The Briefing Room
General Category => Editorial/Opinion/Blogs => Topic started by: Fishrrman on February 04, 2023, 03:06:42 pm
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https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/feb/3/team-bidens-diplomacy-will-not-prevent-china-from-/
Team Biden’s diplomacy will not prevent China from attacking Taiwan
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By Jed Babbin - - Friday, February 3, 2023
Air Force Gen. Michael Minihan is one of those guys who has real-world warfighting responsibilities. He’s commander of Air Force Air Mobility Command, which means that he’s the man who has to put up the “air bridge” – the hundreds of tanker aircraft that ensure our combat and cargo aircraft can get where and when they’re needed – in the first stage of any big crisis.
His memorandum to subordinate commanders, dated Feb. 1 but released on Jan. 27, is named, “February 2023 Orders in Preparation for – The Next Fight.” In it, Gen. Minihan describes the situation saying, “I hope I am wrong. My gut tells me we will fight in 2025. [Chinese President Xi Jinping] secured his third term and set his war council in October 2022. Taiwan’s presidential elections are in 2024 and will offer Xi a reason. United States’ presidential elections are in 2024 and will offer Xi a distracted America. Xi’s team, reason and opportunity are all aligned for 2025.”
Gen. Minihan’s memo is not the first such warning of the approaching war with China. In March 2021, Adm. Phil Davidson, commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, said that China was accelerating its ambitions toward Taiwan and that he expected the threat to manifest itself within six years. Adm. Charles Richard, commander of U.S. Strategic Command, also predicted war by 2027. In November, Adm. Richard warned that with respect to China, our deterrent is a slowly sinking ship.
Gen. Minihan’s memo was too much for Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee. Mr. Smith told a television interviewer that armed conflict was “highly unlikely,” adding, “We have a very dangerous situation in China, but I think generals need to be very cautious about saying, ‘We’re going to war.’”
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Diplomacy will not prevent China from attacking Taiwan. Even if Mr. Biden clarified our policy and said we would intervene in a Chinese attack, it would likely not be enough. Formally adding Japan to the “AUKUS” alliance —Australia, United Kingdom and U.S. — would help, but probably not enough.
We don’t know what Mr. Biden would do if such a war began while he is in office, particularly if he is defeated in November 2024 and his successor has not yet taken office.
We are sleepwalking to war with China. While Gen. Minihan and Admirals Davidson and Richard are sending up warnings, Mr. Biden and congressional Democrats are ignoring them. We have to do better, but Mr. Biden apparently has no intention of doing so.
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Prevent? Biden's 'diplomacy' [sic] only encourages China to attack Taiwan.
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This administration is incapable of "diplomacy."
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Time to resurrect the ol' South East Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) and expand membership to balance and challenge China's influence in the region.
I'm sure Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailan, Cambodia, and Indonesia would cooperate to prevent China from unilaterally annexing the South China Sea.