quote:

Originally posted by BillyBonesNY:

If China wants to disrupt trade with flexing military muscle that will very disruptive to the world economy, but equally so to themselves.

This China cannot afford.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
We're not playing a dangerous game, are we? Nope, not at all.

German chancellor doubles down, warns of 'consequences' if China sends arms to Russia

We need to ask ourselves if the Ukrainian conflict is worth the price we might end up paying, and I'm not talking about the waste of American taxpayer dollars and material.

I don't put much stock in threats from ineffectual NATO, but the Chinese are belligerent enough as it is, without NATO poking a finger in their chest. Our "world leaders" now in charge seem foolish enough to let matters get out of hand, and the empty posturing may lead to actual consequences which no one in authority can now fully anticipate. Vladimir Putin and the Chinese Communist Party are, by Western standards, not entirely sane, and we are playing with fire.

quote:

Originally posted by BillyBonesNY:
China is having tremendous internal problems and are codependent on the west’s economy.

Militarily, the only country that can project its power en-masse is the United States.

Frankly, the West is using the Ukraine to send a message to China not to mess with Taiwan (or to interfere).

If China wants to disrupt trade with flexing military muscle that will very disruptive to the world economy, but equally so to themselves.

This China cannot afford.

I am not underestimating China’s strengths… however this isn’t the Yalu River, human waves don’t work in an adversaries favor anymore.

Russians are learning that the quality of quantity doesn’t carry the same weight that it used to on the modern battlefield.

quote:

Chinese minister warns China, US on course for conflict
BEIJING (AP) — Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang warned Tuesday that Beijing and Washington are headed for “conflict and confrontation” if the U.S. doesn't change course, striking a combative tone at a moment when relations between the rivals are at a historic low.

In his first news conference since taking office late last year, Qin’s harsh language appeared to defy predictions that China might abandon its aggressive “wolf warrior” diplomacy in favor of more moderate rhetoric as the two countries face off over trade and technology, Taiwan, human rights and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Washington's China policy has “entirely deviated from the rational and sound track,” Qin told journalists on the sidelines of the annual meeting of China’s rubber-stamp legislature, when leaders lay out their economic and political priorities for the coming year.

“If the United States does not hit the brake, but continues to speed down the wrong path, no amount of guardrails can prevent derailing and there surely will be conflict and confrontation,” said Qin, whose new position is junior to the Communist Party’s senior foreign policy official, Wang Yi. “Such competition is a reckless gamble, with the stakes being the fundamental interests of the two peoples and even the future of humanity.”

Qin’s comments echoed remarks made by leader Xi Jinping in a speech Monday to legislators.

“Western countries led by the United States have implemented all-round containment, blockade and suppression of China, which has brought unprecedented grave challenges to our nation’s development,” Xi was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency.

In the face of that, China must “remain calm, maintain concentration, strive for progress while maintaining stability, take active actions, unite as one, and dare to fight,” he said.

U.S. officials have grown increasingly worried about China's expansive political and economic goals and the possibility of war over Taiwan — and many officials in Washington have called for the U.S. to make a bigger effort to counter Chinese influence abroad.

In recent weeks, concerns about Chinese spying on the U.S. and Beijing's influence campaigns there have drawn particular concern, and officials from the two countries have frequently traded accusations.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a planned visit to Beijing after Washington shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon that flew over American territory. The massive balloon and its payload, including electronics and optics, have been recovered from the ocean floor and are being analyzed by the FBI.

Then last week, China responded with indignation when U.S. officials raised the issue again of whether the COVID-19 pandemic began with a lab leak. The Foreign Ministry accused the U.S. of “politicizing the issue" in an attempt to discredit China.

And the two countries have traded angry words over Taiwan as China has stepped up its diplomatic isolation and military harassment of the self-governing island democracy that it claims as its own territory.

Qin — who briefly served as ambassador to Washington and gained a reputation for his cutting condemnations of China’s critics when he was Foreign Ministry spokesman — touched on all these topics on Tuesday.

He criticized Washington for shooting down the balloon, repeating claims that its appearance in U.S. skies was an accident.

“In this case the United States' perception and views of China are seriously distorted. It regards China as its primary rival and the most consequential geopolitical challenge," Qin said. “This is like the first button in a shirt being put wrong and the result is that the U.S.-China policy has entirely deviated from the rational and sound track."

On Taiwan, Qin called the issue the first red line that must not be crossed. China and Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949. While the U.S. does not advocate for either unification or Taiwan’s formal independence, Washington is obligated by federal law to see that the island has the means to defend itself if attacked.

“The U.S. has unshakable responsibility for causing the Taiwan question,” he said, accusing the U.S. of “disrespecting China's sovereignty and territorial integrity,” by offering the island political backing and furnishing it with defensive weapons in response to Beijing's threat to use force to bring it under Chinese control.

"Why does the U.S. ask China not to provide weapons to Russia, while it keeps selling arms to Taiwan?" Qin asked.

In Taipei, Taiwan's Defense Minister said the armed forces weren't seeking outright conflict with China's military, but nor would they back away in the event of Chinese aircraft or ships entering Taiwanese coastal seas or airspace.

“It is the nation’s armed forces’ duty to mount an appropriate response,” Chiu Kuo-cheng told legislators.

Beijing has also accused the West of “fanning the flames” by providing Ukraine with weaponry to fend off the Russian invasion. China says it has a neutral stance in the war, but has also said it has a “no-limits friendship” with Russia and has refused to criticize Moscow’s invasion — or even refer to it as an invasion.

A Chinese call for a cease-fire in Ukraine that has drawn praise from Russia but dismissals from the West has done nothing to lessen tensions as U.S. officials have repeatedly accused China of considering providing weapons to Moscow for use in the war.

“Efforts for peace talks have been repeatedly undermined. There seems to be an invisible hand pushing for the protraction and escalation of the conflict and using the Ukraine crisis to serve a certain geopolitical agenda,” Qin said.

Qin's news conference came two days after the opening of the yearly meeting of the National People's Congress, a mostly ceremonial body assembled to approve government reports and, this year, a new slate of top-level appointments. That is expected to include a norm-breaking third five-year term as president for Xi, who has eliminated all term limits to allow him to rule indefinitely.

quote:

Originally posted by IrishWind:
Does Ukraine have corruption issues. Sure. But so do we.

quote:

But taking an isolationist view about Ukraine and adopting a "What ever Biden is for, I'm against" attitude is exactly what China wants.

quote:

Originally posted by BansheeOne:
To be precise: some like to throw around "isolationist" like others here throw around "commies".

quote:

Originally posted by BansheeOne:
What is in one nation's interest is of course somewhat open to interpretation. As I see it, the US is acting as the biggest supporter of Ukraine to reaffirm and maintain its position as the Western lead nation...

quote:

Originally posted by Leemur:
Amen! With all the supposed intellectuals in Europe, you’d think they could figure it out without the help of us unwashed heathens.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
This is what it always come down to: America as the police of the Western world. Always.

In 1917, we were called upon to help Europe clean up its mess.

At the beginning of WWII, the United States was providing material aid to France and England, and when the Japanese attacked us in 1941, we were fighting a multi-theater war.

We halted the Russian advance in Europe. We developed and dropped bombs on Japan- a country which under any other circumstances would have continued to fight until half of their population was dead, and then we rebuilt that nation.

The French provided essential aid to the American colonies during the Revolutionary War and we have repaid that debt in full when American soldiers died invading France and marching across it to defeat the nation which had defeated it.

We became the cornerstone of NATO and held off the Soviets for 40 years with the doctrine of M.A.D.

The government and the people of the United States has done more than their share, and now Europe once again has a mess that needs to be cleaned up, and I and other Americans have had it with all of this. The past few decades have created the illusion that Europe is stable, but it's apparent at this point that Europe will, at not infrequent intervals, always have messes that need to be cleaned up. This time, let's see all the nations of Europe clean up this mess. America has tremendous problems of its own, which there is no need to outline; any conscious person- here or elsewhere- can see them.

The details of what I've outlined briefly can be nitpicked, but it all boils down to the same thing. European nations, do it yourself this time.

quote:

Here's a test question I like to ask Americans who complain about the disproportionate US and allied spending on joint security: To what level should American defense spending be reduced, and which capabilities and troop numbers should be cut so that US allies are forced to take up the slack?