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Not only the region... A worry is the step will encourage other regimes that feel they have might to remove leaders they do not like and replace them with mario
by kledru 9mo ago
Not only the region... A worry is the step will encourage other regimes that feel they have might to remove leaders they do not like and replace them with marionette-like figures. Also, here we have another permanent member of UN Security Council making decisions to intervene without consulting the UN or even their own constitutional bodies...
(My opinion of Maduro is that he was not a legitimate leader.)
- gorbachev 9mo agoXi Jinping is probably sending thank you cards to Trump right about now.
- abirch 9mo agoTaiwan's President should definitely be worried.
- lukan 9mo agoI guess they are, because china was (or still is) practicing blocking of Taiwan. And Trump made somewhat a commitment to Taiwan, but who knows if there won't be a better deal with china tomorrow?
- throwaway1389z 9mo agoCHIPS and Science Act disagrees with "commitment" to the tune of 280 billion, considering that Chip manufacturing is the life blood of Taiwan.
- orangeboats 9mo agoVery apt username for the occasion.
- cman1444 9mo agoIndeed. If I'm Xi, I'm invading Taiwan tomorrow. Russia invading Ukraine, USA decapitating Venezuela....there's not even a pretense that international law matters any more. It's also clear that Trump only respects power, which China clearly has. He already backed off tariffs with the critical minerals threat. Unlikely he'd come to Taiwan's aid in my opinion. With political polarization in America, you can bet all kinds of fingers would start pointing at Trump in America, saying he enabled it by meddling with Venezuela. Stock market collapse from TSMC blockade would enhance this even moreso. I wouldn't count on much, if any, rallying around the flag effect.
- pembrook 9mo agoExcept this was already going to happen and everybody has known for years. Xi made a new years address just a few days ago essentially saying China would reunite Taiwan.
- komali2 9mo ago> reunite This is the incorrect word to use since the PRC has never held territory here. If the PLA sets foot on Taiwan, that's an imperialist invasion, nothing less, unless the people of Taiwan have democratically chosen to abdicate their government for CPC rule, in which case the word should be "unify" or "merge."
- mytailorisrich 9mo agoReunite is not incorrect in the broader sense. We use the term "reunification" for Germany but the Federal Republic never "held territory" in the Democratic Republic. However, of course both states were the result of a split of "Germany". This is the same with the ROC and PRC so bringing both sides together, whatever the mean, is a reunification in that sense. The narrative of rejecting the term can be said to be broadly propaganda but plays on a peculiarity that both sides don't recognise each others.
- jacquesm 9mo ago> However, of course both states were the result of a split of "Germany". > This is the same with the ROC and PRC It really isn't. Note that West Germany did not have to invade East Germany to re-unify and that East Germany was on a per-capita basis much poorer than West Germany. Unlike Taiwan, which is doing more than twice as good. So this would be more in line with Russia invading Ukraine. And that's precisely the rhetoric they are using: 'unification'.
- mytailorisrich 9mo agoThis is all totally inacurrate and beside the point. China has factually split, like Germany before. Whether any "reunification" happens peacefully or not is irrelevant to the use of term and so is which side is the richer. Russia and Ukraine is obviously not the same at all, and "unification" is obviously not the same as "reunification".
- tooltalk 9mo agowhy? Xi already made his intention with Taiwan clear many years ago. Besides, Xi, while pretending to be neutral, has become the major backer of Putin's war effort. It's not like Trump is doing anything special.
- immibis 9mo agoThe UN permanent security council members are (or were meant to be) precisely the countries that are so powerful they can choose to invade you and nobody can stop them. The hope was that by letting them veto you, they'll veto you instead of invading you.
- physicsguy 9mo agoDon't think that's true of Britain and France these days...
- tokai 9mo agoBritain for sure, but France's military is explicitly build up as an expeditionary force.
- physicsguy 9mo agoIn theory but without allies they're not able to in practice.
- baubino 9mo agoEspecially when no nation wants to touch this (e.g., Starmer being very quick to say that the UK wasn’t involved, etc.), it only reinforces that any power willing or able to make a bold move like this will likely not face much opposition (also see Russia in Ukraine).
- Helmut10001 9mo agoThe most prominent case for such a future would be china moving against Taiwan, which now got easier with two of the 3 big world powers making their move.
- trvz 9mo agoTaiwan is stronger than Venezuela. China is much weaker than the Golden Empire.
- nevertoolate 9mo agoTaiwan is a different story. There are quite detailed war simulations built for defending the country. I guess you might mean that russia is one of the “3 big world” powers and their move is the special operations to capture kiev. I stop here
- Helmut10001 9mo agoYes, I meant China, Russia and the US with the "3 big world" powers and yes, I was referring to the war in Ukraine. I am aware that the situation in Taiwan, Ukraine and Venezuela cannot be compared one-to-one. My categorization was not intended to suggest that these 'moves' are the same, nor to make any evaluation regarding good or bad. From the respective perspectives of the 3 world powers, they have been motivated by different interests. The important point is that each of the three will use the moves of the others to justify their own, whether this is correct or not.
- komali2 9mo agoWhat frustrates me is the justification I hear for this from those opposed to the kidnapping of Maduro, an illegitimate president. Somehow it's not ok for the USA to violently meddle in the internal affairs of another country, but it is for the PRC because... Taiwan is nearby? Because the people speak the same language? Because the ghosts of the CPC's past are here on the island? It's frustrating.
- vmg12 9mo ago> A worry is the step will encourage other regimes that feel they have might to remove leaders they do not like and replace them with marionette-like figures Go type "list Russian regime change operations from the last 20 years" in chatgpt.
- amelius 9mo agoNo need for LLMs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_involvement_in_regime_change https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_involvement_in_regime_...
- gnull 9mo agoIt's not just encouraging, it's almost making it a necessity. Putting aside one's respect for law may be a matter of responsibility when your competitors are gaining advantage by not playing by the rules.
- SauntSolaire 9mo agoThat's the point of being a permanent member of UN Security Council -- it's a position of power, not of subordination.
- kledru 9mo agoCan't rule out Leopold's Congo scenario, as the first comments do not look good: * resource extraction focus * dismissal of local leadership (Machado "does not have the following or respect" -- Nobel hurting?) * no transition plan to self-governance (perhaps it is early) * military occupation ("not afraid of boots on the ground", "military will protect oil operations")
- filoeleven 9mo agoThese things happened today subsequent to Venezuela: North Korea ‘has fired ballistic missile towards the Sea of Japan’ https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/03/north-korea-has-fired-ballistic-missile-towards-the-sea-of-japan https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/03/north-korea-ha... UK and France carry out strikes against Isis target in Syria https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/politics/uk-france-syria-attack-islamic-state-isis-b2894058.html https://www.the-independent.com/news/uk/politics/uk-france-s...