Saturday, March 26, 2005
On the other hand
The Taiwanese clearly enjoy running their own affairs. I don't think I'd be too keen on giving up political control to Mexico or Europe.
One could have argued that it would have been better for India to avoid risk of harsh crackdowns and death by choosing not to confront British control of India. On the other hand, they did it in a smart way, choosing largely NOT to engage in military action and simply saying "we will not be ruled by you anymore" (Ghandi being an illustrative example). The minority cannot long overrule the will of the majority.
I guess what I'm worried about is that Taiwan will do something that will involve lots of Taiwanese, Chinese and American deaths. That's unnecessary given the shaky basis of the Chinese ruling clique. Better not to press the Chinese into doing anything rash, and count on the fact that time is on Taiwan's side.
Worst case scenario, Taiwan rejoins China and they refuse to do what the Chinese leaders want them to do. What would China do? Crack down on Taiwan militarily, thus attracting the opprobium of the rest of the world and seriously harming the economic growth that is CRITICAL to the "Communist" party's ability to continue their rule? Not bloody likely.
I DO understand Taiwan's desire to rule itself. I just consider inviting a Chinese attack as akin to teasing a tank that is running out of gas. It's much safer to wait until the tank ACTUALLY runs out of gas.
The Taiwanese clearly enjoy running their own affairs. I don't think I'd be too keen on giving up political control to Mexico or Europe.
One could have argued that it would have been better for India to avoid risk of harsh crackdowns and death by choosing not to confront British control of India. On the other hand, they did it in a smart way, choosing largely NOT to engage in military action and simply saying "we will not be ruled by you anymore" (Ghandi being an illustrative example). The minority cannot long overrule the will of the majority.
I guess what I'm worried about is that Taiwan will do something that will involve lots of Taiwanese, Chinese and American deaths. That's unnecessary given the shaky basis of the Chinese ruling clique. Better not to press the Chinese into doing anything rash, and count on the fact that time is on Taiwan's side.
Worst case scenario, Taiwan rejoins China and they refuse to do what the Chinese leaders want them to do. What would China do? Crack down on Taiwan militarily, thus attracting the opprobium of the rest of the world and seriously harming the economic growth that is CRITICAL to the "Communist" party's ability to continue their rule? Not bloody likely.
I DO understand Taiwan's desire to rule itself. I just consider inviting a Chinese attack as akin to teasing a tank that is running out of gas. It's much safer to wait until the tank ACTUALLY runs out of gas.
