It is hard to know where to start with the bizarre tale of the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk and its misfortune off the coast of Hong Kong.
Beijing's refusal to allow the Kitty Hawk and its supporting vessels to dock in Hong Kong was not a subtle dig between wordsmith diplomats; it made a mockery of the US Navy and -- worse -- on Thanksgiving, possibly the most important holiday for families in the US, let alone for sailors on active duty and loved ones who wasted good money to meet them in Hong Kong.
Then there were the minesweepers, the USS Patriot and USS Guardian, whose similar misfortune of denied access was a slap in the face of the nautical tradition of haven for ships in danger.
It was clear from the confusion surrounding the 2001 Hainan Island crisis -- when a US spy plane was shadowed and struck by a Chinese jet and then forced to land on Chinese soil -- that the Chinese military and the communist leadership are not always on the same page.
The same phenomenon preceded the launch of a satellite-busting missile in January: Chinese government spokespeople seemed genuinely unaware of the matter until it was brought out into the open by foreign specialists.
In the case of the Hong Kong incident, however, the Chinese knew well in advance of -- and had apparently approved -- the visit.
The resulting snub has since been denied and confirmed all over again, depending on which Chinese official or state-controlled media outlet is doing the talking.
If Beijing cannot coordinate its political actions and responses with even the barest aptitude in a time of peace, it hardly bodes well for China, Taiwan and the region if a genuine military emergency were to unfold.
Describing the actions of the Chinese over refusing safe haven for the minesweepers, Admiral Tim Keating, the head of the US Pacific Command, said: "It is not, in our view, conduct that is indicative of a country who understands its obligations as a responsible nation."
Strong language, indeed.
But it points to an even uglier truth, and that is that China -- on international relations, human rights, disease control and notification, environmental protection, quality control in trade and any other number of critical matters -- is a country that is, indeed, chronically unable to understand its obligations as a responsible nation.
One of China's biggest success stories has been keeping this truth hidden from view as cleverly as possible.
And for those who pry further, the stock response is that China is a different kind of country that deserves special treatment.
Now, by gratuitously infuriating the most powerful military on the planet, we can see that even these fundamental tactics are beyond Beijing's capabilities, let alone explaining away the deep-seated hostility toward the US that prompted the saga.
It will be fascinating to chart the fallout.
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
If you had a vision of the future where China did not dominate the global car industry, you can kiss those dreams goodbye. That is because US President Donald Trump’s promised 25 percent tariff on auto imports takes an ax to the only bits of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) supply chain that are not already dominated by Beijing. The biggest losers when the levies take effect this week would be Japan and South Korea. They account for one-third of the cars imported into the US, and as much as two-thirds of those imported from outside North America. (Mexico and Canada, while
I have heard people equate the government’s stance on resisting forced unification with China or the conditional reinstatement of the military court system with the rise of the Nazis before World War II. The comparison is absurd. There is no meaningful parallel between the government and Nazi Germany, nor does such a mindset exist within the general public in Taiwan. It is important to remember that the German public bore some responsibility for the horrors of the Holocaust. Post-World War II Germany’s transitional justice efforts were rooted in a national reckoning and introspection. Many Jews were sent to concentration camps not
RSS