De spanningen tussen China en de USA lopen niet alleen op handelsgebied en in de Zuid Chinese Zee huizenhoog op. Ook om Taiwan en/of Japan dreigt oorlog.

Volledig genegeerd door de West-Europese MSM is de volgende potentiële lont in het Chinese kruitvat al aangestoken:

Republican US Congressman Yoho announced he will propose legislation this week that would force the US to declare war on China should Beijing attempt to occupy Taiwan. Yes, this is not law yet – but against the current political backdrop in DC such a bill is likely to sail through Congress. If so, it would no doubt be taken as a staggering affront by Beijing. Historians will note it is precisely the kind of red-line mutual defence commitments that we saw pre-1914 and 1939, and which either de-escalate geopolitical tensions, or take us towards people saying “It will be over by Christmas.”

Want de Democraten zijn vrede, dat weet u want het is algemeen bekend. Dus samenwerking met die oorlogshitsende Republikeinen wordt alleen gemeld als men kan uitleggen dat er geen alternatief was.

Dat kan nog even duren, maar dit opent meer wegen naar een directe militaire confrontatie dan plezierig is. Zodat we ons moeten verlaten op de Engelstalige Taiwan News voor meer gegevens:

U.S. Congressman Ted Yoho (R-FL) on Friday (July 17) announced that he will introduce a bill this week that would authorize the U.S. to use military force if China invades Taiwan.
In an Friday interview with Lou Dobbs on an episode of Fox Business titled “Red Storm Rising,” when Dobbs asked Yoho if the U.S. is doing enough to protect allies such as Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan from China’s aggressive military posture in the region, Yoho described the trilateral arrangement between the U.S., South Korea, and Japan as “one of the strongest relationships in national security.” However, when it comes to Taiwan, Yoho asserted that the U.S. is not doing enough.

Duidelijke taal. Dat deze Afgevaardigde ook betrokken was bij de bipartisane actie om de handelsprivileges van HongKong in te trekken toen China daar ingreep om de protesten van de bevolking te beëindigen geeft wel aan dat dit meer is dan de oprisping van een lid van de oppositie in het Huis.

Yoho, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and co-sponsor of the Hong Kong Autonomy Act, said that since the days of Henry Kissinger, the U.S. has maintained a policy of “strategic ambiguity” between Taiwan and China. Yoho then announced he is introducing a bill in the coming week called the “Taiwan Invasion Prevention Act” that will “lay very clear what our intent is.”

De snelle verslechtering van de Amerikaans-Chinese betrekkingen valt beide zijden te verwijten. De argumenten zijn slecht tot uiterst mager:

Yoho explained that Taiwan has in fact never been part of communist China, “nor do they want to.” Indeed, a poll released earlier this month showed that 67 percent of people in Taiwan consider themselves Taiwanese, while 27.7 percent support “maintaining the status quo and moving toward independence,” the highest level reported since 1994, and only 0.7 percent said they would be in favor of immediate unification with China.

Maar sinds wanneer hebben landen goede argumenten nodig om ten oorlog te trekken?

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Zie ook ons dossier Zuid Chinese Zee en Dossier Wereldpolitiek USA