i think it's interesting how this is playing out. i would have thought there was no way that Taiwan could stop a China takeover, but i guess I forgot how dedic

i think it's interesting how this is playing out. i would have thought there was no way that Taiwan could stop a China takeover, but i guess I forgot how dedicated the US was to continued world domination -- even at the risk of ending the world. too bad US-Americans don't know about JFK pulling our nukes out of Turkey during the 'Cuban' missile crisis - prob makes Americans sleep more comfortably than we should - which is why most Americans are like, "Nukes? Pffft. We'll just threaten them to not use nukes to end the world else we'll end the world even more." watching our weapons toy with Russia has been enlightening. one thing i'm sure China has learned -- if they decide to physically attack, they best go all in, else they end up like Russia. China, if they wanted to use force, should have probably moved already, while US attention was at least slightly distracted towards Russia. so, on that point, i'd agree with the Admiral. Now, China faces a growing US/Aukus/etc. threat every day that passes. a militarily-stronger Taiwan, a more galvanized anti-China public opinion in the US (US mass media leading the way, as usual), US growing more independent of China in chips and manufacturing every day, more and stronger pro-US military alliances in asia, better-tuned sanctions and other financial controls over China, growing awareness/vigilance among the Taiwanese population, an aging of the pro-China population of Taiwan, etc. Russia or the US could still end the world before we get a chance to hash out Taiwan, so there's always that.