Message spreading among Chinese students and their parents
Beijing has reportedly asked Chinese students to leave Taiwan before the presidential and legislative elections scheduled for January 11, even though some students have said they would rather stay on the island to observe the voting process themselves.Possibly related. from Reuters via Yahoo News, November 7:
A Chinese municipal government office that handles the affairs of local residents with children studying in Taiwan has announced that students are advised to return to China before January 11, according to a screenshot sent by a parent to Apple Daily on Saturday (Nov. 9). The message does not provide an explanation, but many believe it is meant to prevent Chinese students from staying in the country while the Taiwanese electorate casts its ballot for the next leader of the country.
Several students from different Chinese cities said they had received similar messages, the report said. As election day falls on the final week of classes for many universities in Taiwan, some Chinese students are now asking schools if they can take their final exams earlier, it added....MORE
Taiwan warns of possible attack if China's slowdown 'becomes serious'
Beijing could resort to military conflict with self-ruled Taiwan to divert domestic pressure if a slowdown in the world's second largest economy amid trade war threatens the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party, the island's foreign minister has said.Because Taiwan is incredibly well defended after years of thinking about this exact threat a frontal assault by China would be madness. Even after a decapitation attack to take out Taiwan's top leadership it would be a daunting task, especially since China's military hasn't been battle tested since the last time Vietnam fought them to a standstill.
As Taiwan's presidential elections approach in January, China has stepped up a campaign to "reunify" with what it considers a wayward province, wooing away the island's few diplomatic allies and flying regular bomber patrols around it.
In an interview with Reuters, Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu drew attention to China's slowing economy amid its bitter trade war with the United States.
"If the internal stability is a very serious issue, or economic slowdown has become a very serious issue for the top leaders to deal with, that is the occasion that we need to be very careful," Wu said on Wednesday.
"We need to prepare ourselves for the worst situation to come...military conflict."
China's economy, though still growing, is expected to slow to a near 30-year low this year, underscoring a stiff challenge for Beijing in stepping up stimulus to keep up growth that has been fundamental to the Communist Party's political legitimacy....MORE
The thinking among folks much smarter than I about this stuff is that China would want a "practice" war, maybe against Vietnam over the South China Sea before going after Taiwan.
In favor of this theory is the fact Vietnam no longer has the services of General Võ Nguyên Giáp, possibly the greatest general of the 20th century, who defeated in turn, the French empire, the U.S.A. Cambodia and China in 1954, 1975, 1978 and 1979 respectively.
That last conflict was the result of China's invasion of Vietnam in an attempt to force Vietnam out of Cambodia which Vietnam had invaded in 1978, putting Pol Pot and the Kmer Rouge génocidaires out of business. It didn't work, Vietnam stayed in Cambodia until 1989.
The General died in 2013 age 102 having outlived everyone who went up against him.
On the other hand a coup of some sort has probably been planned by Beijing for years:
July 3, 2019
China to Narrow Chip Gap With Taiwan Invasion
Did I say invade? I meant trade.
I must have been thinking of China's Defense Minister last month saying "China must be and will be reunited".
With the Taiwanese elections coming up it's probably as good a time as any for Beijing to make some sort of move. Probably not invasion though. China will want to test its military somewhere, our guess is Vietnam, before tackling Taiwan. So probably some sort of fifth column action, cyber, electrical grid etc. And the people to do it are already on the island, I mean if the Chinese could get one of their spies into Dianne Feinstein's office while she was Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee (2009 - 2015), the guy was her San Francisco office manager, not, as reported, the chauffeur, if they could do that there is no doubt they have assets in Teipei.
So where was I?
Chips. For all their technological wizardry the Chinese are still having trouble making chips....
