tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25740524.post1319428916611256070..comments2024-03-11T13:16:19.098-04:00Comments on Ad Orientem: China is looking to subdue TaiwanUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25740524.post-64673105238431294752020-12-12T10:33:00.639-05:002020-12-12T10:33:00.639-05:00I should have added, after Mongolia, and a little ...I should have added, after Mongolia, and a little facetiously, Tannu-Tuva.<br /><br />More seriously, Taiwan, if it were something like "The Republic of Taiwan," might be worthy of our support, but it, like the Communist regime, claims to be "China," no more and no less. That being the case, I don't see it as any business of ours to intervene if one of the parties to the conflict decides to "resolve" this suspended civil war.William Tighehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09043433059401608468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25740524.post-19117757721437727212020-12-11T21:07:51.728-05:002020-12-11T21:07:51.728-05:00Aside from some rare earth metals, there is nothin...Aside from some rare earth metals, there is nothing in Mongolia touching on US interests. John (Ad Orientem)https://www.blogger.com/profile/14329907942477160166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25740524.post-87964765114074369792020-12-11T21:04:04.199-05:002020-12-11T21:04:04.199-05:00After Taiwan, Mongolia?After Taiwan, Mongolia?William Tighehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09043433059401608468noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25740524.post-47281405787179002212020-12-11T19:59:30.639-05:002020-12-11T19:59:30.639-05:00Well there isn't much that can be done in the ...Well there isn't much that can be done in the immediate future. Trump is a lame duck president and he has strained relations with most of our allies (Israel being the glaring exception). But if I were advising the incoming administration, I would start right off by repairing the relationships with our allies. And I'd try to get an agreement to launch a coordinated campaign of gradually increasing economic pressure on China until they stop behaving like the neighborhood bully. That should be done discreetly to start, in order to allow Beijing to avoid any loss of face. But we need a broad agreement on how the rest of the developed world will react if China launches an invasion. That should include complete diplomatic and economic isolation, not excluding a global trade embargo. Nor should we go out of our way to try to keep these discussions super secret. Not that China wouldn't find out anyway. Their intelligence service is one of the world's best. But the object would partly be deterrence.<br /><br />Beyond that The US has already started refocusing its military and intelligence assets towards the western Pacific. That needs to continue. The Marines stationed in Okinawa should be brought back up to divisional strength and contingency plans should be made to deploy them rapidly to Taiwan if it looks like the balloon is about to go up. If we ever did that Beijing would blow a gasket so this should be filed under "extreme last resort" to deter an imminent invasion. I'd probably also talk to Tokyo and the Australians about the possibility of hosting another forward based carrier battle group. Beyond that we need to conduct periodic show the flag ops in the waters between the PRC and Taiwan. And in the course we could quietly chart the waters to prepare to rapidly deploy maritime mine fields if required.John (Ad Orientem)https://www.blogger.com/profile/14329907942477160166noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25740524.post-76974100064877453582020-12-11T18:31:20.200-05:002020-12-11T18:31:20.200-05:00You're the navy guy. What's the best cour...You're the navy guy. What's the best course of action?Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06614993047021893718noreply@blogger.com