@molotovinpeikko Disbanding NATO in 1992 would indeed have taken some work -- but giving it a new mission after communist tyranny fell wasn't work-free either. Hindsight, of course, is 20-20.
I care about Taiwan because the US has rather foolishly allowed its semi-conductor industry to offshore most of its production... almost all of which has moved to Taiwan. My concerns are economic -- if China invaded Taiwan and semi-conductor exports from Taiwan were to therefore fall, the US tech industry would get hurt immensely, and that's bad for our economy, which very much *is* something I care strongly about. China is not stupid enough to fight Taiwan on the basis that they'd lose their #1 export destination and therefore cripple the strong economy they've built which is the bedrock on the legitimacy Xi and the CCP has -- Beijing can justify its political repressiveness because the Chinese middle class has prospered greatly since Chairman Mao went straight to the pit of hell. Invading Taiwan would cause instability in the People's Republic, and as such the Chinese may sabre-rattle but will not risk doing anything. Ukraine's success so far of course has only given them more reason to think very, very thoroughly about any military moves against Taiwan.
Ukraine does not present the same economic threat to the US as Taiwan does if one gets invaded. It's a much more grave for Western Europe, which is why I feel they ought to lead and the US, if anything, should follow and stay quiet and in the background.
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@molotovinpeikko Disbanding NATO in 1992 would indeed have taken some work -- but giving it a new mission after communist tyranny fell wasn't work-free either. Hindsight, of course, is 20-20.
I care about Taiwan because the US has rather foolishly allowed its semi-conductor industry to offshore most of its production... almost all of which has moved to Taiwan. My concerns are economic -- if China invaded Taiwan and semi-conductor exports from Taiwan were to therefore fall, the US tech industry would get hurt immensely, and that's bad for our economy, which very much *is* something I care strongly about. China is not stupid enough to fight Taiwan on the basis that they'd lose their #1 export destination and therefore cripple the strong economy they've built which is the bedrock on the legitimacy Xi and the CCP has -- Beijing can justify its political repressiveness because the Chinese middle class has prospered greatly since Chairman Mao went straight to the pit of hell. Invading Taiwan would cause instability in the People's Republic, and as such the Chinese may sabre-rattle but will not risk doing anything. Ukraine's success so far of course has only given them more reason to think very, very thoroughly about any military moves against Taiwan.
Ukraine does not present the same economic threat to the US as Taiwan does if one gets invaded. It's a much more grave for Western Europe, which is why I feel they ought to lead and the US, if anything, should follow and stay quiet and in the background.