Yes, to officially finish the Chinese Civil War. I know.
I don't believe they're planning on doing it now. This is the same playbook that the Ukraine racket worked off. Next up is the UK telling everyone they definitely saw Chinese troops near Taiwan.
If they're ever going to do it, now would be the best time.
Europe and the US are already strained by sanctions against Russia. They cannot sanction China the same way or their economies would go tits up. Europe depleted its weapons arsenal by sending a lot of it to Ukraine. The US pledged a lot of weapons to Europe in return for them sending their stuff to Ukraine.
Maybe they'll wait for the EU to completely hamstring itself with oil and gas embargoes. Maybe they'll wait till the EU gets in real trouble next winter due to energy shortages. Taiwan itself currently isn't doing too well either because of the same bullshit green and anti-nuclear policies.
Either way, the immediate future would be by far the best time for China to make a move.
To tell you the truth, now is one of the best times for China(not necessarily today or tomorrow). Because the world is so focused on Ukraine, and most of the defense material is going there that if China went to Taiwan, it is not going to face the same amount of resistance it would before the Ukraine war, or after it ends.
In fact, F-16s that are going to Taiwan(block 70) may get delayed to accelerate procurement for current Euro orders (Slovakia and Bulgaria).
The best time for a warring country is to take it when their "enemy" is distracted.
The only counter-argument to this is that the US has a formal agreement with Taiwan that it lacks with Ukraine, so they might get the good stuff, or even actual kinetic support.
I generally dislike us being a veritable octopus with tentacles in everything, but the ability to keep our eyes on Taiwan while wasting ludicrous amounts of money over Ukraine is handy.
Yes, to officially finish the Chinese Civil War. I know.
I don't believe they're planning on doing it now. This is the same playbook that the Ukraine racket worked off. Next up is the UK telling everyone they definitely saw Chinese troops near Taiwan.
If they're ever going to do it, now would be the best time.
Europe and the US are already strained by sanctions against Russia. They cannot sanction China the same way or their economies would go tits up. Europe depleted its weapons arsenal by sending a lot of it to Ukraine. The US pledged a lot of weapons to Europe in return for them sending their stuff to Ukraine.
Maybe they'll wait for the EU to completely hamstring itself with oil and gas embargoes. Maybe they'll wait till the EU gets in real trouble next winter due to energy shortages. Taiwan itself currently isn't doing too well either because of the same bullshit green and anti-nuclear policies.
Either way, the immediate future would be by far the best time for China to make a move.
To tell you the truth, now is one of the best times for China(not necessarily today or tomorrow). Because the world is so focused on Ukraine, and most of the defense material is going there that if China went to Taiwan, it is not going to face the same amount of resistance it would before the Ukraine war, or after it ends.
In fact, F-16s that are going to Taiwan(block 70) may get delayed to accelerate procurement for current Euro orders (Slovakia and Bulgaria).
The best time for a warring country is to take it when their "enemy" is distracted.
The only counter-argument to this is that the US has a formal agreement with Taiwan that it lacks with Ukraine, so they might get the good stuff, or even actual kinetic support.
I generally dislike us being a veritable octopus with tentacles in everything, but the ability to keep our eyes on Taiwan while wasting ludicrous amounts of money over Ukraine is handy.
That is understandable, but I will be honest, I prefer the American "tentacle" over the chinese one.