The country I lived in here isn't called "Taiwan" that's part of the grander problem and mess both internally here and it's extention into the world beyond.
To be frank, the current admin's play is mostly about internal poltics of winning more votes, to the point where they don't deny that they actively played a part in instigating the whole mess in Hong Kong a few years back (just as they were losing in the polls of the election.) while one may argue for the morale of all this, but if one actually digs into the details of what they have done and haven't done, it usually starts to fall apart pretty fast that morality had anything to do with it.
(For example, the whole mess' starting point was a HK national murdering his girl friend in Taiwan then hopping back to HK before people found out, and the extradition mess was a result of that, today, the guy that accidently ignited this mess openly said multiple times that he wish to face justice by being extradicted into Taiwan, but these justice loving government in Taiwan openly reject having him over on any term. official or not.)
This is of course, not saying the PRC is the good guys, but just pointing out that there are severe dangers in the magical thinking that "If these guys are bad, the guys opposite of them must be good" in this world. As it has already and will inevitably further lead to many shames and disasters which people will totally forget they basically made happen.
( for example, just look the awesome track record of handing out Nobel peace prize to various political leaders . )
I would pose the simple logic that "bad people being bad is not as bad as people you think are good ending up bad" because it is inevitably going to take major tolls into the integrity of trust in this world. Which I would think almost everyone older than 20 have notice is a pretty big issue these days
I'll just point out that in the whole 2016 election when Trump started rolling, the general musing here in Taiwan's internet chatter was "oh hey, the Americans are finally learning our tricks"
As for Lithuania, I'm sure there's some internal factors they have going on there as well, but I would think that for the EU in general, there is probably serious concern that this ends up being more like eve of WW1 where it ends up being the small countries that drag everyone else into a much more serious conflict
Interesting piece!! I need to become more familiar with the ongoing global geo-political game of strategic interdependence played by the West, Asia, Russia and everyone else...not enough hours in a day!!!
The world needs the Christian nations of the former Eastern Block nations to voice their faith in God. It is that faith that got them through the godless rule of the Soviets. It appears that Russia is returning to it's Christian roots and has become more capitalistic as the world has globalized. The Christian East and West must stand up to the Communist regime in China.
This is just a little cat & mouse game between the EUSSR and China, ‘allowing’ two EU member states to become a little bit ‘rebellious’ against China. The EUSSR will try to extract some concessions/leverage out of this little adventure, and then those Taiwanese “Representative Offices” will be shut down again, and Lithuania and Slovenia will once again be in the fold. (p.s. just look at the Corona Fascism in Slovenia and Lithuania to get a rough idea of how they think about freedom and independence.
lithuania it appears is cutting the string to ccp before it becomes a noose. so it is geographically and econ and militarily (nato) buffered from china.
It is not a surprise that Germans would prefer to avoid that. It is not an accident that Germany is leading the EU economically. Less bullshit, more work and business.
This Lithuanian stance also has a historical reason. When Lithuania declared independence from USSR in 1990, only Moldavia (another country with 2M population) recognized it (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_of_the_Re-Establishment_of_the_State_of_Lithuania). Everyone else followed after a year or so. Lithuania is returning the favor.
"For the EU, the CCP’s bullying of one of its member states presents a significant threat to their credibility as a unified and effective global power”. The US bullies EU member states almost daily without risking the EU's credibility as a unified and effective global power. Why not China?
"In its high-profile trade war with Australia, China has accomplished little.The result can only be seen as an embarrassing loss for China and a win for the Aussies”. Unless you count Australia's current recession–its first in 30 years–as a win for China, of course.
At the end of Qing Dynasty rule, both the CCP and the KMT declared that they will inherit the dominion of the Qing Dynasty, which include Taiwan, Xinjiang and Tibet, and rule it as China.
No self-respecting leader of the CCP will let a small country of ~2.8 million make comments over the sovereignty of China, a country of ~1.4 billion people. China had to respond.
The cliché trope of a big country exerting their will over a small country presents a facile description of the relations between Lithuania and China. Countries are driven by self-interest. Banal platitudes like "pledges of unity" are irrelevant - a vacuous concept that is just as stupid and useless as the EU's idea of having a "pan-European identity". This situation shouldn't be portrayed as "China is on the side of evil; Lithuania is on the side of good." I give props to Lithuania for taking advantage of the geopolitical situation between China and Taiwan to further their own interests.
What does Lithuania have to gain by aggravating China?
1. $600 million export credit agreement with the U.S. Export-Import Bank
2. $200 million dollar investment fund set-up by Taiwan to invest in Lithuania, with many observers expecting heavy investment into Lithuania's semiconductor industry, a priority not just for Lithuania but for Europe as a whole
EU has decided to prioritize their chip industry, and is expected to unveil a plan to fund chip production next month, with hopes of doubling the market share of semiconductors in Europe by 2030. If EU decides to aid Lithuania, semiconductors will likely be the main driving force. Given the history of Europe, the veneer of unity is extremely thin.
Going forward, I expect the entire world to follow the path of Lithuania and Japan: they will try to take advantage of Taiwan's geopolitical situation to bolster their own semiconductor industry, forcing Taiwanese chip companies to make investments they wouldn't have otherwise.
Both Taiwan and Lithuania are pawns in a bigger game, with many players taking advantage of China's blunders.
The country I lived in here isn't called "Taiwan" that's part of the grander problem and mess both internally here and it's extention into the world beyond.
To be frank, the current admin's play is mostly about internal poltics of winning more votes, to the point where they don't deny that they actively played a part in instigating the whole mess in Hong Kong a few years back (just as they were losing in the polls of the election.) while one may argue for the morale of all this, but if one actually digs into the details of what they have done and haven't done, it usually starts to fall apart pretty fast that morality had anything to do with it.
(For example, the whole mess' starting point was a HK national murdering his girl friend in Taiwan then hopping back to HK before people found out, and the extradition mess was a result of that, today, the guy that accidently ignited this mess openly said multiple times that he wish to face justice by being extradicted into Taiwan, but these justice loving government in Taiwan openly reject having him over on any term. official or not.)
This is of course, not saying the PRC is the good guys, but just pointing out that there are severe dangers in the magical thinking that "If these guys are bad, the guys opposite of them must be good" in this world. As it has already and will inevitably further lead to many shames and disasters which people will totally forget they basically made happen.
( for example, just look the awesome track record of handing out Nobel peace prize to various political leaders . )
I would pose the simple logic that "bad people being bad is not as bad as people you think are good ending up bad" because it is inevitably going to take major tolls into the integrity of trust in this world. Which I would think almost everyone older than 20 have notice is a pretty big issue these days
I'll just point out that in the whole 2016 election when Trump started rolling, the general musing here in Taiwan's internet chatter was "oh hey, the Americans are finally learning our tricks"
As for Lithuania, I'm sure there's some internal factors they have going on there as well, but I would think that for the EU in general, there is probably serious concern that this ends up being more like eve of WW1 where it ends up being the small countries that drag everyone else into a much more serious conflict
Oh, *that* G7. This pawn pun goes to 11👍🏻
Interesting piece!! I need to become more familiar with the ongoing global geo-political game of strategic interdependence played by the West, Asia, Russia and everyone else...not enough hours in a day!!!
Keeping the world safe for secret CIA torture camps
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/your-own-cia-jail-lithuania-sell-secret-us-rendition-site-2022-01-24/
Interesting read, thanks!
https://nakedemperor.substack.com/
Now we know why we have so many groups of nutters.
The world needs the Christian nations of the former Eastern Block nations to voice their faith in God. It is that faith that got them through the godless rule of the Soviets. It appears that Russia is returning to it's Christian roots and has become more capitalistic as the world has globalized. The Christian East and West must stand up to the Communist regime in China.
Very nice article denotes the extreme intelligence of arguing with incredible similarities and parallels. Congratulations green chicken!
This is just a little cat & mouse game between the EUSSR and China, ‘allowing’ two EU member states to become a little bit ‘rebellious’ against China. The EUSSR will try to extract some concessions/leverage out of this little adventure, and then those Taiwanese “Representative Offices” will be shut down again, and Lithuania and Slovenia will once again be in the fold. (p.s. just look at the Corona Fascism in Slovenia and Lithuania to get a rough idea of how they think about freedom and independence.
Sometimes it take the small guy to take down the bully! Lithuania may be my next foreign trip.
lithuania it appears is cutting the string to ccp before it becomes a noose. so it is geographically and econ and militarily (nato) buffered from china.
Here we can say... Have fun staying poor :-)
It is not a surprise that Germans would prefer to avoid that. It is not an accident that Germany is leading the EU economically. Less bullshit, more work and business.
This Lithuanian stance also has a historical reason. When Lithuania declared independence from USSR in 1990, only Moldavia (another country with 2M population) recognized it (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_of_the_Re-Establishment_of_the_State_of_Lithuania). Everyone else followed after a year or so. Lithuania is returning the favor.
"For the EU, the CCP’s bullying of one of its member states presents a significant threat to their credibility as a unified and effective global power”. The US bullies EU member states almost daily without risking the EU's credibility as a unified and effective global power. Why not China?
"In its high-profile trade war with Australia, China has accomplished little.The result can only be seen as an embarrassing loss for China and a win for the Aussies”. Unless you count Australia's current recession–its first in 30 years–as a win for China, of course.
A pawn to G7 is about to queen and can become the strongest piece on the board. Must protect that G7 square at all costs.
At the end of Qing Dynasty rule, both the CCP and the KMT declared that they will inherit the dominion of the Qing Dynasty, which include Taiwan, Xinjiang and Tibet, and rule it as China.
No self-respecting leader of the CCP will let a small country of ~2.8 million make comments over the sovereignty of China, a country of ~1.4 billion people. China had to respond.
The cliché trope of a big country exerting their will over a small country presents a facile description of the relations between Lithuania and China. Countries are driven by self-interest. Banal platitudes like "pledges of unity" are irrelevant - a vacuous concept that is just as stupid and useless as the EU's idea of having a "pan-European identity". This situation shouldn't be portrayed as "China is on the side of evil; Lithuania is on the side of good." I give props to Lithuania for taking advantage of the geopolitical situation between China and Taiwan to further their own interests.
What does Lithuania have to gain by aggravating China?
1. $600 million export credit agreement with the U.S. Export-Import Bank
2. $200 million dollar investment fund set-up by Taiwan to invest in Lithuania, with many observers expecting heavy investment into Lithuania's semiconductor industry, a priority not just for Lithuania but for Europe as a whole
EU has decided to prioritize their chip industry, and is expected to unveil a plan to fund chip production next month, with hopes of doubling the market share of semiconductors in Europe by 2030. If EU decides to aid Lithuania, semiconductors will likely be the main driving force. Given the history of Europe, the veneer of unity is extremely thin.
Going forward, I expect the entire world to follow the path of Lithuania and Japan: they will try to take advantage of Taiwan's geopolitical situation to bolster their own semiconductor industry, forcing Taiwanese chip companies to make investments they wouldn't have otherwise.
Both Taiwan and Lithuania are pawns in a bigger game, with many players taking advantage of China's blunders.