• GarbageShoot [he/him]
    hexbear
    199
    edit-2
    9 months ago

    Ten Chinese air force aircraft entered Taiwan's air defence zone . . . Of those aircraft, the ministry said 10 had either crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait, which previously served as an unofficial barrier between the two sides, or entered the southwestern part of Taiwan's air defence identification zone, or ADIZ.

    For those unfamiliar with the Air Defense Identification Zone:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Defense_Identification_Zone_(Taiwan)

    Not only does it include a lot of water that isn't part of the Strait, right off of China's coast, it also includes a portion of Mainland China a few times larger than Taiwan itself.

    People like to talk like China is flying jets over Taipei City, but you can fly a plane from one city in Mainland China to another, only passing over land, and be in this zone. Mind you, I don't think Taiwan having this zone is bad -- countries generally should be aware of air traffic nearby -- but this is part of a long history of alarmist headlines by western media regarding what is often very uninteresting air traffic in the PRC.

      • GarbageShoot [he/him]
        hexbear
        83
        9 months ago

        Yeah, obviously it's a glorified puppet state but there's no point in arguing from that standpoint here. If a country is to exist, it should know about local air traffic, that's all I'm saying.

        • ProxyTheAwesome [comrade/them]
          hexbear
          30
          9 months ago

          It is not to exist. I don’t care about their air borders and I hope China flies wherever they please within Chinese territory like Chinese Taipei

          • GarbageShoot [he/him]
            hexbear
            63
            9 months ago

            The PRC wants a peaceful reunification, which would not be aided by them continuously flying military jets over the island. I, too, would prefer peaceful reunification, which means some level of cooperation and tolerance is necessary.

            • ProxyTheAwesome [comrade/them]
              hexbear
              18
              9 months ago

              It's going to require might and pressure and gunboat diplomacy, it's denial and liberalism to pretend colonialists just give up their holdings

              • GarbageShoot [he/him]
                hexbear
                31
                edit-2
                9 months ago

                The RoC won't give up their holdings in the interest of human benefit, but liberalism shows us that there are countless ways to skin a cat. The RoC is not autarkic and is very dependent on its NATO friends and its trading partners. As the US wanes and third world nations stand up, the support for Taiwanese nationalism will surely dwindle, and RoC leadership may be put in a position where their best offer is clearly to reunify.

          • GarbageShoot [he/him]
            hexbear
            76
            9 months ago

            I started writing out a timeline but I don't know what position you're asking from so I will say for the sake of brevity that the US kept the KMT from being run out of all of China so that the US could us the island as a threat against China -- as it also attempted to do in Korea when it had more-or-less complete control of the southern half. Taiwan spent about 40 years as a military dictatorship killing tens of thousands of dissidents, native Formosans, and others (this was called the "White Terror"), while their patron the US looked the other way while it pumped resources into the country (for the ruling class, mind you) to use the island as a sweatshop site in the interim. This legacy and its connections to fellow US puppet South Korea and US ally Japan go a long way to explaining its current capacity in manufacturing, which make up its other value to the US besides geographical position.

            Both Taiwan and SK have made various attempts to assert themselves (with some success in both cases), but with the pathetic diplomatic position of the former and the continued military occupation of the latter by the US, I think "puppet state" is a fair title for them, perhaps as much as Israel, but that's its own can of worms.

            I didn't really intend on getting into litigating this topic, but I'm happy to discuss it as best I can.

            • StalinForTime [comrade/them]
              hexbear
              23
              9 months ago

              Not only did the US turn a blind eye to the White Terror, but they were positively gleeful about it, as a key target of it was of course not only indigeneous-politics based, but fundamentally anti-communist.

              Indeed a basic presupposition of the US providing you such extensive economic support, as a forward base in Asia against communism, is that you crush any opposition to its 'proper' functioning as such an economic and military asset. That supposes that you will crush any radical, labor, trade-union, let alone explicitly socialist or communist activity which appears to challenge the state.

            • @randint@lemm.ee
              hexbear
              4
              9 months ago

              I started writing out a timeline but I don't know what position you're asking from so I will say for the sake of brevity that the US kept the KMT from being run out of all of China [...] which make up its other value to the US besides geographical position.

              Yes, I know about its not-so-glorious past and the White Terror. Thousands of innocent civilians were killed. It was terrible. However, I must respectfully disagree with you on the "puppet state" part. I don't think that Taiwan is a puppet state. The US sponsoring Taiwan is a thing of the past. Neither is a pathetic diplomatic position a good reason for being a puppet state.

              • silent_water [she/her]
                hexbear
                26
                9 months ago

                if US support dropped overnight, reunification with the mainland would become inevitable. it's a puppet state in the sense that it's propped up by the might of the US/NATO military.

              • GarbageShoot [he/him]
                hexbear
                18
                edit-2
                9 months ago

                I didn't see this reply before. The other commenter has it right that the relevance of its pathetic diplomatic position is that it is being propped up by the US/NATO and ultimately depends on them to exist apart from the PRC, which makes it very difficult to oppose them. Incidentally, does the US not sponsor Taiwan? Even just recently there was this, which sure seems like sponsorship to me.

                • @randint@lemm.ee
                  hexbear
                  3
                  9 months ago

                  Apparently being sponsored by a foreign state is now counted as being a puppet state?

                  • GarbageShoot [he/him]
                    hexbear
                    20
                    9 months ago

                    That part was in response to you saying:

                    The US sponsoring Taiwan is a thing of the past

                    I could have formatted it better, but the rest was focused on the puppet part and then I prefaced the sponsorship part with "Incidentally" to indicate changing over to an adjacent subject.

          • AntiOutsideAktion [he/him]
            hexbear
            41
            9 months ago

            Taiwan is a rump state of the despotism that existed before the Maoist revolution. When the government fled to the island, the US backed them up and prevented the revolution from purging them from power and uniting the whole country under one flag. They exist today as they are because of western intervention, and is therefore a puppet state. I disagree with 'glorified' considering it's taboo internationally to even call them a state.

      • Frank [he/him, he/him]
        hexbear
        45
        9 months ago

        Taiwhat? I Thought it was called the Republic of China, and everyone's been telling me China bad!

        • Tankiedesantski [he/him]
          hexbear
          62
          9 months ago

          Like asking yankoids what they want to do with "their land", the question is pointless and only serves to legitimize a faulty preposition.

          The ROC also still claims to be the legitimate government of all of China (plus Mongolia and a sizable chunk of Russia) so its not like they're just sitting there minding their own business either.

          • AssortedBiscuits [they/them]
            hexbear
            40
            9 months ago

            The ROC also claims the South China Sea as its own and has build naval bases in there. Even the DPP doesn't want to give up those naval bases. So, it's the Republic of Taiwan to stick it to the Mainland commies, but "akctually, we're the Republic of China, and the South China Sea is part of Chinese naval waters, so we get to build as many naval bases as we want" to Vietnam and Indonesia.

            • Tankiedesantski [he/him]
              hexbear
              47
              9 months ago

              It's schrodinger's China. Simultaneously an independent smol bean democracy and the only legitimate inheritor of a 4000 year old empire.

          • @randint@lemm.ee
            hexbear
            8
            9 months ago

            Do you even know why the pro-independence party (DPP) lost so badly in the local election for mayors? Because the people were disappointed in what DPP had done with the economy, not because they didn't agree with the foreign policies DPP was pushing! (Please note that I'm not saying most people agree.) In local elections, people are going to choose whoever they believe would be the best for the city/county, not the one whose views on China they agree with.

            Additionally, if you look at the latest opinion poll for the presidental election next year, you'd be surprised to find out that the candidate from the pro-independence party is leading.

            Source: am Taiwanese

            ps. you made a typo in your comment. it was the 2022 local election, not 2020.

            • meth_dragon [none/use name]
              hexbear
              55
              9 months ago

              Because the people were disappointed in what DPP had done with the economy

              inciting conflict with your biggest trading partner does tend to have negative effects on the economy

              • @randint@lemm.ee
                hexbear
                5
                9 months ago

                Well yeah I guess, but really it's more about the policies they had been pushing domesticlly

                • meth_dragon [none/use name]
                  hexbear
                  37
                  9 months ago

                  i am sure the success or failure of those domestic policies were not in the least contingent on international political conditions. the economic policies of an island that imports 97% of its energy with a food self sufficiency rate of around 30% and exports accounting for 70% of gdp can in no way be considered to be overexposed or at risk to trade fluctuations and even if that were the case, i am sure that foreign policy would not play an outsize role in determining the magnitude or periodicity of said trade fluctuations.

          • @oatscoop@midwest.social
            hexbear
            6
            edit-2
            9 months ago

            Because a poll asking a direct question is a hell of a lot more accurate in gauging how the population feels about the issue.

            Political parties can lose elections for their stances/actions outside their main one -- which seems to have been the case per the actual person from Taiwan that responded to your comment. It doesn't matter what a party is called or what their main goals are if they're bad at their job.

            If and when the people of Taiwan decide they want reunification, it will happen. Thankfully Beijing isn't going to be allowed to force the issue.

              • @randint@lemm.ee
                hexbear
                5
                edit-2
                9 months ago

                The majority of Taiwanese people has always wanted to remain status quo, as indicated by the two triangle data lines in the plot. Since declaring independence is basically asking China to attack and that peaceful reunification is not desirable (for >90% of the population) either, the majority are of course pro-status quo. It does not line up with how DPP ate shit last year.

                • GarbageShoot [he/him]
                  hexbear
                  14
                  9 months ago

                  peaceful reunification is not desirable (for >90% of the population)

                  Again, this was "forced" reunification in that poll, i.e. military takeover. Of course people oppose that. I think at least the plurality opinion is against peaceful reunification under the PRC too, but it's not by as high a margin.

                  • @randint@lemm.ee
                    hexbear
                    3
                    9 months ago

                    No, it was NOT "forced" reunification. The two reunification choices in that poll were "unification as soon as possible" and "maintain status quo, move towards unification," neither of which is forced.

            • @randint@lemm.ee
              hexbear
              3
              edit-2
              9 months ago

              Thank you for mentioning me. Makes me feel like not all people on this thread is pro-China. :D

      • panopticon [comrade/them]
        hexbear
        113
        edit-2
        9 months ago

        So Chinese bots are on lemmy too now.

        Amazing how comfortable you are being racist on a public forum.

        Anyway, people should look at this map and take note of how far Taiwan's ADIZ extends into Fujian province of mainland China and the open ocean (which is the southwest corner the PRC's airplanes were supposedly encroaching on). These articles are obviously published to make China seem more aggressive than it really is. Meanwhile the US, with the most powerful navy in the world, parades its warships through the Taiwan strait, which for some reason is not seen as a threat or provocation. Also Taiwan claims the mainland as its own territory. Oh, poor little Taiwan. Lol, get off it.

          • ShimmeringKoi [comrade/them]
            hexbear
            101
            9 months ago

            You are obviously pro-China (...). That makes you a Chinese bot.

            At long last, we've reached the molten core of psychotic liberal solipsism

          • DoiDoi [comrade/them, he/him]
            hexbear
            94
            edit-2
            9 months ago

            "How am I being racist? I'm just assuming anyone who disagrees with me must be a certain ethnicity and/or bot."

            This really isn't too complicated. Stop using Chinese as a pejorative and "bot" as a thought terminating cliche. It prevents any meaningful discussion, and yes, it's also very racist.

            • @RandAlThor@lemmy.ca
              hexagon
              hexbear
              4
              9 months ago

              The term isn't being used as a pejorative. The term is being used as an adjective to a pro-chinese social media commentator. Mister Doi Doi with NO history in lemmy.

              • immuredanchorite [he/him, any]
                hexbear
                56
                edit-2
                9 months ago

                The term isn't being used as a pejorative. The term is being used as an adjective to a pro-chinese social media commentator. Mister Doi Doi with NO history in lemmy.

                galaxy-brain
                Got'em. You should post hog

              • NoGodsNoMasters [they/them, she/her]
                hexbear
                19
                9 months ago

                Mister Doi Doi with NO history in lemmy.

                Their account is two years old and has two years of history. Idk if that doesn't show up for you or something, but it is indeed there.

                Show

              • silent_water [she/her]
                hexbear
                11
                9 months ago

                Chinese refers to the people who live there or who's families emigrated from there, not randos online who don't support the rabid NATO line. your racism is showing.

          • panopticon [comrade/them]
            hexbear
            88
            edit-2
            9 months ago

            Sir or Ma'am, I am a US citizen of Chinese descent and I assure you that you are being a cracker, and you can stop any time.

            My bias is towards peace and against interfering in other countries' internal affairs. Taiwan is part of China, this was settled in 1972. It's only in recent years that the US has taken a hostile stance against the PRC since its peaceful economic rise has started to threaten US hegemony. This is not my fight, it's not your fight, it is the fight of the US ruling class—its political establishment and its financial oligarchs. China and the US should be allies, and we should be putting our combined labor into decarbonization, healing the ecosphere, reparations for the global south, and preparing communities for the effects of climate change.

            Also, my family immigrated from Hong Kong before it was released from British rule, so ~by your logic~ I should be against China, which I'm not, because I'm capable of critical thinking.

            Oh, and one more thing: countdown

          • Sasuke [comrade/them]
            hexbear
            80
            9 months ago

            You are obviously pro-China . . . That makes you a Chinese bot.

            you, oh enlightened reddit-logo one, could you perhaps explain to us what the word 'bot' means?

          • ☆ Yσɠƚԋσʂ ☆@lemmy.ml
            hexbear
            68
            9 months ago

            That's precisely the sort of argument one would expect from a NAFO bot. Hope you earned enough FICO credit points to buy food tonight.

        • @randint@lemm.ee
          hexbear
          7
          9 months ago

          Yes, the ADIZ includes part of China, but this article is mainly about jets crossing the median line of Taiwan Strait. Also I don't think Taiwan gets mad over any jets intruding the "overclaimed" part of the ADIZ.

          • ThereRisesARedStar [she/her, they/them]
            hexbear
            62
            9 months ago

            but this article is mainly about jets crossing the median line of Taiwan Strait

            It says the jets did that OR were in the southwest zone. It is intentionally vague alarmism.

      • GarbageShoot [he/him]
        hexbear
        90
        9 months ago

        I literally quoted the part that you just also quoted, which specifies that some of the craft were merely in the ADIZ, the one thing I was talking about in my comment

      • @zephyrvs@lemmy.ml
        hexbear
        86
        9 months ago

        I'm so tired of the notion that anyone not being in line with certain narratives is automatically considered a drone.

        • ShimmeringKoi [comrade/them]
          hexbear
          68
          edit-2
          9 months ago

          Like 6ish years ago we all, liberals and leftists together, were creeped out by the right's sudden proliferation of "NPC" memes, correctly pointing out how dehumanizing it is and conjecturing darkly about what exactly this kind of rhetoric was priming these people for. Now, the overton window's so fucked that the we've normalized deploying the exact same invective against anyone who speaks up on behalf of humanity and against a US-dominated world. I've driven past the ruins of the Japanese concentration camps out in the miserable desert, and to know that so many people around me who act self-righteous but stand for nothing would rebuild those camps at the snap of a finger, or the running of an op-ed, or a scary news story....well, these people may haughtily object to being called blue MAGA, but that sure doesn't stop them from doing absolutely fucking everything they can to earn the label.

      • BelieveRevolt [he/him]
        hexbear
        85
        edit-2
        9 months ago

        Everyone who disagrees with me must be a bot.

        I bet your response will contain one of more of the following: Winnie the Pooh, social credit, comrade, Uyghurs. Yet you call others bots, lmao.

      • immuredanchorite [he/him, any]
        hexbear
        82
        edit-2
        9 months ago

        You both quoted the same exact piece of text. You said they didn't read the article but you didn't even bother to read their comment?

        You are calling a human being a bot, literally dehumanizing them, because they don't have the same hatred of China as you. You should really check yourself. You are full of hatred and ideological poison. It is clear from your comment that you have limited literacy skills and understanding, you should check out some other perspectives and try to broaden your horizons. Here is one. This is also another incredible resource with a lot of essays and information with a different perspective

          • booty [he/him]
            hexbear
            86
            9 months ago

            the user you just replied to made their account a year ago and has an extensive post history

            • Frank [he/him, he/him]
              hexbear
              40
              9 months ago

              No no never engage their statement on it's alleged merits. Kick them in the [redacted] and then ask them why they can't walk while laughing. It is the weirding way.

            • @randint@lemm.ee
              hexbear
              14
              edit-2
              9 months ago

              We should give @RandAlThor@lemmy.ca benefit of the doubt. Sometimes when people view other's profile from another instance, the post history shows up empty.

          • CloutAtlas [he/him]
            hexbear
            51
            9 months ago

            ...are you aware you can't see people's post histories if you click their username on lemmy.ca and you have to visit their home instance?

        • BeamBrain [he/him]
          hexbear
          53
          9 months ago

          Uhhh, that's obviously different, America is a white western country and so it owns the world

        • Frank [he/him, he/him]
          hexbear
          43
          9 months ago

          Beep boop I have been programmed to make really fucking cool historical dramas beep boop (This is my stereotype about China idk what else happens there I just really like Three Kingdoms adaptations did y'all see 2008's Red Cliff it was dope af! John Woo directing!)

          • WIIHAPPYFEW [he/him, they/them]
            hexbear
            21
            9 months ago

            MUST MAKE DISPROPORTIONATE AMOUNT OF TOM AND JERRY SHITPOSTS

            MUST POST MEMES OF AN AD FOR MIXUE ICE CITY

            MUST UPLOAD 12 GB FOLDER OF BIAOQING IMAGES

      • @zephyreks@lemmy.ca
        hexbear
        34
        9 months ago

        "or"

        not "and", "or".

        The southwestern quadrant of Taiwan's ADIZ overlaps with China's ADIZ. If anything, Taiwan is overclaiming their ADIZ.

      • @socsa@lemmy.ml
        hexbear
        6
        9 months ago

        First day? Lemmygrad brigades every worldnews thread about China or Russia.