Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory, and as of today, the Honduran government has informed Taiwan of the severance of diplomatic relations, pledging not to have any official relationship or contact with Taiwan.
Honduras ministry statement (March 2023)
It’s too bad that Democrats, who just knew Donald Trump was Adolf Hitler reincarnate, now just can’t say the same about Xi Jinping, China’s autarch. Look at the eerie similarities to 1939. The CCP abolished presidential term limits in 2018, and elected Xi to an unprecedented third term in March. Red China is rapidly militarizing, conducting ethnic cleansing (Uyghurs) and crushing freedom (Hong Kong). Xi tells audiences Taiwan is Chinese territory and he won’t be bullied by America.
No joke. Last year, the State Department wrote it “does not support Taiwan independence. There is but one China and Taiwan is part of China.” Biden went even further in his meeting with Xi (the so-called “five noes”): the US doesn’t seek to (1) change China’s system, (2) start a cold war, (3) contain China or impede its economic development, (4) strengthen alliances against China, or (5) support Taiwan independence and conflict with China.
Right or wrong, China does not view America as the lone super power. Easy to understand, based on how it’s changed in 30 years. In 1993, my bed in a deluxe hotel in Guangzhou had a mosquito net, 350-mile trip on dusty roads took all day, and dinner entree with a business-owning Peoples Army general was rotisserie cat. Today, China is thoroughly modern, with innovation and advanced-industry capabilities in absolute terms 139% of the US (source: ITIF).
If the CCP is too cocky for its own good, America is to blame. China’s economic rise began when Clinton allowed it to join the WTO. Bush and Obama did allow the transfer of factories and jobs. China knows it has arrived. Since 1993, its GDP is up from $444 billion to $17.7 trillion, exports have gone from $53 billion to $3.5 trillion, annual electricity production has risen from 432,000 GWh to 8,000,000 GWh, and car ownership has jumped from 5.5 million to 330 million.
Now, thanks to Biden, China has more military aircraft, satellites, soldiers, and warships than the US; inflating CCP egos way past mere over-confidence. If the diplomatic threats, displays of military force, and internal preparations for war weren’t bad enough, CNN just reported that “China and Russia have ‘the means to threaten our interests and our way of life’ – the first time the US is ‘facing two major nuclear powers.'”
The sheer numbers are scary, but central planning makes them more so. There is no political check on the CCP, and Xi Jinping has Mao-like control. He is at once a clearing house for what China knows about the world and what the world knows about China. He is the chief architect of “The Plan” to establish global economic and military hegemony. Such power makes men reckless, and such plans invite war. These winds of war come at a bad time for America.
Global hegemony begins with Xi’s plan for Taiwan; annexation sooner rather than later, a goal that was complicated in 2016, when Taiwan elected a pro-independence president, Tsai Ing-wen. It was further complicated last year in Tokyo, when President Biden said he was “willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan” (source: The Hill). Xi has since used diplomacy to isolate Taiwan and embarrass America on the world stage (e.g. the spy balloon).
Taiwan is now recognized by only 13 of the world’s 195 sovereign nations, because China has coerced the rest to cut diplomatic ties with the “rogue” island (including Honduras last week). Now, when China invades Taiwan, a majority of UN delegates can dismiss it as an “internal civil war” or “territorial dispute.” Losing allies is a big deal, and Xi – with an assist from Biden – is weakening the US with one diplomatic victory after another.
World leaders are clear-eyed, and Biden’s ham-handed diplomacy fools none. He accused Putin of war crimes, and Xi signed a “no-limits partnership” with Russia. Biden touts his Russia sanctions (that hurt the global economy), and Xi touts his peace plan for Ukraine (the only plan put forth to stop the killing). Biden’s alienated both Israel and Saudi Arabia, and Xi brought Islamic rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia together.
World leaders are self-serving, and Biden’s trade sanctions resulted in China buying Russian oil and gas at below-market prices, and Russia making China its leading trade partner (its #1 automobile imports are Chinese). Candidate Biden promised to “re-engage America” with the world, but the US wasn’t even in the room when Turkey brokered the Black Sea Grain Initiatives that provided global markets with 25 million metric tons of food from Ukraine.
Central bankers saw Biden “remake the US economy” by spending trillions on pet projects, creating runaway inflation and a $31.4 billion deficit. This forced the Fed to raise interest rates; thereby boosting the deficit by $2 trillion annually and triggering bank failures (see SVB). With the US on the hook for $700 billion to rebuild post-war Ukraine, the world is worried about the dollar. Already, the Saudis are discussing Yuan-based energy trades with Iran, and African leaders are listening to Putin’s pitch that Russia-Africa trade occur in Chinese Yuan.
Our allies saw Biden usher in an era of American weakness by “remaking the US military” to appease his wussified base, who want anti-racist training and vaccine mandates for the military, and don’t care if enlistment drops 25%. This is the same crowd that wants electric cars made with Chinese batteries. All the while, China’s military continues to probe Taiwan and measure the western response, so Xi can invade Taiwan at a time of his choosing.
Sadly for Taiwan, the Russia-Ukraine war is distracting America and depleting NATO weapon stocks. It’s a war Xi sees as a win-win for China. If Ukraine falls, Xi can invade Taiwan with Putin’s help. If Ukraine ends in stalemate, China can confront a financially and militarily weakened West. And, just as Hitler guessed a weak England wouldn’t defend the Czechs, Xi guesses a weakened US won’t defend the Taiwanese.
