China launched its most extensive war games around Taiwan on Monday to showcase Beijing’s ability to cut off the island from outside support in a conflict, testing Taipei’s resolve to defend itself and its arsenal of U.S.-made weapons.

The Eastern Theatre Command said it had deployed troops, warships, fighter jets and artillery for its “Justice Mission 2025” exercises to encircle the democratically governed island, conduct live fire and simulated strikes on land and sea targets, and drills to blockade Taiwan’s main ports.

The live-firing exercises will continue on Tuesday across a record seven zones designated by China’s Maritime Safety Administration, making the drills the largest to date by total coverage and in areas closer to Taiwan than previous exercises. The military had initially said artillery firing would be confined to five zones.

  • LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net
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    8 hours ago

    In one party states there is no distinction between the party and the state. If labor used its control of the government to outlaw, imprison, and murder everyone who tried to organize against them for 70 years then it would be reasonable to make a similar statement about their possession of say, Ireland. Not that they were ever entitled to Ireland, nor was China ever entitled to Taiwan.

    I don’t acknowledge the territorial claims of nation-states since they’re made up anyway. There’s no moral justification for the idea that because some other political group that also called itself China once controlled Taiwan that it now belongs to the party that fought a war against the controllers of the island and exiled them there. Do you not see how crazy that is?

    The only people who have a claim to Taiwan are the people who live there and they do not seem interested in being subjugated by the CPC.

    For the record, the Cuban missile crisis was also created by a failed, imperialist foreign policy. If they had established peaceful relations with Cuba, there never would have been such a crisis. Just as I’m saying with Taiwan. Furthermore, the arms furnished to Taiwan are extremely different and less destructive than nuclear weapons. If the US decided to offer those to Taiwan, I imagine the reaction would be far more extreme than war games. It’s simply not comparable. I personally don’t think the US is much of a threat to China but perhaps that can be debated.

    By the way, it’s incredibly ironic to call me a bootlicker as you apologize for imperial aggression against Taiwan… while I’ve done no such thing. I’ll openly acknowledge that the US gov is a destabilizing malevolent force in the pacific. Something you’ll never admit about the CPC despite abundant evidence.

    • freagle@lemmy.ml
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      7 hours ago

      Ok, now you’re just making shit up.

      In one party states there is no distinction between the party and the state

      Yes, there absolutely is. They are fundamentally different concepts. They always have been and always will be. You are confusing poetry with reasoning.

      nor was China ever entitled to Taiwan.

      It’s literally been part of the nation-state of China since the 1600s. You can argue that the indigenous people should have their own independent state on the island of Taiwan, but you’d have to have a revolution (peaceful or otherwise) on the island first to overturn the entire government and it would need to secede from China. The idea that China did not include Taiwan is ridiculous and ahistorical.

      I don’t acknowledge the territorial claims of nation-states since they’re made up anyway.

      Now you’re just being petulant. Of course you acknowledge the claims. That’s why you have a passport. It’s why you pay your speeding tickets to the correct jurisdictions. It’s why you pay tariffs.

      There’s no moral justification for the idea that because some other political group that also called itself China once controlled Taiwan that it now belongs to the party that fought a war against the controllers of the island and exiled them there. Do you not see how crazy that is?

      Please understand how you sound to me. You’re saying that political groups have territory not 4 sentences after you said political groups don’t have claims to territory. POLITICAL GROUPS DO NOT HAVE CLAIM TO TERRITORY. States do. The CPC does not claim Taiwan is the territory of the CPC. They claim Taiwan is the territory of China which is EXACTLY what their political opponents, the KMT explicitly stated as their official policy for literally decades. You are trying to force a square peg into a round hole. How you don’t see this as a complete contradiction just boggles my mind.

      The only people who have a claim to Taiwan are the people who live there and they do not seem interested in being subjugated by the CPC.

      None of the concepts in this sentence are rational or coherent. The CPC does not wish to subjugate the people of Taiwan. They consider them family, because they are predominantly Han Chinese nationals, just like the Union considered the Confederacy to be family, because in many cases they literally were. The CPC has stated for 50 years that it is not in anyone’s interest, their own included, to integrate Taiwan by force. You do not heal relationships through killing and subjugation. You heal relationships through patience, mutual understanding, and dialog. Literally the CPC has been the only country in the world to have a One Country Two Systems form of government. They have demonstrated that they walk their talk. They are saying the same thing they’ve been saying for 50 fucking years. The fact that you fundamentally believe the CPC wishes to subjugate the people of Taiwan is an artifact of your propaganda sphere, not reality.

      And further, the people who live in Taiwan do not have a claim to Taiwan simply by virtue of living there. That’s why you can’t just go to England and build a cottage and say it’s now LizardLand and they should respect you as sovereign. Sovereignty is a historically and socially constructed phenomena. Existing in a place, after a civil war, and after imperialist intervention, is not a generally accepted foundation of sovereignty. Further, all of the generally accepted foundations of sovereignty, except indigeneity, support the claim that the island of Taiwan is the territory of the nation-state of China and has been for 400 years except for the period of Japanese imperialist occupation, which is NOT considered a foundation for claims of sovereignty, except of course in America and Canada where the law of the land literally relies on the Doctrine of Discovery for its existence.

      For the record, the Cuban missile crisis was also created by a failed, imperialist foreign policy. If they had established peaceful relations with Cuba, there never would have been such a crisis.

      I assume by this you mean the failed imperialist foreign policy of the USA. Which is funny that you try to compare the situations because the USA also created the Taiwan crisis (along with the British. I keep having to repeat myself but remember that the loser of the civil war, the loser of popular support, and the retreating army of the KMT was protected by the USA and British Navy as they retreated to Taiwan and the US and British intervened in the civil war to ensure that it could not end and protected the KMT while they proceeded to mass murder every single person on the island that was pro-CPC and pro-integration. After 40 years of that, are you really going to tell me that public sentiment regarding the CPC is organic and believable. That’s like saying indigenous people don’t really care about their language and that’s why it’s dying instead of pointing out that the Americans tortured and even killed children for speaking their native tongue. You are apologizing for the fascists here and you don’t even realize that the Cuban missile crisis and the Taiwan crisis are both created by the same empire for the same reasons and with similar results. It is not, as you imagine, that China is making the same mistake the US did. China is responding to the same ideology that has remained a consistent part of the US since its founding.

      Furthermore, the arms furnished to Taiwan are extremely different and less destructive than nuclear weapons.

      Correct. Which is why China has not invaded.

      If the US decided to offer those to Taiwan, I imagine the reaction would be far more extreme than war games. It’s simply not comparable.

      Correct, which is why China is maintaining a position of vigilance, readiness, reconnaissance, and zone control. Because the US has not triggered the national security threat that China is anticipating.

      I personally don’t think the US is much of a threat to China but perhaps that can be debated.

      Really? Like when the US trained, armed, and airlifted terrorists into Tibet? Like how the CIA funds anti-China groups? Like how the US has 700 foreign military basis and has a clear strategy of encirclement with China as a clear target? Like how literally the largest military budget in the world, that has destroyed dozens of countries, has 4 consecutive presidents and war generals moving their assets in the “Pivot to Asia”? Do you understand how lethal the USA is? Do you understand that the USA has been seeking to undermine MAD and win a nuclear war for decades now? Do you understand what the US did to any of the countries surrounding China? I mean, sure it can be debated, but really? You have very very strong opinions about sovereignty but you’re meh about the USA being a lethal threat? What world do you live on?

      By the way, it’s incredibly ironic to call me a bootlicker as you apologize for imperial aggression against Taiwan

      There is no imperial aggression against Taiwan!!! There have been no conflicts, there has been no occupation, there have been no skirmishes, no incursions, no fire fights, no bombs dropped. You are just redefining words to mean whatever fits your feeling about the situation. You want to know what imperial aggression looks like? 30 fucking fishing boats sunk around Venezuela. Oil stolen from tankers. Multiple coup attempts against government leaders. Funneling arms and logistical support to rebels.

      You want to know what it doesn’t look like? 50 years of pursuit of peaceful reunification. 35 years of never dropping a single bomb in a conflict. Defending against imperial aggression wherever it shows up.

      I called you a bootlicker and then you doubled down by saying “personally don’t think the US is much of a threat to China” like are you fucking kidding me? This is bootlicking. This. Right here. The US isn’t much of a threat to the country it has been threatening since Obama. The US training and arming East Turkistan terrorists isn’t a threat to China. The US building a network of bases to encircle China isn’t a threat to China. The US that bombed North Korea to the stone age while it looked for a way to nuke China only 70 years ago is not a threat to China.

      That’s why I called you a bootlicker. You can’t tell the difference between imperial aggression and national unity.

      I’ll openly acknowledge that the US gov is a destabilizing malevolent force in the pacific. Something you’ll never admit about the CPC despite abundant evidence.

      Oh my god. Show me the fucking evidence, please. I beg you. How many coups has China supported in the Pacific. How many civil wars did it foment and then choose to arm only one side of and then invade for humanitarian reasons? How many international drug growing and smuggling operations did it setup in the Pacific to fund its black ops? Please, just read a book or something. Stop consuming whatever it is you’re consuming. It’s obviously rotting your brain.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jakarta_Method

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_activities_in_Indonesia#Secrets_as_of_1998

      https://warontherocks.com/2017/02/the-secret-war-that-transformed-the-cia/

      Remember that we tend to only declassify things that are 50 years old, minimum. If you look at everything that we’ve declassified so far about the region, the US has been a destabilizing force up until the present moment of declassification (1975). We don’t know what’s happened after that but there is no indication in any of the declassified documents that the US has stopped being a destabilizing force and the US is still refusing to declassify documents for this region. Meanwhile, the Secretary of War is literally out in Asia saying “Those who want peace must prepare for war” and calling on all the US allies to spend more on their military to counter China.

      https://www.war.gov/News/Speeches/Speech/Article/4202494/remarks-by-secretary-of-defense-pete-hegseth-at-the-2025-shangri-la-dialogue-in/