China has said it will “never compromise” on the issue of Taiwan, in its first military talks with the US since 2021.

It urged the US to “stop arming Taiwan” and take its concerns “seriously”.

This comes just days ahead of pivotal elections in Taiwan, which could push the island further towards - or away - from Beijing.

China claims Taiwan as part of its own territory, but the island sees itself as distinct from the Chinese mainland.

  • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    I think they are taking China’s concerns seriously. That’s why they are arming Taiwan.

    I’m tired of this idea that the people of a region shouldn’t have the choice of whether or not they are a part of a country. This applies to Taiwan, Ukraine, Chechnya, Palestine, Catalan, Tibet, or anyone else that wants to break off from a country people other than them decided they were a part of.

      • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Some of the states suceeding might actually be a relatively peaceful way to get beyond the current political divide in the US. Though both of those states (and most of the others) are more purple than red or blue, so it’s complicated and would probably require a mechanism to separate from the separation, kinda like West Virginia breaking away from Virginia when it broke away from the USA. All or nothing referendums probably aren’t a great way to do something like this.

      • ArxCyberwolf@lemmy.ca
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        11 months ago

        That’s not gonna go the way they think it will, and I doubt there’s enough public support for it to ever happen.

        • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          Honestly, I think the closest parallel to Taiwan in the 2020s is Cuba in, say, 1980s.

          Their biggest sponsor is retreating from the world globally and can no longer really afford to support a full military detachment there indefinitely, especially after fucking up in Afghanistan for the last decade. There’s a ton of economic reasons to just drop this bullshit and be normal, but they’re too prideful to let the issue go. All their neighbors are increasingly hostile to the jilted-ex attitude their neighbor is displaying, but when you’ve got nukes who is really going to argue with you?

          So the US perpetuates a blockade of the island for the next 40 years out of spite, hoping that one day the Cuban government will just kinda collapse and let the Americans back in.

          And the Chinese will continue to economically love-bomb Taiwan, while picking fights with the US by running military drills around the island’s edges, hoping against hope that they’ll eventually get a better reception in Taipei than they did in Hong Kong.

    • Might Be@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      Does this apply to Donetsk and Luhansk as well?

      Want to make sure you are internally consistent here.

      • Buddahriffic@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        If they honestly wanted to leave Ukraine to join Russia, I don’t think Ukraine should stop them. But a) it complicates things when a country sends its own people to get a region to vote to join that country, b) it’s also further complicated when there’s a divide in the population (which also likely applies to the regions I mentioned), and c) I don’t trust a referendum run by today’s Russia after it invaded and displaced populations in those regions.

        But yeah, I don’t just believe this when it’s politically convenient, though I would prefer to see such a mechanism used to enable self-governance rather than leaving one country to join another as ultimately I am anti-empire.

      • wanderingmagus@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        If you use sham referendums and Kremlin news sources as your basis for reality, why not move there? I’m sure Putin would welcome you with open arms!

        • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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          11 months ago

          If you use sham referendums and Kremlin news sources

          I mean, shame elections were what split the country back in 2014 and caused the intra-state violence that eventually turned into an inter-state war. Eastern Ukraine has been dominated by Russian ethnic nationals and Russia-aligned businesses since the fall of the Soviet Union. The West is where all the Euro-loving Indies and Banderites live.

          You hardly needed a referendum to know Donetsk would side with the Russians. That’s like asking how folks in Alabama feel about the Confederacy. Hell, Crimea was effectively a bloodless conquest in no small part because the Crimeans were totally opposed to the sitting Ukrainian government.

  • Doorbook@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    When US support a genocide in the middle east under the statement “Isreal have the right to defend itself by attacking others” It is amazing that China still haven’t rolled in with their military in Taiwan.

    • chakan2@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      They’re waiting to see if Trump is in office. He can be bought for fairly cheap.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        Yeah, but bought by whom? Modi’s India and Meloni’s Italy and Yoon Suk Yeol’s Korea all want a slice. Hell, the US is overflowing with NatSec types who are eager for a loss cannon like Trump to take office.

        I don’t think Trump siding with China is in any way inevitable. He could just as easily be baited into starting a shooting war purely thanks to some Beautiful Generals massaging his ego.

    • SkyezOpen@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      They already know we don’t care about genocide of middle eastern people, they’re worried we’ll support them with military equipment like Ukraine. They’re even using Russia’s playbook. “Stop helping them prepare to defend against an invasion or else.”

    • wanderingmagus@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      China knows about the Commander of the Join Chiefs of Staff’s priorities and the contingency Global Campaign Plans for INDOPACOM if they fuck around too hard. Give STRATCOM and SOCOM a good reason to let loose. The Fast Attacks need the target practice anyways.

  • hottari@lemmy.ml
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    11 months ago

    So much for capitalism bringing China and the US mutual relations closer.

    • aew360@lemm.ee
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      11 months ago

      How about before Xi? What about the decades following 1971? It totally brought the two countries closer together and thinking otherwise is absurd

      • hark@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        The only thing that brought the two countries together was getting one over the USSR. Divide and conquer is the oldest trick in the book. After that, China threatening the US’s top spot as economic superpower made them the bad guys. The US hates competition unless it drives down worker wages.

        • aew360@lemm.ee
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          11 months ago

          Ehh idk. Whoever thinks that China will take the top spot hasn’t checked China’s demographic pyramid. They’ll likely make a push for Taiwan in the next five years not because they’re finally militarily ready, but because if it doesn’t happen soon, it certainly won’t happen later on when the country is struggling to maintain the status quo internally.

          • hark@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            The demographics issue is overblown and often gets repeated uncritically with a bunch of assumptions. I guess we’ll wait and see. What’s definitely true is that based on current trajectory, China is poised to take the top spot.

              • hark@lemmy.world
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                11 months ago

                Do you have any articles or anything on this? I’m interested in knowing the details.

  • The Snark Urge@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    If they’ll never compromise, they’ve already chosen war. They are just waiting for the right moment. US policy should focus on keeping that at bay.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      I mean, imagine if a Chinese military force decided to occupy Hawaii for 60 years, after a bunch of Jan 6thers fled there and declared it independent by way of some Sovereign Citizen gibberish. Do you think there’s anyone in Washington who would be running on the “No big deal, let them have it” platform?

  • ComradeSharkfucker@lemmy.ml
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    11 months ago

    I don’t understand how they think arming Taiwan will make China less aggressive about this? How would the US react if China had a military base in Cuba like the US has in Taiwan? Of course China is being aggressive about this, it’s a threat

    Also Taiwan doesn’t exactly see itself as distinct form the mainland in the way the article implies. Taiwan insists that it is the real china and the mainland is their territory while the mainland believes it is the real china and Taiwan is it’s territory. It’s a strange situation.

    • ArxCyberwolf@lemmy.ca
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      11 months ago

      China’s being aggressive because Xi is throwing a tantrum over not getting what he wants. It’s nothing new, nor is it anything we haven’t heard before from him. I don’t know why this is considered news.

      • ComradeSharkfucker@lemmy.ml
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        11 months ago

        Confidently said by someone who doesn’t understand the Chinese governmental system. It isn’t a dictatorship, not everything Xi says goes. Major decisions are discussed thoroughly by a large board before any action is taken. If Xi was making shitty childish decisions that the party saw as short sighted and foolish the party would act against him. He isn’t all powerful.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
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    11 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    “China expressed its willingness to develop healthy and stable military-to-military relations with the United States on the basis of equality and respect,” said the defence ministry readout.

    In 2022, China refused to resume talks as a protest move after then US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August 2022.

    Their resumption early this week follows a deal struck by Chinese president Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Joe Biden during a meeting in November.

    Separately, Taiwan has said it does not consider the launch of a Chinese satellite over the island’s southern airspace on Tuesday an act of election interference.

    Chinese state media said the satellite, named the Einstein Probe, is used to “observe mysterious transient phenomena”.

    The island’s main opposition party the Kuomintang (KMT) criticised the “arbitrary” use of an islandwide alert as fear-mongering.


    The original article contains 375 words, the summary contains 136 words. Saved 64%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!