What does Taiwan gain out of this? Momentum in its independence movement.... check Bad economic ties with Mainland China ..... check Tsai becoming less popular due to bad economy It is high time for China to embrace Europe more.... Trump isn't interested so it seems
They each have faults, but not the same faults. I oppose trade with Russia because of their militarily aggressive, human rights oppressive leader. Fix those problems and I'm fine with trade with Russia.
So China essentially using its military to lay claim to nearly the entirety of the South China Sea does not count as military aggression? Nor does it count when they ignore international court rulings which overrule their claims? What Russia did with Crimea, the Chinese have done with the South China Sea. Instead of invading by land, the Chinese have invaded by sea.
China is guilty of recent military aggression. So is Russia. China is not currently propping up a middle eastern dictator who uses chemical weapons on their own people. Naming other bad international actors isn't really a reason to trade with Russia in it's current state. I'm not defending Chinese policies nor am I defending Saudi Arabia's. So it doesn't make sense to keep bringing them up.
China is not propping up the North Korean regime. Try again. The USA actually uses China to help keep North Korea in check as much as possible.
Not directly. They might collapse after their million man army invades S. Korea, and launches a nuke at somebody and then gets invaded and wiped out as a result. But outside of their aggression being held in check, they wouldn't collapse. It is true that China doesn't necessarily want N. Korea to collapse because of the massive amounts of under-nourished immigrants that would flood into China. But it isn't the same as propping them up the way that Russia is doing with Assad in Syria.
Where is the money and food they are sending them going? They are going directly. Your position here is insane.
Let's say I agreed with you that the money and food went to their govt. and kept them in power (which I don't.), it still wouldn't be the same as having military in the nation, sending airstrikes and taking part in combat to keep the regime in power, like Russia is doing in Syria. Saying the two situations are equivalent is what's insane.
I am saying this statement we are talking about. Is completely false. that is why I quoted it and said so.
No, it isn't completely false, and it's being generous to your point of view to say it's debatable. Either way, it is in no way the same as what Russia is doing in Syria, which is the point.
I'm aware that you hold this false position. The facts are that without the prc, the dprk would fall, which is literally what propping up means. I think you should never use that work on here again.
I agree that this was likely a mistake, and it is a bit troubling from that perspective. OTH, though, I do think Trump will be more aggressive with China than previous administrations. I do hope his staff and he think that through. While we are China's biggest market, and have a huge trade deficit with them, China is also a large and growing market for the U.S. Tons of opportunity for improving access to China, but also lots of opportunity to get cut out of China's growth. Personally, I think we are too lax with them....our trade with them IS completely unfair. They have largely unfettered access to the U.S., and we have a very difficult time getting access to China. Having good relations with China is not something to be discounted, though. They are a large Pacific empire that needs access to natural resources to continue growth. Hmmmm, nothing bad could possibly happen from that, could it? We've already had conflicts with them over access to oil. This should be kept in mind whenever the environmental impacts of our renewed oil production in the U.S. are brought up. There are major national security benefits of being more self sufficient in oil, and that's not even considering the Middle East (which we don't get that much oil from, fwiw).
I totally get your concern. But I think there is a positive to Trump's approach and stance as well. Take Russia, for example. They ARE becoming a much more prominent international player. Therefore, having improved relations with them has potential benefit. We need to be careful to not be played. I think Trump will indeed look at many of our relationships differently. Some of that will be good, but he needs to be careful because some of it might be bad, as well. International diplomace is very intertwined and complicated...everything you do has ramifications in many different places, and in ways one might not think are related. Plus, other countries have always taken a broader view of things than the U.S. has. China, for example, thinks of things evolving over centuries...we think of next week. Other countries are also well versed in playing the game...saying what they know we want to hear, while doing things on the backside in their own interests. Trump's Art of the Deal better be on its 'A' game all the time.
Sure it did, but I'm not getting the point you're making. Are you saying that because in the 50's China fought to help establish N. Korea that somehow now their military is also involved in N. Korea and making strikes against rebels fighting the N. Korean dictator?
Nothing changed between China's and Korea's relationship since the 50's? Are you serious? I don't know where to begin with that. China does want to keep Kim Jong Un in power, but their relationship isn't the same as it was in the 50's. They don't support the N. Korean nuclear tests, and make trading and giving supplies to N. Korea more difficult because of it.
