Former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou told a Chinese official Thursday that Beijing and Taipei must do everything possible to avoid a war.
Ma met with Song Tao, the head of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Ma arrived in China on Monday, making him the first former or sitting Taiwanese leader to visit the mainland since Chiang Kai-shek and his Kuomintang (KMT) forces fled to Taiwan in 1949.
“The two sides must maintain exchanges, cooperate together, and do everything possible to avoid war and conflict,” Ma told Song.
According to Xinhua, Song said during the meeting that people in China and Taiwan should “resolutely oppose Taiwan independence separatist activities and interference from external forces, and jointly safeguard the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait.”
Ma’s bid to ease tensions across the Taiwan Strait comes ahead of another potential escalation as Taiwan’s current president, Tsai Ing-wen, is expected to meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in California on April 5.
Taiwan doesn’t expect China to react as intensely to the Tsai-McCarthy meeting as it did to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan, which sparked Beijing’s largest-ever military drills around the island. But China has made clear it will respond in some way, and US military forces in the Asia Pacific are working under a heightened state of alert.
The White House has tried to portray Tsai’s travel as a “routine” trip as there is a precedent for Taiwanese leaders stopping in the US. But according to The Washington Post, Tsai’s planned meeting with McCarthy would make the House Speaker the highest-level US official to ever meet with a Taiwanese president on US soil.
Both Ma and Tsai’s travels preview the platforms their respective parties will run on concerning mainland China in the upcoming 2024 presidential elections. Ma’s Kuomintang party will likely run on reducing tensions with Beijing, while Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party will tout its stronger relations with Washington.
Freedom of navigation in the South CHINA sea is “routine?”
Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan is “routine?” Fomenting war is “routine?” The word “routine” is starting to trigger me. It’s even cutting into my “routine” diet. It’s already in my exercise “routine.” It triggers me just as much as the word “democratic” in the Taiwan Democratic Progressive Party or “democratic” in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). (Sarcasm alert)
A war between China / Taiwan is inevitable as long as the Americans continue to poke their noses where they are not wanted , it could come sooner than later as the Ukraine war winds down the Americans will up the anti with China , America is a war economy without wars they will be in deep trouble , and don`t forget what Alan Greenspan said about the Iraq war , it was mostly about OIL , again without cheep oil the US economy will tank.
Entirely relevant points JJ.
Self determination for Taiwan.The people of Hong Kong did not want to be part of China.Most people do not want to live in dictatorships.
That’s nonsense. Hong Kong was occupied by England. China ended that occupation of their land.
Yes, that is true. People need to kick out Anglo-American terrorists.
It isn’t the oil. It’s the petrodollar and that’s done already. Kremlin and Beijing mediated normalization of relations between Saudi and Syria and Saudi and Iran. Entire goal with imperial terrorism in Mideast was to keep it unstable and keep Eurasia as whole fragmented. The petrodollar (Fed dollar peg to oil) was what maintained imperial standards of living since Nixon shock. It is basically theft of resources and products from the entire world. The empire could print worthless paper and get real wealth in return. The KSA maintained the petrodollar standard and with them gone, there is nothing that can stop the collapse. Fed dollar will collapse and with it so-called “economy” in the empire. Inflation you’re seeing now is just a start. Fed is printing more money and all that worthless green paper will be flying home soon from all over the world.
Formosa would be better advised to not listen to us. Just do their own business.
“and interference from external forces”
Hint: It starts with a U and ends with an A.
Uganda?
Not bad for a landlocked country.
😉
Taiwan’s current president is going to meet with McCarthy?
McCarthy’s own team tried to prevent him from becoming speaker of the house.
I don’t think Taiwan has much to say about the ‘avoiding war’ part.
If China wants Taiwan back…that is that.
I believe that it is inevitable that Taiwan will become part of China again. The question is – peacefully or by force.
Though I think China is little threat to ‘conquer the world’. They are far too xenophobic for that.
They have shown a fierce desire to have all parts of ‘historical’ China, back with China.
The only reason they did not conquer Taiwan earlier is because they couldn’t.
But they are a patient people.
They – at their present rate – will within a few decades? Be able to easily, militarily overwhelm Taiwan…American help notwithstanding.
So, unless Taiwan develops nuclear weapons? Which seems highly unlikely that China would allow that?
Taiwan will have to agree to join back up with China. Or they will – eventually – be conquered by them.
Barring something unforeseen?
I see no other course forward for them.
Gave you an upvote, as I agreed with most of your points, with but a few caveats:
1) Chinese demographics constitutes a major issue, though not one that changes the overall outlook perhaps, but one that makes each decade sort of a double edged sword – at least economically. This would make it unlikely that the Chinese would want to postpone too much though.
2) The current Chinese dependence on exports to the US/EU/Western markets makes postponing a better idea, as their dependence on these markets grow weaker by each decade, but owing to point one they may be more vulnerable to this exposure by each passing decade.
Overall I think that the evidence supports an earlier rather than a later date, all the Chinese really are currently missing is as I see it the capacity to logistically support an invasion (i.e. transport ships) – these they could build within a decade (for sure).
The flip side of china’s dependence on exports is the west’s dependence on imports. War is always a disaster all around, but tanking the US/EU economies would be a nice perk for China right when we’d be looking to meddle in a huge way in Taiwan. That might burst western arrogance and hubris if anything can.
The main difference being that in the west we can and do regularly blame our administrations for getting us into trouble and exchange them at the ballot box – a vent not accessible for the Chinese. That said, yes a trade conflict with China would have much bigger consequences than the one with Russia has.
Actually the Chinese system of government is to pre select which candidates are allowed, so that the voting itself isn’t very important. The US system is completely different… In the way the acceptable candidates are pre selected.
So the Chinese system does not work very well as a vent, though hopefully not completely ineffectively either.
There is no preselection of candidates in e.g. Denmark, I know that there is in e.g. the UK and some other places, but in these places voting is also less effective as a vent for frustration.
Good points, imo.
And I forgot about Chinese trade.
And yes, they are growing less dependent on that trade. But it would hurt their economy to invade Taiwan now and feel the inevitable trade blockade from much of the West.
As for their ability to invade due to lack of transport ships?
They already have the capability to land roughly 30,000 combat troops with their present amphibious assault ships, in one wave. This is more than even the US Navy’s present capacity.
Most of these Chinese ships were built within the last 20 years. With more on the way – including five (of 8 total) the size of huge, US Wasp class ships.
And with the distance between China and Taiwan only about 120 miles? They could – potentially – land over 100,000 troops within days of the outset of hostilities.
I think the only thing the Chinese lack right now is the political will to begin the assault. And possibly, a greater military superiority before they start the operation. As they are building up their sea and air forces at an astounding rate. Far faster than America is. And the quality of these ships/planes seem to be of a reasonably, high order.
Additionally, though they are far out building America, militarily? The amazing (disturbing?) thing is that they are doing so whilst running a military budget that is a fraction of America’s.
Less than 1/2 of America’s (based on spending as a % of GDP).
https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/field/military-expenditures/country-comparison
The USA is in serious trouble. If she does not drastically cut government waste and leave the bloody economy alone – which has been (virtually) stagnating for 15 years? Her world hegemony will end within a few generations. Barring nothing unforeseen.
The only threat to peace in Asia is the Anglo-American empire. Nobody in the region is interested in war.
That’s very easy to do. Tell Anglo-American imperial scum to get out and stay away. Say it on the official level. Don’t be scared. Don’t try to play both sides because you will become another proxy war battle ground.
It should be done a tad more diplomatically than that, surely?…
No, get them out first. Washington filth knows it provokes the Chinese and they will continue to provoke until the war starts. Then these cowards will just run away and leave Taiwan to fight a war with China.