On The 'Woke' Flight To Taiwan
Is this the most 'librul' rubbish headline ever?
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Investing in Real Estate as Self-Care
Many women seeking independence after a breakup or divorce have discovered emotional empowerment and even healing in real estate investment.
What is the definition of 'many'? I wonder at what tiny slice of the market this 'woke' advertisement for buying real estate is targeted.
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Anyway - More seriously.
That too old 'woke' lady with the massive freezer full of very expensive ice-cream let it know through Taiwanese media that she wants to arrive in Taipei tomorrow, August 2, at 22:30 local time (14:30 UTC) and stay over night.
Pelosi's trip is a stupid thing to do but she is a politician and stupid things are what they generally do.
Michael D. Swaine @Dalzell60 - 12:26 UTC · Aug 1, 2022I have been told that Pelosi has said she will only not go 2 TW if Biden publicly discourages her n she can blame him. Anyone else heard this? Sounds like Pelosi. Why can’t they both confer n conclude it’s not a good idea? Why the blame game, if true?
Pelosi expected to visit Taiwan, Taiwanese and US officials say
I can think of several reasons why Pelosi will not arrive in Taiwan. Here flight might, for example, get diverted. But it is also possible that it happens but is followed by huge consequences, likely to the disadvantage of the U.S. and Taiwan.
There is also this thought, by Cynthia Chung, which might become relevant:
In October 2019, Jake Sullivan, who became U.S. National Security Advisor in 2021, stated in an interview that the U.S. needed a clear threat to rally the world and play the role of saviour of mankind and that China could be that organizing principle for U.S. foreign policy. In the 2019 interview, he acknowledges that the problem was that people were not going to believe that China is a global threat, that their view of China is too positive and that the United States would need a “Pearl Harbour moment,” a real focusing event to change their minds, something he calmly stated that “would scare the hell out of the American people.”
She correctly traces such 'Pearl Harbour moment' thinking back to neo-conservative movement. Chung closes with this:
Thus, when Jake Sullivan observes that there is not enough anti-China sentiment to bolster an image of the United States as a “saviour of mankind” against China and that America is in need of a “Pearl Harbour moment” I would be very wary.
The circus around Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan in the coming days, and evident glee that is coming forth from many of these neocons frothing at the mouth over this prospect is a clear sign that something incredibly reckless and stupid is about to happen.
Pelosi’s airplane might indeed be shot down on her completely irrelevant and unnecessary trip to Taiwan, and if it is, don’t be surprised if it was the Americans themselves who are behind it, who have shown they are willing to do anything for that “Pearl Harbour moment.”
I for one surely hope that the above does not happen.
Posted by b on August 1, 2022 at 15:54 UTC | Permalink
next page »i suppose there are supposed to be only winners and losers in the american and political mindset.. the idea that everyone can get along and work together is too idealistic and naive... thus either biden or pelosi wins the political game, with no regard for the larger context here... it is all about 'me, me, me'..... pelosi excels at this.... thanks for the update..
Posted by: james | Aug 1 2022 16:05 utc | 2
Not sure the vast majority would not cheer the old hag being shot down though.
Posted by: Raskolnikov | Aug 1 2022 16:05 utc | 3
It is all insane. The US CANNOT fight China. The last time they did so, in Korea, the result was "a draw" (according to the Americans themselves), and at that time the US was by far the wealthiest country on the planet with the strongest manufacturing sector, and China was one of the poorest countries on Earth. The US can only expect outright defeat, conditional upon Chinese mercy.
Posted by: Herr Ringbone | Aug 1 2022 16:06 utc | 4
Pelosi's trip is a stupid thing to do but she is a politician and stupid things are what they generally do.She is observing the Moron Doctrine.
Posted by: Norwegian | Aug 1 2022 16:07 utc | 5
I for one doubt an old tax-dodging, insider trading, privileged and out of touch whore would have half the traction even an heir to the throne Prince had about a century ago in Serbia.
If the US is counting on rallying "the whole country" (ie, the 40% who actually bother voting), the majority of whom absolutely despise not just Pelosi and her Democratic fraudster party, but their class as a whole, then they are seriously miscalculating.
Maybe only 40% bother voting, but for sure more than 80% will protest when the reality of simultaneous wars with Russia and China hits them.
Posted by: Et Tu | Aug 1 2022 16:13 utc | 6
Comical... my step-daughter just ended a 4-year domestic relationship and bought a new condo. She is quite pleased with the independence it offers and I am happy for her.
North Americans have much of their personal wealth tied up in Real Estate and it is in the interests of the real property owning class to keep that Ponzi going as long as possible and avoid a 2008 style collapse. So the NYT article can be discarded as an advertorial from the self-interested.
As for Pelosi, numerous sources say the visit is on for tomorrow evening. As this bit on The Onion suggests, if China wishes to maximize damage to the USA, let Pelosi return home safely.
https://www.theonion.com/china-threatens-to-retaliate-for-pelosi-s-taiwan-trip-b-1849343979
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Aug 1 2022 16:14 utc | 8
From the Wechat channel of The People's Liberation Army for the Eastern Theater:
Embattled take orders and fight Bury all the invading enemy Toward the Union victory over the battle ahead
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/n_gtB_JR25sVOHOq8mWrOg
Posted by: too scents | Aug 1 2022 16:16 utc | 9
In the 2019 interview, he acknowledges that the problem was that people were not going to believe that China is a global threat, that their view of China is too positive and that the United States would need a “Pearl Harbour moment,” a real focusing event to change their minds, something he calmly stated that “would scare the hell out of the American people.”So it is PNAC - "Rebuilding America's Defences" from 2000 - the one that gave us 911 all over again?
"Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event - like a new Pearl Harbor".
https://archive.org/details/RebuildingAmericasDefenses/page/n61/mode/2up?q=pearl
Posted by: Norwegian | Aug 1 2022 16:17 utc | 10
"... emotional empowerment and even healing in real estate investment."
Now that's the ultimate in retail therapy.
Posted by: Brendan | Aug 1 2022 16:18 utc | 11
I cannot view Cynthia Chung’s analysis because Strategic Culture is forbidden. That may be because both strategy and culture are antithetical to the prevailing neocon narrative. They are determined to preserve US global hegemony even if they have to destroy life on earth to do it. How many US cities will need to be destroyed before the adults throw the neocons out and surrender?
Posted by: Charles D | Aug 1 2022 16:19 utc | 12
Is it too late to start digging my backyard bunker ?
Seriously - if the Jake Sullivan scheme is really happening, then I fear the absolute worst.
Posted by: Exile | Aug 1 2022 16:21 utc | 13
Further, shooting down Pelosi will constitute "a new Pearl Harbour"? One needs a heart of stone not to laugh. As has been pointed out, half the US will cheer.
More seriously, China is not 1930s Japan. Japan was always doomed in its battle against the US, because of its massively inferior industrial capacity.
Plus nukes.
Our Seppo brethren have lost the plot.
Posted by: Herr Ringbone | Aug 1 2022 16:23 utc | 14
Listen, you guys: This "bad cop" vs. "good cop" bullshit routine is so old that it's no longer worth discussing.
The US National Security State aka Deep State aka the American ruling elites are on the same page when it comes to China. They need another Pearl Harbor casus belli event and Nancy the Witch will gladly go to Taiwan to provide it (of course, it thinks that it will be protected by the almighty US military).
News to the Witch: Home field advantage is at least 2 to 1 in favor of the PLA. And today's PLA that basically defeated your war-hardened US Army during the so-called Korean War, is NOT the Chinese Volunteer Army or CVA of the early 1950s.
Today's PLA/N is basically on par with the US military, but with home field advantage.
I sincerely hope the Witch goes to Taiwan. Let it begin and let's get this thing over with!
Posted by: Sam Smith | Aug 1 2022 16:25 utc | 15
If US leadership wants to manufacture a proxy confrontation, it's rarely possible for more responsible countries to prevent it. But quite a few responses are possible to contain it in the early stages, before the typical ending results (ie proxy reduced to ruins). Unfortunately, both western polities and their proxy clients are blinded by their own propaganda, so polite warnings never work in these situations.
In China's case, I imagine this would necessitate both a clear break from the era of half-measures, with economic and industrial leverage. I also imagine there would be a redoubling of efforts in naval preparations.
Posted by: ptb | Aug 1 2022 16:26 utc | 16
Ukraine, Kosovo, China..............ratcheting up tension everywhere - there re no rules!
US has voluntarily put its' back against a wall, you are being forced into a position of being "with us or against us".
US is beating the drums for the coming world war!
Posted by: James Cook | Aug 1 2022 16:29 utc | 17
Posted by: Don Midwest | Aug 1 2022 16:15 utc | 11
Ireland is going to be fleeced by the City of London once again and again and again until she learns her lessons: Never ever trust those who bring loans and credit to Ireland.
The Irish external debt to GDP is over 600% (it was approaching 1000% many months ago), the highest in the world. When the interest rates really go up and they will, the Irish will be financial slaves once again.
Friedrich Engels said it best: "How often have the Irish started out to achieve something, and every time they have been crushed, politically and industrially. By consistent oppression they have been artificially converted into an utterly impoverished nation . . ."
Posted by: Sam Smith | Aug 1 2022 16:35 utc | 18
Cynthia is stretching it. There is very little in common between today's situation and that in 1941, when FEDR was chomping at the bit (as was most of bien pensant America, if not the hinterland) to get involved. The only alternative then, December 1941, was to wait for Britain's defeat and join in with Hitler in the carve-up. That is how Washington saw it anyway.
Even, in the most unlikely event of Pelosi's plane being downed (by the Taiwanese presumably) war would be unlikely. Much more likely is that the US will find an excuse to impose sanctions against Chin. Sanctions designed to break the Sino Russian (I actually typed Soviet!) alliance or to press China to save Ukraine from losing its utility as a NATO base.
In my view, like most US Foreign policy its crude and far too late in the day. Washington does not realise that the days when it could play silly games-an intervention here, a coup there- using the CIA and the NED have drawn to an end. There is only one game in town now and it is the BRI threat which spells the end of empire with as much certainty as any nuclear attack.
What BRI represents is, in some ways, a return to the status quo ante of 1491: the geopolitical marginalisation of the American continent. The realisation of President Monroe's dream and Mackinder's prophecy.
Would the neo-cons etc do anything possible to prevent it? Indeed they would but, as might be guessed by their increasing fanaticism, they no longer have the power. Uncle Sam has got syphilis and Viagra doesn't cure that.
Posted by: bevin | Aug 1 2022 16:37 utc | 19
Consider the great lack of imagination in the American ruling class, that they seek "a new Pearl Harbor".
It never occurs to them that this time they might get Pearl Harbor as it was meant to be, with everything in the US navy larger than a tug boat at the bottom of the ocean.
Posted by: Herr Ringbone | Aug 1 2022 16:39 utc | 20
There’s got to be a better word than “woke” to describe the NY Times article. We’re they sleeping and they just woke up? Woke up to become what? I think you can use these expressions. Airheadedness? Hippy Liberalism? Disney-like behavior? Dunces? “Woke” just doesn’t do it for me.
Posted by: Jose Garcia | Aug 1 2022 16:40 utc | 21
It's Army Day today in China, and Global Times has published this editorial "PLA is not afraid to fight for defending sovereignty and security", which to me is a rather bland headline, all things considered. It leads thusly:
"At the same time, as the world situation enters a new period of turbulence and change enveloped in hegemony and cold war mentality, the slogan 'A country needs a strong military before it can truly be strong and secure' has become a strong consensus among Chinese people.
"In addition, this year's Army Day faces a special situation: The US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi may visit the island of Taiwan in these two days, seriously provoking China's core interests. Tasked with deterrence and countermeasures, the PLA has naturally earned the particular respect of hundreds of millions of Chinese people." [My Emphasis]
Those millions are far more numerous than Americans who support Pelosi, Biden and their objectives. The next paragraph almost sounds Reaganesque:
"Pelosi's provocation also proves once again that China needs to build a strong people's army more than ever in history. Pelosi would never be as stealthy as she is now if not for fear of the PLA. Instead, she would probably strut there and it is conceivable that the DPP authorities and Taiwan secessionists would also act more recklessly. But on the other hand, the presence, and especially the collusion between external interference, such as Pelosi, and Taiwan secessionists, has objectively put higher demands on the PLA. Our military cannot slacken in training and preparation for war, and we must accelerate the development of the PLA into a world-class army." [My Emphasis]
The reader can almost hear the editor sigh and exclaim we've been at peace for almost 40 years only to mount his horse and declare:
"But at the same time we need to keep reminding ourselves to maintain distance and vigilance against the naive mind-set that wishes for absolute pacifism. We must avoid the situation in which people no longer know how to fight after living in peace for so long. For a major country like China, the consequence of having a relaxed mentality on national defense construction is unthinkable." [My Emphasis]
Well yes, it is unthinkable since it shares the planet with a set of very dangerous warmongering nations thinking they're better than all other humans. The next paragraph underscores that point:
"The turbulent international situation in recent years has repeatedly taught us that the world is not at peace. The scenes of devastation and extreme misery in some war-torn areas have deeply touched the Chinese people. There's no such thing as a peaceful world, we feel it is peaceful only because someone else is taking on the burden of keeping the peace, because we happen to live in China. The feelings expressed and shared by netizens have strong resonance in Chinese society. These grassroots feelings out of intuition are more in line with the reality of current international politics and help us enrich and improve our understandings of the world and of China. This is very necessary." [My Emphasis]
We're not told how many netizens have expressed such sentiments, but since Chinese are very vocal on their social media platforms, it's likely a considerable number. The concluding paragraphs sound somewhat like Neocon-speak using the potential threat to beef up the defense budget, except that the threat isn't imaginary. If Pelosi tries to invade Taiwan, is that how it will be seen/treated and thus reacted against? The editorial's conclusion hints that action will be taken but of what sort:
In the past 10 years, the combat capability of the Chinese military has improved greatly and weaponry and equipment, the organizational system, actual combat training, military theory and talent cultivation have all made historical progress. Meanwhile, we need continuous efforts to strengthen national defense and build an army that matches China's international status and is in line with national security and development interests, providing strategic support for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. For this end, besides an adequate raise of the national defense budget, what the PLA needs is a continuous improvement in actual combat capability that will always focus on combat readiness, and forging an elite powerful force ready for the fight, capable of combat and sure to win.It needs to be pointed out that the US and Western countries, while increasing their military spending by a big margin and while publicly pressuring China, criticized China's normal military buildup. According to their logic, China had better pull out its "teeth", so as not to pose a "threat" or be "aggressive." Chinese people won't fall for this trick. In fact, different from the US that takes the military as a hegemonic tool, China always pursues a defense policy that is defensive in nature. China develops its military power to defend its national sovereignty, security and development interests. Compared with the external threats and challenges it faces now, China's military strength is still not enough.
Since modern times, the Chinese people suffered hugely from foreign aggressions and wars. They love and cherish peace more than anyone else after experiencing all the agonies. But this doesn't mean that we will trade our core interests for peace and tolerate bullying. We will not attack unless we are attacked, but if we are attacked, we will certainly counterattack. The people's army, having fought with all kinds of powerful rivals and won one victory after another, is never afraid to fight and always excels at fighting.
US diplomacy inaction. Cynthia Chung's speculation is the most plausible, given that Pelosi's trip has no conceivable purpose beyond pure provocation, an attempt to trigger an incident. China is surely wise to this and unlikely to be baited, hence a false-flag shoot-down. Whether the US can pull it off without clumsy fingerprints is a big question
Posted by: Doug Hillman | Aug 1 2022 16:44 utc | 25
Ma qualcuno ha domandato ai taiwanesi cosa ne pensano e se vogliono veramente rinunciare alla loro indipendenza?
L'impressione è che cinesi se la suonino e se la cantino senza domandare il permesso ai padroni di casa,
Posted by: Alessandro Cagliostr | Aug 1 2022 16:47 utc | 26
Didn't the Pearl Harbor end with two nukes being dropped on Japan? This is a catastrophe waiting to happen. The USN does not stand a chance in the South China Sea.
Posted by: circumspect | Aug 1 2022 16:55 utc | 28
If Pelosi goes to Taiwan, ignoring her is the best thing the Chinese government should do. At the end, she would go away and China would demonstrate that she would not easily fall for US provocations.
Posted by: Cretani | Aug 1 2022 16:56 utc | 29
I've tried to avoid this topic because it seems a little silly but also just realized that despite having read a few articles here and elsewhere now I never really understood what the issue is exactly with Pelosi's visit.
I believe in order to visit Taiwan you only need a Taiwan-issued visa. Assuming she has one, what objection does PRC have with her visit there? Is it simply that they don't want her to go? Or what else exactly?
This whole thing seems extremely silly on both sides, indeed a mutually manufactured pseudo-crisis... what am I missing?
@33: You're missing the fact that Taiwan is a province of the People's Republic of China. Permission to visit the country has not been granted.
Posted by: Carl | Aug 1 2022 17:03 utc | 31
ignoring her is the best thing the Chinese government should do.
Posted by: Cretani | Aug 1 2022 16:56 utc | 32
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In a clear and unambiguous statement Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian warned that a Pelosi visit would "lead to a very grave situation and consequences ... China will surely make a resolute response".
Posted by: too scents | Aug 1 2022 17:08 utc | 32
she probably has that freezer of ice cream in the hold somewhere, the way Dracula carried his coffin full of native soil on ships.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Aug 1 2022 17:11 utc | 33
Posted by: Jose Garcia | Aug 1 2022 16:40 utc | 23
"woke" is kind of a generic term encompassing a lot of different flavors of bullshit, with some truth to the extent it actually applies to racism in the real world like brutal cops murdering people.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Aug 1 2022 17:13 utc | 34
Why is it "woke" to be anti-racist, anti-sexist, and anti-fascist?
They want you to hate "woke" because they want you to be asleep. So einfach ist das.
Posted by: fnord | Aug 1 2022 17:16 utc | 35
I like the "Moron Doctrine (@6).
However the only thing that is not transparent (to me at least) in all this uninspired chaos is how THEY put the dots together and think it helps winning the midterms. What is the Moron Doctrine and how does it make sense to them? I just keep seeing that idiot face grinning on the old MAD magazines.
Posted by: imo | Aug 1 2022 17:17 utc | 36
"She is observing the Moron Doctrine."
Nice :))
Posted by: Et Tu | Aug 1 2022 16:14 utc | 9
Agreed. : )
Also, if the hag does land in Taipei, I think China should not allow her to take off again for a period of time. Seems to me that would be a better show of who is really in charge.
Posted by: Michigan Dude | Aug 1 2022 17:19 utc | 37
@38: "Woke" is pro-fascist, as can be clearly observed in the alliances between "woke" factions and big tech. Classic subterfuge to train young and impressionable (some say gullible) minds to support soft fascism.
Posted by: Carl | Aug 1 2022 17:22 utc | 38
Imagine if she were forced to land in China and taken hostage. You have to wonder who would pay more: people who wanted her back, or people who wanted the PRC to keep her.
Posted by: ian | Aug 1 2022 17:23 utc | 39
Posted by: Jose Garcia | Aug 1 2022 16:40 utc | 23
homicidal maniacs
Posted by: sln2002 | Aug 1 2022 17:24 utc | 40
Even though Bhadrakumar in today's column implied Pelosi's trip to Taiwan is called off, I believe she'll still go. It's Dem's only chance to not lose the House in November. They'll take the chance. War or no war be damned.
Given today's American attitude towards China, this may indeed be the turn-around event for the November mid-term election. In general, the American public has lost its collective mind.
Posted by: Oriental Voice | Aug 1 2022 17:24 utc | 41
Posted by: ian | Aug 1 2022 17:23 utc | 42
the heretofore unsuspected power of the gourmet ice cream industry would "awake" so to speak.
Posted by: pretzelattack | Aug 1 2022 17:25 utc | 42
The second shoe to drop would be China's response. What's gonna come???
Posted by: Oriental Voice | Aug 1 2022 17:25 utc | 43
The Onion's forecast has merit - if the Chinese haven't painted themselves into a corner by making an exchange of ultra-violence obligatory...
Posted by: Hoarsewhisperer | Aug 1 2022 17:30 utc | 44
It's high time to dump the American Dollar, preferably as soon as Nancy Pelosi steps her Pradas inside a Taiwan airport.
Hope America enjoys that hyperinflation.
Too bad that oligarchs like Nancy Pelosi or her national security state handlers like Jake Sullivan will still be able to enjoy their hundred dollar ice cream.
Posted by: ak74 | Aug 1 2022 17:31 utc | 45
China should sent its fleet to surround Hawaii, say they are sending Chinese #2 to recognize Hawaii as an independent territory illegaly occupied by USA and, if USA doesn't like this, announce China is ready to fight for Hawaiian' democracy and selfdetermination and prevent USA's unprovoked and unjustified aggression.
And Russia needs to make a "Maidan" color revolution in Canada, establish a dictatorship that cherishes an ideology of hate against USA, and start bombing a zone in the South of Canada near USA border (not under NATO article 5 since its a "civil war").
As the Cuban missile crisis showed, it is only when USA is ATTACKED in the same way (before, they had put missiles in Turkey), that the idiot NeoCon/Imperialist pigs back down.
If China and Russia continue just defending near their borders, USA's oligarchic warmonger dictatorship will ignite the entire world on fire. Because they feel safe in their lairs in Washington DC.
It time to let them taste the fire in their own house. Nine-Eleven style...
Also, send massive weapons for Palestine, start bombing Tel-Haviv the same way they bomb Gaza.
Completely obliterate Guantánamo from the map.
And start bombing USA bases in Syria and Iraq. Seriously, why not? It's illegal occupation, it's not under NATO umbrella. How can they retaliate? What bases do China and Russia have occupying other countries?
Perhaps I'm wrong and too revengeful, perhaps Russia and China and all 85% of the Non-Western world have a better long term plan. I just don't see what it is, and don't see how Mankind can reach that long term goal alive, if USA's lunatics are left on the loose as right now and nobody stops them right there at The Wall.
Actually, the rest of the world should finance and build that wall, in an inpregnable way. On all borders, south, north, and maritime walls east, and west. And then a roof...
Because it's not just the warmongers NeoCons, it's everyone. USA people don't demand democracy, nor peace. They just vote red or blue, and then finance all inavsions, coups, all fires! They don't even care if 5 million Afghan children are being straved on purpose right now by USA sanctions (economical TERRORISM).
USA should be the one being starved, the one being sanctioned, the one being invaded. Because the problem is those 300 million idiot minds is this: they only "know" what war is, from what TV shoes them. They need to see their houses destroyed, their ground shaking, their kids in blood pools on USA streets. They need to taste the same medicine they constantly prescribe to others. The same way the World did to Germans in 1945 (the last time USA was barely decent).
Posted by: José Oliveira | Aug 1 2022 17:32 utc | 46
not a "woke" headline at all. more like an out of touch "let them eat cake" yuppie headline for people who can afford to buy houses on a whim when their bourgeoisie "sex and the city" lives fail to entertain them enough. it seems like most people whining incessantly about "woke" are kinda sorta gullible as f_ck. like the idiots who thought obama was going to usher in the second golden age of mao or whatever.
plus it's not like the right (and especially scum right) don't have a million stupid things that make them hit the fainting couch. just look at any unz or vdare headline. turn "derp a white person got shot by a black person why isn't the media obsessing over it 24/7!?!?!?!?!??! #whitelivesmatter" into a drinking game and hope the liver transplant list isn't too backed up!
as for another "pearl harbor" moment that's subjective. there are retards who thought the jan. 6 capital hootenanny was a "new pearl harbor". pelosi seems like the type who would call accidental gluten in her michelin star fine dining dinner a "pearl harbor incident". although that sounds more like AOC.
Posted by: the pair | Aug 1 2022 17:34 utc | 47
I believe in order to visit Taiwan you only need a Taiwan-issued visa. Assuming she has one, what objection does PRC have with her visit there? Is it simply that they don't want her to go? Or what else exactly?This whole thing seems extremely silly on both sides, indeed a mutually manufactured pseudo-crisis... what am I missing?
Posted by: Scorpion | Aug 1 2022 17:00 utc | 33
Correct. From my dealings with the Taiwanese Consulate in Vancouver over a decade ago, Taiwanese government officials are adamant that their government is 100% independent of the PROC.
That should not change unless the people of Taiwan want it to change. The UN charter on the rights of self-determination must apply here. China is over-reacting and the US is deliberately provoking that reaction.
Like Ukraine, the solution was both obvious and relatively simple.
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Aug 1 2022 17:39 utc | 48
@ Posted by: Carl | Aug 1 2022 17:22 utc | 41
I'm not sure what "Fascist" means to you. I'm operating with Wilhelm Reich's definition, which sees fascism as being rooted in racism, religious mysticism, and the repression of the body's natural self-regulation by the patriarchal family and church. The forces routinely called "woke" are the forces which are most actively fighting these things: anti-racists against the institutionally racist criminal justice system, anti-sexists against patriarchy in all its manifestations, atheists and honest scientists against the church for its ongoing repression of sex and its sanctioning of all the rest.
I'm not afraid of "big tech" nor do I think it's a manifestation of fascism (anymore than any company is a manifestation of fascism in this fascist society). Technology companies follow the monetary and commercial incentives that the rest of us do. They remove hate speech because no one wants to see that ugly shit, and because there are other corners of the internet where people who do want to see that ugly shit reside and can post to their heart's content. Attracting and maintaining a user base whose private data you can sell depends on cultivating and moderating a community where people are not regularly traumatized or brought to anger over racist shit on the web page you're serving them. Nothing "fascist" about that, it is pure capitalism.
Posted by: fnord | Aug 1 2022 17:39 utc | 49
Why the fuck would Americans be pissed off if Pelosi and other scumbags are shot down by China, when most of them actually would like to do it themselves? Beijing would just do them a favour in showing them how it's done, and then if Americans had any sense, they'd take matters into their own hands and would butcher the rest of the Congress and administration on their own.
That is, this is what would happen, were the US a sensible people.
Posted by: Clueless Joe | Aug 1 2022 17:44 utc | 50
I see two possibilities, both narcissistic and sociopathic.
1. She is up for election and has been promised a heap of money from the Masters of War, plus gets free publicity. Whether she goes or not is dependent on the pile of money. Also, this distracts the people that see her for what she is, a corrupt narcissist.
2. She has a terminal illness and her heirs will obtain a huge amount of dough on her death. Given her husband has piles of it, so this is a low probability reason. However, she would die a martyr and a very rich one.
Posted by: Michael.j | Aug 1 2022 17:47 utc | 51
fnord | Aug 1 2022 17:39 utc | 52
"Wilhelm Reich's definition, which sees fascism as being rooted in racism, religious mysticism, and the repression of the body's natural self-regulation..."
In all of history I can't think of anything which more perfectly fits that definition than the current transhumanist/"woke"/"transgender"/Covidian complex of mass insanity, mysticism, racist demonization of the natural human body itself and total hatred and denial of the very idea of the body's natural self-regulation via its natural immune system so exquisitely evolved over millions of years. (Among their many other cultist-mystical denials of nature and reality, today's "woke"/Covidian fascists are the most hardcore evolution-deniers of all time.)
Posted by: Flying Dutchman | Aug 1 2022 17:50 utc | 52
b, it is a distinct demographic. I have known the real estate ladies. Stay away from them. Do not do business with them. Do not rent from them. Do not invite them to the party. Do not imagine going out for drinks with one of them.
Basically it is fantasies of living the rentier lifestyle. And a proxy for sex.
Never forget the 'lord' part of landlord. These women want to lord over men. They want minions. They want a harem of castratos.
I have unfortunately known a handful of these women for too long. Family and connections not easily evaded. They die young, they die bitter. The estate goes to the cat.
Posted by: oldhippie | Aug 1 2022 17:50 utc | 53
It would be wonderful if the whore of Babylon incarnate were to be shot down, and the US certainly would do nothing but whine like a baby.
But I predict Pelosi's plane will land without significant incident, her posturing and grandstanding will come off as planned, and Chinese government will do nothing but whine like a baby.
Posted by: Flying Dutchman | Aug 1 2022 17:53 utc | 54
China can have Taiwan free and clear if they take out Pelosi.
Posted by: nightdipper | Aug 1 2022 17:55 utc | 55
You're missing the fact that Taiwan is a province of the People's Republic of China. Permission to visit the country has not been granted.Posted by: Carl | Aug 1 2022 17:03 utc | 34
Taiwan does not refer to itself as Taiwan, Province of China. The official country name is Republic of China. Taiwan issues its own passports, has its own currency and foreign consulates. The severing of formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan was a demand of the PROC when China was admitted to the UN.
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Aug 1 2022 17:55 utc | 56
4. VERY VERY VERY strong message that US and its politicians and experts as well as MSM as may not pay enough attention and/or do not give enough importance: 民意不可违, 玩火必焚 (The public opinion cannot be defied. Those who play with fire will perish by it) .
<--- The english translation does not do it justice in terms of its severity as in Chinese.
It's the first time China says it in front of US President's face. This message has been delivered by Xi Jinpin to Biden during their recent conversation.
It means the thing has already reached the stage of "do not say I didn't warn you".
I sincerely hope US military at least pay serious attention to this message! But, I doubt out of hubris the US will ignore it as bluff just as it did with Russia's warning before its SMO in Ukraine.
Does US military still remember what happened to its tens of thousands of soliders during Korean War and Vietnam war? The one who forget histroy will get punished.
Posted by: lulu | Aug 1 2022 17:56 utc | 57
@ Posted by: the pair | Aug 1 2022 17:34 utc | 50
"not a "woke" headline at all. more like an out of touch "let them eat cake" yuppie headline"
I believe when it comes to recent European partners, the 21st century adaptation has been more along the lines of of "let him snort coke"... oops, did i say lines? I'm sure Guaido will always be able to hook him up in Miami.
Posted by: Et Tu | Aug 1 2022 17:56 utc | 58
Permission to visit the country has not been granted.
Posted by: Carl | Aug 1 2022 17:03 utc | 34
When I looked up visa requirements for Taiwan issued by ROC and presumably used by most visitors, there is no mention of needing PRC's permission. Do you need to apply to both governments in order to fly into Taipei?
thank for the chortle, Norwegian (Aug 1 2022 16:07 utc | 6)
Posted by: cirsium | Aug 1 2022 17:58 utc | 60
@49
Yes. It often blows my mind how much evil the United States has inflicted on the world and how it gets away with it purely and simply because it is the United States. There is literally no other reason. Any other country doing the same would have been nuked into another dimension by now.
Posted by: Hidari | Aug 1 2022 18:00 utc | 61
Ma qualcuno ha domandato ai taiwanesi cosa ne pensano e se vogliono veramente rinunciare alla loro indipendenza?Posted by: Alessandro Cagliostr | Aug 1 2022 16:47 utc | 29
Saluti Alessandro,
Taiwan is not strictly speaking an independent country, it's not even a country.
Here is a brief historical reminder :
In 1895, China handed over Taiwan under duress to Japan as a war prize.
In 1945, Japan gave it back to China but it remained under administrative supervision of USA.
The same year, Kuomintang ruled the island under the name of the Republic of China
In 1949, Jiang Jieshi retreated there, proclaimed himself chairman and ruled it as a dictator.
The same year, the Popular Republic of China was born and the Republic of China became Taiwan again.
Since then China claims Taiwan is a part of China. It is indeed a firm and unequivocal claim.
Though in more than 70 years, China never made any move, never express any threat towards this little piece of land that stands a few miles from their coasts. Just a claim that is shared by the entire Chinese population : Taiwan is ours.
How come a piece of land that is so close, speaks the same language, requires no visa to come and go, bears also the name of the Republic of China, was indeed a part of China for centuries, could not be considered as such today ?
Posted by: xiao pignouf | Aug 1 2022 18:00 utc | 62
How come a piece of land that is so close, speaks the same language, requires no visa to come and go, bears also the name of the Republic of China, was indeed a part of China for centuries, could not be considered as such today ?
Posted by: xiao pignouf | Aug 1 2022 18:00 utc | 65
Clearly there is more of a disagreement between the two parties than your description above indicates. You have well articulated the PRC position. In any case, let us hope that it proves ultimately correct, that at one point they will all be one country again. However, if Taiwan really does want to go her own way and given how many decades she has operated as a separate jurisdiction, hopefully she will be afforded the right to do so because I believe that is in accord with UN guidelines on self-determination.
@cirsium | Aug 1 2022 17:58 utc | 63
thank for the chortle, Norwegian (Aug 1 2022 16:07 utc | 6)😎
It is really serious what is going on (thanks lulu @60) , but some deserved ridicule is in order I think.
Posted by: Norwegian | Aug 1 2022 18:10 utc | 64
@51
"The UN charter on the rights of self-determination must apply here."
The UN is a bourgeois institution created by American white supremacists. The concept of "rights" is a Euro-colonial concept. Neither has any authority over the world. The time of your white supremacist world order is over, old man.
Posted by: FVK | Aug 1 2022 18:10 utc | 65
US National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2022 is a plan to integrate Taiwan with US Department of Defense [sic] in its operations. The plan is fully funded. Appropriations already committed and disbursed to Taiwan's private- and public-agents are not public knowledge. But I bet Miss Nancy Project Manager knows.
Sec. 1246 Sense of Congress on Taiwan defense relations.
Sec. 1247. Statement of policy on Taiwan.
Sec. 1248. Annual report on Taiwan asymmetric capabilities and
intelligence support.
Sec. 1249. Feasibility briefing on cooperation between the National Guard and Taiwan.
Sec. 1250. Feasibility report on establishing military-to-military crisis communications capabilities.
Sec. 1251. Comparative analyses and reports on efforts by the United States and the People's Republic of China to advance critical modernization technology with respect to military applications.
Sec. 1252. Sense of congress on defense alliances and partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region.
Posted by: sln2002 | Aug 1 2022 18:11 utc | 66
@66 You make it sound so reasonable. I think the CCP are mainly worried about Taiwan becoming a US base. Similar to how Russia felt about Crimea before they interrupted that project..
Posted by: dh | Aug 1 2022 18:15 utc | 67
@ Posted by: Flying Dutchman | Aug 1 2022 17:50 utc | 55
Reich wasn't an anti-vaccine nutjob, sorry, although at points he was a nutjob. While I can only assume he held what we'd consider today "backwards" views towards transexuality considering his view that homosexuality implied something pathological (although something to be tolerated and certainly not ever repressed), his view of the body's natural self-regulation was focused primarily on natural love-making and masturbation, not on the lack of intervention into nature (by which standard he would have never become a doctor - the whole point of his practice was to intervene where we had prior gone astray). In fact, if Reich were completely right about orgone energy, the interventions he would have made would have been vast in scope and consequence, right down to controlling the weather with cloudbusters (and yes, the Kate Bush song is about Wilhelm Reich).
With one more word towards the transgender topic, Reich was a collaborator with Magnus Hirschfield, the biggest proponent of transexual/transgender rights of their era, so I doubt he would have taken the sadistic and cruel approach to gender dysphoria advocated by today's coterie of christofascists, islamofascists, and so-called "radical feminists." We know the former are sexually expressed and cretinous, but not enough ink has been spilled about the sexual repression advocated and embodied by "radical feminists," who - I should remind our more macho readers - never shed their pathologically repressive belief that all penetrative sex is rape, and that all men are natural born rapists (hence their exaggerated fears of transgender women, who they identify as men, and who consequently are treated as guilty until proven innocent of rape).
But I digress. Your post is emblematic of the kind of fascist mysticism that Reich sought to combat. My prescription: read Reich and act accordingly.
Posted by: fnord | Aug 1 2022 18:18 utc | 68
@scorpion
Taiwan is outside UN "jurisdiction" since it is not a member of the UN.
Posted by: ATH | Aug 1 2022 18:20 utc | 69
The time of your white supremacist world order is over, old man.
Posted by: FVK | Aug 1 2022 18:10 utc | 68
Then you should explain that to Russia and China who keep announcing that they want to uphold basic UN charter principles.
I think your whole racist explanation of everything shows you have been absorbing too much Intelligence-driven psyop propaganda, but anyway.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
@66 I think the CCP are mainly worried about Taiwan becoming a US base. Similar to how Russia felt about Crimea before they interrupted that project..
Posted by: dh | Aug 1 2022 18:15 utc | 70
That makes perfect sense too. But I doubt that has much to do with Pelosi's visit. I mean: if they really need face-to-face meeting to plot more US military engagement there a) why not do it somewhere else and without any media fanfare and b) what's the Speaker of the House's business with any of that?
This whole thing seems quite silly...
Scorpion | Aug 1 2022 18:07 utc | 66
"if Taiwan really does want to go her own way and given how many decades she has operated as a separate jurisdiction, hopefully she will be afforded the right to do so because I believe that is in accord with UN guidelines on self-determination."
Would you be saying the same if Japan had managed to attain a peace settlement to end WWII which let it keep Taiwan while it evacuated mainland China? And then followed decades of imperial domination and indoctrination such that by now Taiwan's elites were pro-Japan and "wanted to go their own way"? That would be analogous to what actually took place, just that instead it became a US imperial outpost.
I see no constructive purpose for the UN. It should be scrapped completely.
Posted by: Flying Dutchman | Aug 1 2022 18:21 utc | 71
Come mai un pezzo di terra così vicino, parla la stessa lingua, non ha bisogno di visto per andare e venire, porta anche il nome della Repubblica di Cina, è stato infatti parte della Cina per secoli, non può essere considerato tale oggi ?
Inserito da: xiao pignouf | 1 agosto 2022 18:00 utc | 65
Grazie per il commento di risposta
Nello stesso modo
Potremmo dire che la Corsica è italiana che Gibilterra e spagnola come il Dombas è ucraino, oppure le isole curili al Giappone e non alla Russia,
Spetta ai taiwanesi decidere dove vogliono stare non certamente gli americani né tantomeno i cinesi
Posted by: Alessandro Cagliostr | Aug 1 2022 18:24 utc | 72
Posted by: Scorpion | Aug 1 2022 18:07 utc | 66
Don't you think it's kind of paradoxical to invoke UN guidelines on self-determination when this very international organisation never granted Taiwan more than the status of a... territory ?
Maybe Taiwanese are not self-determined enough and they should try harder.
On that one, I tend to agree with FVK above.
Posted by: xiao pignouf | Aug 1 2022 18:24 utc | 73
Posted by: Opport Knocks | Aug 1 2022 17:55 utc | 59
Taiwan does not refer to itself as Taiwan, Province of China. The official country name is Republic of China.
Yes, Taiwan actually insists that it *is* China. Its territorial claims are even more extensive than those of the PRC. The whole "One China" thing is a mantrap the dumb bastards set for themselves. It was their idea. And then they got betrayed by Nixon. Whoops.
Do you see now why your "plucky little Taiwan, just wants to be independent" spiel will not do?
Posted by: Herr Ringbone | Aug 1 2022 18:26 utc | 74
Verbatim from first link popping up after google search for the UN Resolution:
"On October 25, 1971, the UN General Assembly passed United Nations Resolution 2758 (XXVI) which stated that the People's Republic of China is the only legitimate government of China. The resolution replaced the ROC with the PRC as a permanent member of the Security Council in the United Nations"
Posted by: ATH | Aug 1 2022 18:26 utc | 75
I wonder if a USN submarine is accompanying the carrier strike group nearest Taiwan? Such a weapons platform would provide further options for plausible deniability when fascist Pelosi's Woke Force 1 is blown out of the sky.
Posted by: Hector | Aug 1 2022 18:27 utc | 76
those I know who are the most separatist about Taiwan are also the ones who would be first to surrender if war comes. one's supposed beliefs and spurious notions of identity are meaningless if you won't fight for it. compradors have no conviction. they merely side with power and adjust their 'convictions' as per convenience.
Posted by: mastameta | Aug 1 2022 18:27 utc | 77
I wrote a bit earlier:
What if "Taiwan's elites were pro-Japan and "wanted to go their own way"? That would be analogous to what actually took place, just that instead it became a US imperial outpost."
Now that I think about it, that is what ended up happening - when Taiwan wants to "go its own way", that is Japan's way, which of course is the US way.
Posted by: Flying Dutchman | Aug 1 2022 18:28 utc | 78
Pelosi the war criminal will visit Taiwan. A big part of her job is to shill for the merchants of death, aka Defense contractors, and she is doing her part to brainwash the AmeriKKKans into believing China is a mortal threat to their very existence. No threat, no trillion dollar corporate welfare masquerading as the Defense budget. The only threat China poses is to Western capitalists who want it all.
Posted by: Stuart Estrine | Aug 1 2022 18:28 utc | 79
This article by Vladimir Terekhov, puts forward a very cogent case that China has a real incentive to use any Pelsoi-esque excuse to lower the boom on Taiwan.
Or is that what he is saying? It is worth reading anyway...
Posted by: bevin | Aug 1 2022 18:29 utc | 80
"if Pelosi and other scumbags are shot down by China"
Clueless Joe | Aug 1 2022 17:44 utc | 53
---
Could it be that sinking the aircraft carrier is the rallying move Chung talks about? How big is the crew of such a boat?
To continue the Pearl Harbor analogy, FDR knew in advance but the american fleet stayed docked because those boats were obsolete anyway: today don't the military analysts say that the era of the carriers is over?
I so hope this is just pure speculation and we'll all wake up from this nightmare soon.
Posted by: htyul | Aug 1 2022 18:30 utc | 81
@73
"Then you should explain that to Russia and China who keep announcing that they want to uphold basic UN charter principles."
This just using the enemy's weapon against it. Nobody cares about UN nonsense after the white world is gone and Europe is in the garbage pail of history where it belongs.
Posted by: FVK | Aug 1 2022 18:30 utc | 82
Scorpion @33, Opport Knocks @51
Take a look at the analogy José Oliveira @49 wrote that top Chinese officials pay visit and support for Hawaii independent movement activists and publically proclaim China will sell them fighting jets, missiles and defend them if US dares to intervene.
Opport Knocks @59
United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 says clearly (UN) "recognized the People's Republic of China (PRC) as 'the only legitimate representative of China to the United Nations' and removed "the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek" from the United Nations."
Btw, both ROC and PRC agree that there is only one China and both are against Taiwan secession from China. Take a look of the ROC Map and Constitution of the Republic of China.
Do you know Chiang Kai-shek and Mao reached secret unification agreement after China's success nuclear bomb test in 60s?
Posted by: lulu | Aug 1 2022 18:31 utc | 83
"Woke-ism" is just the new conservatism. Its the new "moral majority" shtick championed by the new techno-industrial dominant ruling faction of the capitalist class. It is not "pro-fascist" per se. And it has nothing to do with Marx or "the Left." It is a new reactionary conservatism.
Posted by: TGL | Aug 1 2022 18:37 utc | 84
Two updates were published by Global Times since the editorial I linked above. One is this article, "China sternly warns Biden admin not to arrange Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, PLA 'will not sit idly by'" time stamped 2 Aug, 01:23 AM. Here's one excerpt:
If Pelosi visits the island of Taiwan, "the PLA will not sit idly by" and will take "resolute and strong countermeasures" to protect China's sovereignty and territorial integrity. As to what these measures are, Zhao said "if she dares to go, let's wait and see."What the US should do now is to fulfill US President Joe Biden's promise of not supporting "Taiwan Independence" secessionism, and not arrange for House Speaker Pelosi to visit the island of Taiwan, Zhao stressed while answering questions related to Pelosi's Asia trip.
Chinese analysts said this new warning is a clear signal that if Pelosi goes to Taiwan, China will see it as a provocative action permitted by the Biden administration rather than a personal decision made by Pelosi, and it would be a serious incident that means the US has violated its promise. [My Emphasis]
Putting the above spin on the provocation as just that and calling it a broken promise isn't a good sign. The other message is delivered via video by Global Times commentator Hu Xijin which is just under two minutes. In his words, Pelosi is "acting very much like a thief" and "the Chinese Army ... will surely eliminate her visit's consequence through the escalation of military operations.... [This will present an opportunity to] demonstrate China's resolution" regarding Taiwan Independence while serving as a lesson for others.
IMO, the escalation in rhetoric by China, particularly shifting the onus onto Biden, along with what seems to be a clear indication that China's military will react means China will not backdown from this provocation--it can't as it will lose face if it does. So, both nations are locked into boxes of their own creation, although Hu makes it clear that the provocation is 100% at the Outlaw US Empire's instigation.
seems to be some money to be made in this relationship..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_US_arms_sales_to_Taiwan
@ José Oliveira | Aug 1 2022 17:32 utc | 49
i liked your rant... fortunately the chinese and russians don't seem to think this way...
regarding the use of the word 'woke'... it is my impression those who are 'woke' are into political posturing, as opposed to living the position.. also it is a language policing kind of thing as i see it, as well... it is most important that you use the correct language, and whether you back it up with actions - is a lot less relevant... thus canuck prime minister justin trudeau strikes me like a good example of a ''woke'' pm... i think of him as mostly a vacuous empty of integrity leader.. those are my thoughts on this term 'woke'.... how it applies to pelosi is she is all for freedom and democracy, which basically translates as more moola for the military industrial complex and wall st.. as for the americans citizens at home - she doesn't give a fuck... she therefore qualifies as 'woke'...
Posted by: james | Aug 1 2022 18:40 utc | 86
Posted by: Flying Dutchman | Aug 1 2022 18:21 utc | 74
"That would be analogous to what actually took place, just that instead it became a US imperial outpost."
Not analogous at all. The group that took over Taiwan had earlier been the Chinese government not that of a foreign country speaking a different language.
"I see no constructive purpose for the UN. It should be scrapped completely."
Well, I happen to agree. I think any body placed above sovereign states other than to act as a vehicle of mediation or international data collection will violate the bedrock principle of national sovereignty which the UN is purportedly there to protect and serve. But again: both China and Russia keep touting the UN as the source of their vision.
I believe they have a way to go before they sort this out. It's one thing to say they want to follow basic UN charter principles and moreover bolster its mandate but it's another to see how they could make this work in practice given how short of its ideal it has been all along.
I believe one of its core intentions is to prevent war, especially world war. A noble goal. But how to achieve it without giving that body Sovereign Power - the power to command, to say yes or no, to grant permission or issue prohibitions? Without such Authority how can it prevent war between nation states or blocs? I believe that no such body can achieve such a goal unless the parties comprising it already share those goals and desire to avoid war themselves. In which case, what purpose is served by the UN? Again, maybe only as a mediation mechanism or source of data.
Maybe differences could be taken to a World Court and both parties agree to abide by the judgment of that Court. But who would appoint such Judges? And could one ever do so in a way that a belligerent losing party would abide by its decision? No, one could not. In other words, most likely the UN is a great idea as an idea but not one that can ever make much practical real-world difference.
But that's not what the Chinese and Russians are saying. They seem to want more UN not less. I suspect they want this as a way to curtail or even ultimately eliminate the AngloZionist bloc's out-sized influence.
But could a much better UN have helped with the Donbass situation in any way? Could it have stopped the CIA and Jewish Oligarch creation of Nazi thug battalions in Ukraine and stop the US from using NATO officers to train and build a large Ukrainian military?
Maybe am just a bear with very little brain, but I don't see how. I think it's all magical feel-good thinking used by bad actors to achieve the opposite of what it is supposed to achieve......
China's best response may be to tell the US - "From this moment you pay for all goods in RMB or no goods."
Creates a lose lose situation for the US and US dollar.
Posted by: Peter AU1 | Aug 1 2022 18:46 utc | 88
Are we in the civilization war I keep writing about yet?
Desperation is oozing from this situation. Empire needs backing for a war and I doubt if even a Pearl Harbor moment with Pelosi on a pike would get them there.....to 13% of the world population on one side of the war.......
Maybe Taiwan goes into a Covid lockdown, China style, when Pelosi shows up....grin
We are seeing the best kabuki money is spending to stay in control....are you impressed?
Posted by: psychohistorian | Aug 1 2022 18:50 utc | 89
Opport Knocks @59
Official ROC Map. You can see by yourself where Taiwan lies in this ROC map.
The minute current CPC government were willing do a sale out of China's assets and interests to US oligarchy, the so-called "Independence or rights of self-determination2 of Taiwan, HK, Tibet and Xinjiang would disappear immediately from US politicians' agenda and MSM. Just like it was in the good old ROC time Why We Fight: The Battle of China (map at 3:13) .
Posted by: lulu | Aug 1 2022 18:52 utc | 90
Back when Nato was bombing Serbia, the Sepps put a cruise missile through the Chinese embassy and baldly stated: "Sorry, old map."
China should shoot that old bitch out of the sky and then say, complete with the stereotypucal [non] Chinese accent, "So solly, Baidu GPS no good ah, we only make cheap plastic shit send to Walmart, we so behind America texhnology", and then have a good belly laugh.
Posted by: Herr Ringbone | Aug 1 2022 18:52 utc | 91
what the Taiwan independence folks aspire to, what they call independence, is to be the lackey of the US. and to be BFF with their former colonial master Japan.
when Abe died, Tsai lowered the ROC flag for him as if he were a hero of the Chinese nation. that's the typical mentality of a comprador. compromised, mentally colonized and corrupted.
I view the apologists for Taiwan separatists no different from white plantation masters celebrating uncle Tom, or praising the merits of a certain house slave.
like HK, Taiwan must be decolonized. mainlanders and proud chinese will fight for that. the taiwanese separatists won't shed blood for their supposed cause,for their fake independence.true independence has a price. only the mainland Chinese will fight for true independence for Taiwan. that ultimately is what reunification is. the end of colonialism for the Chinese
Posted by: mastameta | Aug 1 2022 18:56 utc | 92
The so-called "self" determination and UN charter yada yada are just pure diversion.
If China was given "self" determination, Taiwan will be under PRC rule in 1950. Instead, the US 7th fleet carrier and US atomic bombs enforced the separation of Taiwan from mainland. So much about "self" determination.
This is no different than white men efforts to separate South Korea against North Korea, and South Vietnam against the North Vietnam. Similarly, Soviet and US also tried to divide China into communist North China against the KMT South China, with Yangtze River as the boundary. Luckily, Mao bravely defied the two superpowers' arrangement in 1949.
Vietnam had to sacrifice millions to unify their country against US wishes. Likewise, China is prepared to risk nuclear war to unify the country.
Posted by: d dan | Aug 1 2022 18:58 utc | 93
@52: If, as you state, "technology companies follow the monetary and commercial incentives that the rest of us do," then why is it that certain US government entities maintain personnel and in some cases offices within the major big tech companies? Several of the biggest companies are infested with employees in various formalities of both the CIA and one particularly favored foreign intelligence agency. How does this fusion of corporate and state power contribute in any material fashion to these companies' "purely capitalistic" pursuits?
Posted by: Carl | Aug 1 2022 18:59 utc | 94
Pelosi and Biden are competitors on the same team. Each is a lying, decades long congressional dinosaur - self-dealing the whole time. They should admire each other for that and probably do. Most don't remember that a young Pelosi helped Reagan wreck the unions. Old, nasty self serving dinosaur. Like her pal Biden, she's obviously suffering from the onset of dementia. Hers is not as advanced as his, so he's winning that competition. Foolish, warmongering, grandstanding sob's. What a corrupt system that allows such morally bankrupt humanoids to be elected repeatedly.
Posted by: Chaka Khagan | Aug 1 2022 19:01 utc | 95
@73. "This whole thing seems quite silly..."
It is silly. But very provocative. It's all about optics. US has to come out looking superior. China must be humiliated. Pelosi is a symbol.
So she lands in Taiwan, someone takes a few photos. The big question is how will China react?
Posted by: dh | Aug 1 2022 19:02 utc | 96
Posted by: mastameta | Aug 1 2022 18:56 utc | 95
Thank you, you've touched upon something virtually unknown in the West, and that is the extent to which Taiwainese separatists will often identify with the Japanese colonizers just to piss off the Mainland. All you Americans with your "plucky Taiwan" narratives, how does it taste to know that many of these people regard the defeat of Imperial Japan as something *bad*? "Why should I celebrate the defeat of Japan? We were on the Japanese side at the time."
Posted by: Herr Ringbone | Aug 1 2022 19:04 utc | 97
@ Posted by: Carl | Aug 1 2022 18:59 utc | 98
Matters of national security are what they are, and federal law enforcement has jurisdiction over interstate commerce including communications (although don't worry, the staties and sheriffs have their ins too). The monitoring of communications by the state is something to be expected by all societies with a state and is not unique to fascism. East Germany censored its mail, but was not "fascist" except to hysterical liberals who reflexively cringe at the idea of state action.
Posted by: fnord | Aug 1 2022 19:09 utc | 98
Potremmo dire che la Corsica è italiana che Gibilterra e spagnola come il Dombas è ucraino, oppure le isole curili al Giappone e non alla Russia,Posted by: Alessandro Cagliostr | Aug 1 2022 18:24 utc | 75
Non c'è di che e grazie, Alessandro, per la tua riposta.
As we use to say in French, comparaison n'est pas raison, which literally means "comparing doesn't makes one right".
Corsican don't speak Italian and they want to be independent from France as well as from Italy. Though it's a minority of them. I would agree to grant them the right to vote for it.
Plus most of your examples are about belonging to a country or another, not independence.
It would be more accurate to compare Taiwan with New Caledonia for instance.
New Caledonia is a South Pacific French Island that was granted the right to chose to remain French or become independent. It's an old French colony thousands of miles away from France with absolutely no cultural nor linguistic links. Unfortunately for the aboriginal who for the most part wanted their island back, independence didn't happen. Though it was perfectly justified and legitimate, the strengths inside the island were in favour of remaining French, mostly the descendants of settlers and the economic interests.
Anyway, the Chinese strategy was always a game of patience : working slowly under the radar to turn the population in your favour, whether by playing on demography or by making itself a necessary, reliable and attractive motherland.
Try to see it this way : to me, Taiwan is the Chinese equivalent of Alsace-Lorraine.
Posted by: xiao pignouf | Aug 1 2022 19:10 utc | 99
In October 2019, Jake Sullivan, who became U.S. National Security Advisor in 2021, stated in an interview that the U.S. needed a clear threat to rally the world and play the role of saviour of mankind and that China could be that organizing principle for U.S. foreign policy. In the 2019 interview, he acknowledges that the problem was that people were not going to believe that China is a global threat, that their view of China is too positive and that the United States would need a “Pearl Harbour moment,” a real focusing event to change their minds, something he calmly stated that “would scare the hell out of the American people.”
Jake Sullivan inadvertently revealed more than he intended with his new Pearl Harbor reference.
Historian Robert Stinnett wrote a book suggesting that the United States not only knew that Pearl Harbor was coming, but also that the USA deliberately provoked Japan into the attack and then allowed it to happen.
The Day of Deceit: The Truth About FDR and Pearl Harbor
https://fee.org/articles/the-day-of-deceit-the-truth-about-fdr-and-pearl-harbor/amp?gclid=Cj0KCQjw852XBhC6ARIsAJsFPN0QAdhgJintE6BbanWt078oSNWzhPTQBRR1gqZyle3_lldJmLS348YaAjDGEALw_wcB
Pearl Harbor was the oh-so-convenient pretext the USA eagerly seized upon to overcome domestic isolationist/antiwar sentiment in order to enter World War 2.
More recently, another New Pearl Harbor incident involves the curious events of the September 11th attacks.
As David Ray Griffin documents, there is significant evidence to suggest the Bush regime’s criminal complicity, if not outright orchestration and execution, of this (false flag) "terrorist" attack.
THE NEW PEARL HARBOR
Disturbing Questions about the Bush Administration and 9/11
https://www.cia.gov/library/abbottabad-compound/1D/1D070EA544FE7928BEEF09659C079ACC_David_Ray_Griffin_-_The_New_Pearl_Harbour.pdf
Regardless, the Americans eagerly seized upon 9-11 as a pretext to launch a global War on Terrorism that continues to this day. The only problem is that this War on Terrorism is a smokescreen for another agenda: American world domination.
This war on terrorism is bogus
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2003/sep/06/september11.iraq
If America’s “War on Terrorism” is a war based on false pretenses, what does that say about 9-11?
Regarding Taiwan, some curious developments involving the US Congress include a bill for a Taiwan Lend-Lease militarization program similar to the Ukraine Lend-Lease militarization program and a bill that would effectively gut the USA’s One-China policy--all waiting in the wings, ready to go….
US lawmakers introduce bill to arm Taiwan
https://www.rt.com/news/559898-taiwan-lend-lease-act/
As Pelosi Taiwan visit looms, Menendez bill would ‘gut’ One China policy
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/2022/08/01/as-pelosi-taiwan-visit-looms-menendez-bill-would-gut-one-china-policy/
This is reminiscent of how significant sections of the Patriot Act were waiting and ready to go before the September 11th “terrorist” attack conveniently occurred.
Like Pearl Harbor and September 11th, the Pelosi provocation can be used as a pretext to push through a pre-existing American war agenda that can be propagandized as the USA valiantly defending “democracy, freedom, and the right of self-determination.”
Many American wars are (officially) started with manufactured provocations or lies, where the USA tries to bait the other side into “firing the first shot,” so America can once again masquerade as the innocent Defender of Democracy who is being threatened by Evil-Doers Who Hate Our Freedoms.
The Gulf of Tonkin, Pearl Harbor, September 11th, Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq….
Posted by: ak74 | Aug 1 2022 19:13 utc | 100
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I would say that Cynthia is correct in her well-reasoned suspicion. Why else would the USS Ronald Reagan and its accompanying ships reposition as they have? False flag in 3, 2, 1...
Posted by: Carl | Aug 1 2022 16:04 utc | 1