and the best approach to realizing national reunification. Embodying the Chinese wisdom - we thrive by embracing each other - they take full account of Taiwan's realities and are conducive to long-term stability in Taiwan after reunification.

We maintain that after peaceful reunification, Taiwan may continue its current social system and enjoy a high degree of autonomy in accordance with the law. The two social systems will develop side by side for a long time to come. One Country is the precondition and foundation of Two Systems; Two Systems is subordinate to and derives from One Country; and the two are integrated under the one-China principle.

We will continue working with our compatriots in Taiwan to explore a Two Systems solution to the Taiwan question and increase our efforts towards peaceful reunification. In designing the specifics for implementing One Country, Two Systems, we will give full consideration to the realities in Taiwan and the views and proposals from all walks of life on both sides, and fully accommodate the interests and sentiments of our compatriots in Taiwan.

Ever since the One Country, Two Systems principle was proposed, certain political forces have been misrepresenting and distorting its objectives. The DPP and the authorities under its leadership have done everything possible to target the principle with baseless criticisms, and this has led to misunderstandings about its aims in some quarters of Taiwan. It is a fact that since Hong Kong and Macao returned to the motherland and were reincorporated into national governance, they have embarked on a broad path of shared development together with the mainland, and each complements the others' strengths. The practice of One Country, Two Systems has been a resounding success.

For a time, Hong Kong faced a period of damaging social unrest caused by anti-China agitators both inside and outside the region. Based on a clear understanding of the situation there, the CPC and the Chinese government upheld the One Country, Two Systems principle, made some appropriate improvements, and took a series of measures that addressed both the symptoms and root causes of the unrest. Order was restored and prosperity returned to Hong Kong. This has laid a solid foundation for the law-based governance of Hong Kong and Macao and the long-term continuation of One Country, Two Systems.

To realize peaceful reunification, we must acknowledge that the mainland and Taiwan have their own distinct social systems and ideologies. The One Country, Two Systems principle is the most inclusive solution to this problem. It is an approach that is grounded in democratic principles, demonstrates good will, seeks peaceful resolution of the Taiwan question, and delivers mutual benefit. The differences in social system are neither an obstacle to reunification nor a justification for secessionism. We firmly believe that our compatriots in Taiwan will develop a better understanding of the principle, and that the Two Systems solution to the Taiwan question will play its full role while compatriots on both sides work together towards peaceful reunification.

Peaceful reunification can only be achieved through consultation and discussion as equals. The long-standing political differences between the two sides are the fundamental obstacles to the steady improvement of cross-Straits relations, but we should not allow this problem to be passed down from one generation to the next. We can phase in flexible forms of consultation and discussion. We are ready to engage with all parties, groups, or individuals in Taiwan in a broad exchange of views aimed at resolving the political differences between the two sides based on the one-China principle and the 1992 Consensus. Representatives will be recommended by all political parties and all sectors of society on both sides, and they will engage in democratic consultations on peaceful development of cross-Straits relations, integrated development of the two sides, and the peaceful reunification of our country.

2. Promoting Peaceful Cross-Straits Relations and Integrated Development

Peaceful cross-Straits relations and integrated development pave the way for reunification and serve to benefit our people on both sides. Thus, both sides should work together towards this goal. We will extend integrated development, increase exchanges and cooperation, strengthen bonds, and expand common interests in the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations. In this way, we will all identify more closely with the Chinese culture and Chinese nation, and heighten the sense of our shared future. This lays solid foundations for peaceful reunification.

We will explore an innovative approach to integrated development and take the lead in setting up a pilot zone for integrated cross-Straits development in Fujian Province, advancing integration through better connectivity and more preferential policies, and based on mutual trust and understanding. Both sides should continue to promote connectivity in any area where it is beneficial, including trade and economic cooperation, infrastructure, energy and resources, and industrial standards. We should promote cooperation in culture, education, and health care, and the sharing of social security and public resources. We should support neighboring areas or areas with similar conditions on the two sides in providing equal, universal, and accessible public services. We should take active steps to institutionalize cross-Straits economic cooperation and create a common market for the two sides to strengthen the Chinese economy.

We will improve the systems and policies to guarantee the wellbeing of Taiwan compatriots and ensure that they are treated as equals on the mainland, and we will protect their legitimate rights and interests here in accordance with the law. We will support our fellow Chinese and enterprises from Taiwan in participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, major regional development strategies, and the strategy for coordinated regional development. We will help them integrate into the new development dynamic, participate in high-quality development, share in more development opportunities, and benefit from national socio-economic development.

We will expand cross-Straits exchanges and cooperation in various fields and overcome any obstacles and obstruction. We will encourage our people on both sides to pass on the best of traditional Chinese culture and ensure that it grows in new and creative ways. We will strengthen communication among the general public and the younger generations on both sides, and encourage more fellow Chinese in Taiwan - young people in particular - to pursue studies, start businesses, seek jobs, or live on the mainland. This will help people on both sides to expand mutual understanding, strengthen mutual trust, consolidate a shared sense of identity, and forge closer bonds of heart and mind.

3. Defeating Separatism and External Interference

Separatism will plunge Taiwan into the abyss and bring nothing but disaster to the island. To protect the interests of the Chinese nation as a whole, including our compatriots in Taiwan, we must resolutely oppose it and work for peaceful reunification. We are ready to create vast space for peaceful reunification; but we will leave no room for separatist activities in any form.

We Chinese will decide our own affairs. The Taiwan question is an internal affair that involves China's core interests and the Chinese people's national sentiments, and no external interference will be tolerated. Any attempt to use the Taiwan question as a pretext to interfere in China's internal affairs or obstruct China's reunification will meet with the resolute opposition of the Chinese people, including our compatriots in Taiwan. No one should underestimate our resolve, will and ability to defend China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

We will work with the greatest sincerity and exert our utmost efforts to achieve peaceful reunification. But we will not renounce the use of force, and we reserve the option of taking all necessary measures. This is to guard against external interference and all separatist activities. In no way does it target our fellow Chinese in Taiwan. Use of force would be the last resort taken under compelling circumstances. We will only be forced to take drastic measures to respond to the provocation of separatist elements or external forces should they ever cross our red lines.

We will always be ready to respond with the use of force or other necessary means to interference by external forces or radical action by separatist elements. Our ultimate goal is to ensure the prospects of China's peaceful reunification and advance this process.

Some forces in the US are making every effort to incite groups inside Taiwan to stir up trouble and use Taiwan as a pawn against China. This has jeopardized peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits, obstructed the Chinese government's efforts towards peaceful reunification, and undermined the healthy and steady development of China-US relations. Left unchecked, it will continue to escalate tension across the Straits, further disrupt China-US relations, and severely damage the interests of the US itself. The US should abide by the one-China principle, deal with Taiwan-related issues in a prudent and proper manner, stand by its previous commitments, and stop supporting Taiwan separatists.

4. Working with Our Fellow Chinese in Taiwan Towards National Reunification and Rejuvenation

National reunification is an essential step towards national rejuvenation. The future of Taiwan lies in China's reunification, and the wellbeing of the people in Taiwan hinges on the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, an endeavor that bears on the future and destiny of the people on both sides. A united and prosperous China will be a blessing for all Chinese, while a weak and divided China will be a disaster. Only China's rejuvenation and prosperity can bring lives of plenty and happiness to both sides. But it requires the joint efforts of both sides, as does the complete reunification of the country.

Separatist propaganda and the unresolved political dispute between the two sides have created misconceptions over cross-Straits relations, problems with national identity, and misgivings over national reunification among some fellow Chinese in Taiwan. Blood is thicker than water, and people on both sides of the Straits share the bond of kinship. We have great patience and tolerance and we will create conditions for closer exchanges and communication between the two sides, and to increase our compatriots' knowledge of the mainland and reduce these misconceptions and misgivings, in order to help them resist the manipulation of separatists.

We will join hands with our fellow Chinese in Taiwan to strive for national reunification and rejuvenation. We hope they will stand on the right side of history, be proud of their Chinese identity, and fully consider the position and role of Taiwan in China's rejuvenation. We hope they will pursue the greater good of the nation, resolutely oppose separatism and any form of external interference, and make a positive contribution to the just cause of China's peaceful reunification.

V. Bright Prospects for Peaceful Reunification

Once peaceful reunification is achieved under One Country, Two Systems, it will lay new foundations for China to make further progress and achieve national rejuvenation. At the same time, it will create huge opportunities for social and economic development in Taiwan and bring tangible benefits to the people of Taiwan.

1. Taiwan Will Have a Vast Space for Development

Taiwan boasts a high level of economic growth, industries with distinctive local features, and robust foreign trade. Its economy is highly complementary with that of the mainland. After reunification, the systems and mechanisms for cross-Straits economic cooperation will be further improved. Backed up by the vast mainland market, Taiwan's economy will enjoy broader prospects, become more competitive, develop steadier and smoother industrial and supply chains, and display greater vitality in innovation-driven growth. Many problems that have long afflicted Taiwan's economy and its people can be resolved through integrated cross-Straits development with all possible connectivity between the two sides. Taiwan's fiscal revenues can be better employed to improve living standards, bringing real benefits to the people and resolving their difficulties.

Taiwan's cultural creativity will also enjoy a great boost. Both sides of the Taiwan Straits share the culture and ethos of the Chinese nation. Nourished by the Chinese civilization, Taiwan's regional culture will flourish and prosper.

2. The Rights and Interests of the People in Taiwan Will Be Fully Protected

Provided that China's sovereignty, security and development interests are guaranteed, after reunification Taiwan will enjoy a high degree of autonomy as a special administrative region. Taiwan's social system and its way of life will be fully respected, and the private property, religious beliefs, and lawful rights and interests of the people in Taiwan will be fully protected. All Taiwan compatriots who support reunification of the country and rejuvenation of the nation will be the masters of the region, contributing to and benefitting from China's development. With a powerful motherland in support, the people of Taiwan will enjoy greater security and dignity and stand upright and rock-solid in the international community.

3. Both Sides of the Taiwan Straits Will Share the Triumph of National Rejuvenation

The people of Taiwan are brave, diligent and patriotic, and have made unremitting efforts to improve themselves. They revere their ancestry and love their homeland. Working together and applying their talents, people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits will create a promising future. After reunification, we Chinese will bridge gaps and differences caused by long-term separation, share a stronger sense of national identity, and stand together as one. After reunification, we can leverage complementary strengths in pursuit of mutual benefit and common development. After reunification, we can join hands to make the Chinese nation stronger and more prosperous, and stand taller among all the nations of the world.

The people separated by the Taiwan Straits share the same blood and a common destiny. After reunification, China will have greater international influence and appeal, and a stronger ability to shape international public opinion, and the Chinese people will enjoy greater self-esteem, self-confidence and national pride. In Taiwan and on the mainland the people will share the dignity and triumph of a united China and be proud of being Chinese. We will work together to refine and implement the Two Systems solution to the Taiwan question, to improve the institutional arrangements for implementing the One Country, Two Systems policy, and to ensure lasting peace and stability in Taiwan.

4. Peaceful Reunification of China Is Conducive to Peace and Development in the Asia-Pacific and the Wider World

Peaceful cross-Straits reunification is of benefit not only to the Chinese nation, but to all peoples and the international community as a whole. The reunification of China will not harm the legitimate interests of any other country, including any economic interests they might have in Taiwan. On the contrary, it will bring more development opportunities to all countries; it will create more positive momentum for prosperity and stability in the Asia-Pacific and the rest of the world; it will contribute more to building a global community of shared future, promoting world peace and development, and propelling human progress.

After reunification, foreign countries can continue to develop economic and cultural relations with Taiwan. With the approval of the central government of China, they may set up consulates or other official and quasi-official institutions in Taiwan, international organizations and agencies may establish offices, relevant international conventions can be applied, and relevant international conferences can be held there.

Conclusion

Over its 5,000-year history, China has created a splendid culture that has shone throughout the world from past times to present, and has made an enormous contribution to human society. After a century of suffering and hardship, the nation has overcome humiliation, emerged from backwardness, and embraced boundless development opportunities. Now, it is striding towards the goal of national rejuvenation.

Embarking on a new journey in a new era, the CPC and the Chinese government will continue to rally compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, and lead the efforts to answer the call of the times, shoulder historic responsibilities, grasp our fate and our future in our own hands, and work hard to achieve national reunification and rejuvenation.

The journey ahead cannot be all smooth sailing. However, as long as we Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Straits devote our ingenuity and energy to the same goal, let there be no doubt - we will tolerate no foreign interference in Taiwan, we will thwart any attempt to divide our country, and we will combine as a mighty force for national reunification and rejuvenation. The historic goal of reuniting our motherland must be realized and will be realized.

Notes at link

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202208/ ... 71619.html
"There is great chaos under heaven; the situation is excellent."

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