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The Taiwan Strait is a major shipping route accounting for something to the tune of 60%+ of all international marine shipping. Taiwan is also the largest semiconductor manufacturer, and produces the bulk of the top tier semiconductor chips. US is trying to build up some sizable semiconductor manufacturing capacity in Arizona, but that is going to take time -- quite a bit of time, if you ask me, easily in the range of 10+ years to have a mature and stable manufacturing capacity, 5+ years for the factories to come online. So at this point, if the US were to lose Taiwan to Communist China, it pretty much has to hand over its World Leader title to China, so it really has no choice but to come out and defend Taiwan. For the rest of the Western World, if Taiwan is lost to China, they would have to submit themselves to China and its ridiculous wishes as well. So I hope they would really come to their senses and put up a united front with the US against China now, not 5 years later when shxt start hitting the fan.
Currently, China does not have the capacity to invade Taiwan yet. But various news reports are suggesting that they plan to do so, or would at least have the capacity to do so in 5 - 6 years. That 5 - 6 year time frame also coincides with Emperor Xi getting old -- he is currently 68 now, and there is no doubt in my mind that Xi is infatuated with the grand dream of uniting the One Great China. As people get old, they increasingly lose their mental capacity, esp temper and self control. All of that adds up to a dangerous combination where Xi might just be crazy enough to try something dumb. (As if he hasn't done enough dumb things thus far in his reign...)
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