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Taiwan reports large incursion by Chinese air force

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By Ben Blanchard

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Well, that did not take long. We have been warned for a long time that a Biden government would not stand up to CCP aggression.

My heart goes out for Taiwan. What will Biden do if and when Xi begins a naval blockade of Taiwan? Without outside help, Taiwan can only last so long.

-7 ( +14 / -21 )

the WAR begins!

-11 ( +6 / -17 )

China is obviously encouraged by the news of the new Biden administration:

Taiwan recorded no fewer than 13 incursions by Chinese military planes into its air defense identification zone (ADIZ) in a single day Saturday (Jan. 23), the most of any such incidents within one day so far this year.

According to CNA, one Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft, four J-16 fighter jets and eight H-6K bombers ventured into Taiwan's ADIZ during the day.

Earlier, the Liberty Times reported that Taiwan’s Air Force scrambled a total of 26 jets between 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. to counter seven incursions, which all occurred in the southwest corner of the ADIZ, the Liberty Times reported.

My impression is that China is simply waiting for the US military to be committed to war with Iran before it strikes. Although I expect if there is another eight years of institutional rot, as there was under Obama, that might be sufficient so that the PLA feels a middle east distraction is not even necessary. The US military is already half of the way to full paper tiger status as it is.

Don't forget that Taiwan now has its first female president, Tsai Ing-wen. The Taiwanese better hope she is more Margaret Thatcher than Angela Merkel.

-4 ( +14 / -18 )

That's it. No '22 Winter Olympics for you!

13 ( +19 / -6 )

Well, that did not take long. We have been warned for a long time that a Biden government would not stand up to CCP aggression.

Childish partisanship. Did you see what happened to HK on Trump’s watch?

China was throwing its weight around long before Trump came along, did it while he was in office and will continue to do it on Biden’s watch.

This has been going on for decades.

14 ( +23 / -9 )

Outrageous behaviour by the commies. Back off, China, and leave free Taiwan alone. Taiwan - the entire free world is right behind you.

You said that about Hong Kong.

I think you said that the great world leaders ‘Abe-san’, ‘Aso-sensei’, ‘President Trump’ and ‘Michael Pence’ wouldn’t put up with China’s bellicosity. Three of these luminaries are out of power.

Aso-sensei last man standing. Maybe he’ll give them a serious crooked frown.

The pathetic whimper from outside regarding HK convinces me more if the view that the US and its junior partners are willing to cede hegemony in this region to China.

Taiwan is just a matter of time.

1 ( +12 / -11 )

From the time Biden won the democrat nomination to being elected president is in fact a very short time..

Nice narrative..no mention that Biden was VP for 8 years..and as such should know exactly what needs to be done..but the left/Biden policy is multilateralism.. America First has been kicked out..this is just the start..nation after nation will now get more and more assertive.

-8 ( +5 / -13 )

P. Smith

Well, that did not take long. We have been warned for a long time that a Biden government would not stand up to CCP aggression. 

Warned by hyper partisan hacks, not by actual experts.

Well, the hyper partisan hacks were right, and your unbiased talking heads in the mainstream media were wrong. So what do you make of that?

-10 ( +5 / -15 )

The democratic party is crap. But at least they might try to stand up to the CCP in a way more significant than Trump's weak-sauce "pass-tax-onto-americans" approach. The Republican party bailed on Taiwan long ago in favor of cheap products... same with Japan and Europe. The pity is, while Taiwan is all that is good left in the governance of China and democracy and the CCP is possibly the most evil entity in the world, Taiwan's failure to declare independence is lame. Worse than Scotland's.

5 ( +10 / -5 )

Jimizo

Childish partisanship. Did you see what happened to HK on Trump’s watch?

There was nothing Trump could have done to prevent the HK takeover, except signing the HK democracy act, which he did (against the predictions of a lot of Trump haters here).

Taiwan is a different story. Taiwan is viable as long as it has open sea lanes and trade. Trump approved arms sales to Taiwan and normalized relations with Taiwan just recently. Under the new swamp government you can see all that go down the drain again. Caving to the CCP is so much more profitable for some!

-9 ( +6 / -15 )

Well, that did not take long. We have been warned for a long time that a Biden government would not stand up to CCP aggression.

It didn’t take long because it hasn’t happened yet outside of your imagination.

I did read the US response however, where they affirmed support for Taiwan and urged China to knock it off. It’s in the article above in case you missed it.

Other than that, what didn’t take long? Biden not standing up to China?

You want him starting a war within 24 hours? Making up nicknames for Xi? What do you think should be done? Eager for war? That was a quick turnaround.

6 ( +9 / -3 )

Xi is a dangerous megalomaniac and if he is not quickly removed from office and power he will have his war. He has been provoking Taiwan, Japan, India and of course is now occupying HK.

he pushes a bit harder everytime, more aircraft to Taiwan, guns on coast guard ships against Japan and others

He must be stopped now

3 ( +8 / -5 )

Taiwan should just blow them out of the sky.

3 ( +8 / -5 )

WilliBToday  02:00 pm JST

Well, that did not take long. We have been warned for a long time that a Biden government would not stand up to CCP aggression.

Yes we have been warned for a long time by Trump supporters eager to say anything to keep their boy in office. Let's think about this shall we?

5 ( +9 / -4 )

OssanAmerica

Yes we have been warned for a long time by Trump supporters eager to say anything to keep their boy in office. Let's think about this shall we?

Well, those "Trump supporters" were shown to be correct. So what do think about that?

-10 ( +3 / -13 )

The time has come for Taiwan to amend it's constutution and divorce itself from "The Republic of China". If it wants to survive it needs to redefine itself as "The Republic of Taiwan", apply for UN membership and sign strategic alliances with the US and allies.

The only way the Chinese dictatorship will stand down from taking Taiwan is if the price to pay to achieve that goal is too high. Taiwan is not Hong Kong, it is not attached to mainland China.

8 ( +12 / -4 )

Well, those "Trump supporters" were shown to be correct. So what do think about that?

Correct about what? Biden being weak on China? It’s been 24 hours.

In that time the US (Biden’s US) have already announced their ongoing support for Taiwan and urged China to stop. This is all in the article conveniently placed above or in the press statement from the US State Department if you don’t want to read any mass media news.

I thought you were against starting wars.

7 ( +9 / -2 )

Midnight Sun

The democratic party is crap. But at least they might try to stand up to the CCP in a way more significant than Trump's weak-sauce "pass-tax-onto-americans" approach.

World upside down very much??

Stand by for the Biden swamp to remove the tariffs and invite the CCP back into business as normal. He already started (on day 2) by inviting CCP affiliated companies back to contracts related to the US national power grid, where they were banned by Trump. Did not take long, and you won´t have wait long for more.

-8 ( +4 / -12 )

My impression is that China is simply waiting for the US military to be committed to war with Iran before it strikes. 

So THAT'S why Trump was being so antagonistic with Iran. Oh it's all so clear now.

10 ( +10 / -0 )

Zaphod,

Trump and his supporting Republican party have expressly supported the CCP, Putin, and North Korea. Not much to write about there. Not quite sure what you are talking about "swamp-wise" ... Trump-based nepotism, pardoning of felons lying about his Russian control, etc... sounds pretty swampy to me. Biden and the democrats suffer from an unwillingness to wield power when granted it. They get it, they apologize, and then they fritter it away. Disgusting. The democrats are weak apologists. The trumpettes and Republicans want nothing less than fascism. Like christians, communists, muslims or neo-NAZIs. Pay attention. The CCP is evil, Putin is evil, dictators are evil, people who lie about democratic elections are evil. Your party does not matter. Europe, America, and Japan have underwritten the evil that is the CCP or Putin. Deal with it.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Biden would live up to US treaty commitments and send help.

The US has no treaty obligations requiring it to defend Taiwan. On the contrary, since 1979 the US has acknowledged that legal sovereignty over Taiwan rests with the PRC.

For over 40 years China has been asked (and threatened) not to exercise this sovereignty to avoid inflaming the situation, and they've obliged. But how much longer are they supposed to wait to take possession of territory which even the US admits rightly belongs to them? 50 years? 100 years? Imagine if the entire international community recognised US sovereignty over Puerto Rico but demanded that the US government and military should never set foot on the island. It would be absurd. The Chinese despise us for our hypocrisy, and unfortunately they're not wrong.

-2 ( +3 / -5 )

There is an expression over here.....you attract more flies with honey than you do with vinegar. There is probably a similar expression in Chinese.

Seems to me that if mainland China were a democratic paradise, Taiwan would be asking to re-unite with them. The way things stand now, China's lack of personal freedom is a real turnoff.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

It's obvious China waited for Trump's departure, now it is testing Biden's reaction. Let's see what the reaction will be.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

P. Smith

Any evidence to support this other than this article?

Evidence for what? That the CCP is already testing the waters just 2 days after the swamp takes back the government?

Expect much more of such provocations to come from now, and better hope (against all indications) that the Biden regime will protect Taiwan.

-2 ( +4 / -6 )

hope (against all indications) that the Biden regime will protect Taiwan.

There is a clear statement in the above article that they will.

Give us 2 or 3 ‘indications’ to the contrary, just to get started.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

The Republican party bailed on Taiwan long ago in favor of cheap products... same with Japan and Europe.

Sad but it is the reality. The Republicans made their bed, and now the rest of the world has to sleep in it. Abandoning the fight against Communists in China's Civil War, not lifting the China embargo after the Korean war, abandoning Taiwan in 1972 and 1979, selling out American workers to China, waging war over weapons of mass destruction while neglecting Asia, and blaming 5 decades of failed policy on less than 1 decade of the Obama administration are what have been sown.

We have to face the fact that the US and its ghetto (not inner city) foreign policy has failed. We don't let food into the country so when when famine strikes and their silos are empty, we can point and say look at the evil communists and their failed policies, they kill their own people.

The western economic warfare against China was aimed at causing problems in its economy, hoping for a collapse of communist China. This economic warfare caused China tremendous hardships, but the embargoes and trade restrictions are not well known and their effects denied. Instead it is evil Mao - wash rinse repeat - evil Hussein, evil Kim, and the evil CCP: they are evil, but let's invest in them so we can make some money.

"We urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic, and economic pressure against Taiwan and instead engage in meaningful dialogue with Taiwan's democratically elected representatives," State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.

This means we want to continue to invest in China but I have to say what I have to say.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

The time has come for Taiwan to amend it's constutution and divorce itself from "The Republic of China". If it wants to survive it needs to redefine itself as "The Republic of Taiwan", apply for UN membership and sign strategic alliances with the US and allies.

I generally agree, but it has to be a decision of the people of Taiwan. I worry about any moves that may be initiated by the US or other countries that don't have the full support of Taiwan. I'm thinking of things more of an anti-China than a pro-Taiwan nature. After all, it is the people of Taiwan that will bear the consequences.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

albaleo

I generally agree, but it has to be a decision of the people of Taiwan. I worry about any moves that may be initiated by the US or other countries that don't have the full support of Taiwan.

Taiwan already gave up the claim to represent mainland China, while mainland China continues to claim Taiwan as its territory.

About the US, the Biden govt is clearly on the side of the CCP and not Taiwan, so lets hope Taiwan survives. It is going to be a bad time.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Biden will get pressured to take some action that China doesn't like with Taiwanese consultations.

Forcing down Chinese aircraft onto Taiwan, holding the crew for weeks - perhaps 11 days - and going through all the information gathering those aircraft capture would be sufficient?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hainan_Island_incident

To get China's attention, everything they do is on the table. Isolating them in international sports would be a good first step. Take away all international competitions schedule for China, keeping up the Trump economic pressures, and getting more US companies to end business contacts in China would be the minimum.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

theFu

To get China's attention, everything they do is on the table. Isolating them in international sports would be a good first step. Take away all international competitions schedule for China, keeping up the Trump economic pressures, and getting more US companies to end business contacts in China would be the minimum.

Alas, with the current government all that is off the table. The neolib/neocon establishment wants to go back to "business as usual" with the CCP, so the future looks bleak for Taiwan.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

To get China's attention, everything they do is on the table. Isolating them in international sports would be a good first step. Take away all international competitions schedule for China, keeping up the Trump economic pressures, and getting more US companies to end business contacts in China would be the minimum.

I don't agree. Actions such as those will affect everyday people in China who I imagine are no different from the rest of us. Why make such people angry?

Is it not better for a clear statement from powerful countries that the right to independence is a fundamental right of any place that so wishes it, and that right will be defended strongly? Sadly, I fear many powerful countries are not willing to fully support that right.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

China should be careful. The US, Australia, EU and Brazil could starve them. China relies on the US and Brazil for soy, and the US, Australia and EU for wheat. The west could cripple China if it chose to. Australia and Brazil acting together could cripple Chinese industry by starving them of raw materials. Xi has made enemies out of former friends. He may push his luck to far and suffer.

And yes the US would go to war to defend China. Support for Taiwan is unequivocal on both sides of the isle. Did you happen to notice that for the first time ever the de-facto Taiwanese ambassador was invited to and attended Mr. Biden's inauguration?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

About the US, the Biden govt is clearly on the side of the CCP and not Taiwan

I guess that explains why Mr. Biden invited the de-facto ambassador from Taiwan to his inauguration. No other President before Mr. Biden has extended an invitation to Taiwan.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Well lets see if Biden has a set.

The next day the USS Theodore Roosevelt strike group sailed through the Taiwan Straits and conducted air operations just off the coast of mainland China. I guess you failed to take note of this.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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