Ukraine Always Get What You Want

I for one am shocked, etc., ad inf.

 

Good job, Vlad.

"The first step toward any membership of Ukraine to NATO is to ensure that Ukraine prevails, and that is why the U.S. and its partners have provided unprecedented support for Ukraine," he added.”

Stoltenberg says 'Ukraine will join NATO,' vows support despite Russia's 'reckless nuclear rhetoric'

 

Finland would snatch St. Petersburg in a matter of hours.

Finland's value is taking hundreds of thousands of Russian foot soldiers off the Central Europe playing board as a blocking motion. That alone is worth the Finns' admission.

 

Good read.

 

Is it just me, or does it seem like this is how World War III starts? China tries to board a ship, Taiwan refuses, somebody gets shot, and here we go. Some poor Taiwanese sailor becomes the 21st century's Franz Ferdinand.
And shouldn't this be a much bigger story? I've barely heard a peep about it today.

 

Taiwan will be Ukraine Mark II for the U.S.

Lots of aid (money, material and intelligence) but no boots on the ground.

Taiwan will be lots harder for the Chinese to invade with a land army because of the lack of a land border. They'll have to pull off another D-Day.

 

The Chinese navy might be at the point, though, where they can blockade Taiwan and starve them out. That would curtail, if not eliminate, exports as well, which would be devastating for the U.S. Taiwan might be able to repel an invasion, but they'd need our navy to start shooting in order to survive.

 

Our navy doesn't have to shoot first. They can just be there in numbers and dare China to shoot first. If China shoots first, they are the tyrants and brigands, just like Lexington.

 

Nobody wins in that scenario, though.
China in 2023 is what Japan was in 1941 — or even what the U.S. was in 1941. They're a country that has transformed itself into a superpower over a 30-year span and is ready to test itself on the world stage. While we've doddered around, they've been busy buying the countries that won't willingly ally with them.
I'm not sure how it all shakes out in the end. All I know is that it won't be pretty, and China doesn't give a damn about appearances. They don't need to be loved. They'd rather be feared.

 

China has built an economy which is heavily dependent on imports and exports via sea connections, and the Chinese coast is nicely boxed in by US allies.

China isn’t going to blockade Taiwan, because it knows it would be equally blockaded.

 

Would the United States be willing to provide air support to the Taiwanese? If we offered air support a blockade would be very difficult for the Chinese.