China: Foreign Minister Qin Gang also describes Taiwan as a ‘red line’ in relations with US.

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China: Foreign Minister Qin Gang also describes Taiwan as a ‘red line’ in relations with US.​

Published On 7 Mar 20237 Mar 2023
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/3/7/china-blames-ukraine-crisis-on-invisible-hand

Current flash point: Ukraine
Shouldn't sovereign identity be left to popular preference in Ukraine? If all Ukrainians would prefer to be Russians, what sense does it make to compel them to remain Ukrainian? Conversely, if they're willing to spill blood & treasure to retain Ukrainian sovereignty, what sense does it make for Russia to overrule them?

Potential future flash point: Taiwan
The Taiwanese seem content to continue their own sovereignty. Mainland China apparently aspires to assimilate Taiwan.


Topic Question:

- Should the United Nations establish an international law that imparts the people's preference as a consideration, when military conquest threatens them?
- Is there a significant downside? U.S. MOC Greene (MTG) advocates dividing the U.S. Might such an international law threaten the sovereign integrity of the 50 United States of America?

 

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China 'bribing foreign officials with envelopes of cash, free flights and alcohol'​

Nicola Smith / Sat, March 11, 2023 at 4:14 AM EST
China has been accused of bribing officials in a Pacific nation with envelopes of cash, free flights and alcohol in return for providing backing if it invades Taiwan.
The allegations were made in a bombshell letter to the national parliament by the president of Micronesia, a longstanding US ally in the Pacific.
Sitting north of Australia and east of the Philippines, Micronesia forms part of the “second island chain” that US military strategists view as a critical line of defence against Chinese advances across the Pacific.

China 'bribing foreign officials with envelopes of cash, free flights and alcohol'

The allegations suggest Beijing was hoping for backing for a potential invasion of Taiwan

www.telegraph.co.uk

This may provide insight not merely into the degree of commitment China carries toward invading Taiwan, but perhaps even some indication about China's timing.