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> B. "isn't capable enough" - according to the US... I simply say, don't underestimate your opponent. If you had said that Germany would nearly conquer Europe i

> B. "isn't capable enough" - according to the US... I simply say, don't underestimate your opponent. If you had said that Germany would nearly conquer Europe in 1929, you would've been laughed at as insane. If you had said the US would ultimately lose a country to the Taliban, you would’ve also been laughed at as insane. Ironically that is exactly what you are doing with Taiwan and its defensive capabilities. Taiwan has been preparing for an invasion and attacks from the larger mainland since the revolution and has become one of the defensible places on the planet. > Who needs a full scale amphibious invasion? Bomb some government buildings, blockade the place, and when 90% of Taiwan's energy is imported, they go dark and are willing to negotiate. You just moved the goal post from invasion to a blockage, but lets continue anyway. Why are you assuming Taiwan would just keel over and allow that to happen? Why are you assuming the Chinese navy would be capable from preventing the US and its allies from conducting freedom of navigation operations through the blockade? You know for someone who just said "I simply say, don't underestimate your opponent" you are doing a lot of underestimating of China's opponents in this situation.

gjsman-1000 3y ago
> Ironically that is exactly what you are doing with Taiwan and its defensive capabilities. Taiwan has been preparing for an invasion and attacks from the larger mainland since the revolution and has become one of the defensible places on the planet. If you're swallowing the cool-aid, definitely. In practice, not really. Just one example: Their mandatory military training has been considered, as just one example, atrociously useless by graduates and little more than a "summer camp." So much so that it was recently changed starting in 2024 to be one year instead of four months. Graduates were causing scandal by saying they did not even learn how to fire a gun during their conscription. https://globaltaiwan.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/GTB-Volume-9-Issue-3.pdf https://globaltaiwan.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/GTB-Volu... https://www.reddit.com/r/CredibleDefense/comments/wah0u6/dispelling_the_myth_of_taiwan_military_competency/ https://www.reddit.com/r/CredibleDefense/comments/wah0u6/dis... This comes in addition to a poll (by the Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation), which found that 78% of respondents aged 20 and over (who, again, would have been in the mandatory military service), said they had "no confidence that Taiwan could defend itself." https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/taiwans-military-needs-overhaul-amid-china-threat-critics-say https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/taiwans-military-needs-ov... https://www.voanews.com/a/taiwan-mulls-lengthening-military-service-/6523728.html https://www.voanews.com/a/taiwan-mulls-lengthening-military-... So think about this. You're bragging about Taiwan. 78% of the young people who have been through its training have said they have no confidence in their ability to defend themselves. That's a really bad omen. Even if the poll were 20% off, if that were possible, 58% of young people saying they didn't have confidence would be terrifying, and I'm not going to just say, "well, my statistics show you should be fine, therefore you're wrong" to people who live there. > Why are you assuming Taiwan would just keel over and allow that to happen? Why are you assuming the Chinese navy would be capable from preventing the US and its allies from conducting freedom of navigation operations through the blockade? Because, China threatens anyone who dares assist. It's not a military question, it's a political question about whether angering China is a safe move. While blockading Russia is scary; blockading China would be an economically suicidal for any nation that attempts it. This is combined with the threat of internal sabotage and potential military actions on any nation assisting Taiwan. And while I'm not supporting Trump here, think about our border, which had 2.5 million encounters in 2023. If there were just 50,000 CCP officers in that 2.5 million, the damage they could do in a coordinated effort would be incredible.
- wnevets 3y ago
  > If you're swallowing the cool-aid, definitely. Oh, the irony is rich. You're doing exactly that with mainland China and its purported strength and capabilities.
  - gjsman-1000 3y ago
    > purported strength and capabilities I've just demonstrated that your understanding of Taiwan's purported strength and capabilities is inaccurate. Demonstrate to me why my understanding of China's purported strength and capabilities is inaccurate with an actually intelligent comment, please. Our own US DOD is saying it would get ugly, and that China has serious advantages in the region. https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3553901/general-highlights-chinas-military-advantages-disadvantages/ https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/35... Our own strategy, as the Department of Defense indicates, is to avoid war in the first place. If that should fail, victory is not necessarily even a reasonable expectation.
    - wnevets 3y ago
      Lets make thing interesting then, I am willing to wager that there will be neither an invasion nor blockage of Taiwan by China in the next 5 years.

gjsman-1000 3y ago

> Ironically that is exactly what you are doing with Taiwan and its defensive capabilities. Taiwan has been preparing for an invasion and attacks from the larger mainland since the revolution and has become one of the defensible places on the planet. If you're swallowing the cool-aid, definitely. In practice, not really. Just one example: Their mandatory military training has been considered, as just one example, atrociously useless by graduates and little more than a "summer camp." So much so that it was recently changed starting in 2024 to be one year instead of four months. Graduates were causing scandal by saying they did not even learn how to fire a gun during their conscription. https://globaltaiwan.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/GTB-Volume-9-Issue-3.pdf https://globaltaiwan.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/GTB-Volu... https://www.reddit.com/r/CredibleDefense/comments/wah0u6/dispelling_the_myth_of_taiwan_military_competency/ https://www.reddit.com/r/CredibleDefense/comments/wah0u6/dis... This comes in addition to a poll (by the Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation), which found that 78% of respondents aged 20 and over (who, again, would have been in the mandatory military service), said they had "no confidence that Taiwan could defend itself." https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/taiwans-military-needs-overhaul-amid-china-threat-critics-say https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/taiwans-military-needs-ov... https://www.voanews.com/a/taiwan-mulls-lengthening-military-service-/6523728.html https://www.voanews.com/a/taiwan-mulls-lengthening-military-... So think about this. You're bragging about Taiwan. 78% of the young people who have been through its training have said they have no confidence in their ability to defend themselves. That's a really bad omen. Even if the poll were 20% off, if that were possible, 58% of young people saying they didn't have confidence would be terrifying, and I'm not going to just say, "well, my statistics show you should be fine, therefore you're wrong" to people who live there. > Why are you assuming Taiwan would just keel over and allow that to happen? Why are you assuming the Chinese navy would be capable from preventing the US and its allies from conducting freedom of navigation operations through the blockade? Because, China threatens anyone who dares assist. It's not a military question, it's a political question about whether angering China is a safe move. While blockading Russia is scary; blockading China would be an economically suicidal for any nation that attempts it. This is combined with the threat of internal sabotage and potential military actions on any nation assisting Taiwan. And while I'm not supporting Trump here, think about our border, which had 2.5 million encounters in 2023. If there were just 50,000 CCP officers in that 2.5 million, the damage they could do in a coordinated effort would be incredible.

wnevets 3y ago
> If you're swallowing the cool-aid, definitely. Oh, the irony is rich. You're doing exactly that with mainland China and its purported strength and capabilities.
- gjsman-1000 3y ago
  > purported strength and capabilities I've just demonstrated that your understanding of Taiwan's purported strength and capabilities is inaccurate. Demonstrate to me why my understanding of China's purported strength and capabilities is inaccurate with an actually intelligent comment, please. Our own US DOD is saying it would get ugly, and that China has serious advantages in the region. https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/3553901/general-highlights-chinas-military-advantages-disadvantages/ https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/35... Our own strategy, as the Department of Defense indicates, is to avoid war in the first place. If that should fail, victory is not necessarily even a reasonable expectation.
  - wnevets 3y ago
    Lets make thing interesting then, I am willing to wager that there will be neither an invasion nor blockage of Taiwan by China in the next 5 years.