duhhhh....
oh what's that? we were right again, and liberals were easily duped by US propaganda into becoming disgusting war-mongering hawks baying for blood? no shit.
duhhhh....
oh what's that? we were right again, and liberals were easily duped by US propaganda into becoming disgusting war-mongering hawks baying for blood? no shit.
A lot of what's happening in the Taiwanese Straight is simply escalating tit-for-tat between the US and China.
Taiwan claims the Chinese mainland as their airspace and flies within spitting distance of the border, so Beijing sends a fleet of drones to circle the island in their own show of force. The US sends a boat through the straight so China sends a boat in the other direction. Pelosi personally visits Taipei so Xi pisses all over downtown Hong Kong before doing a lap around the Persian Gulf.
All this shit ends as soon as DC wants it to end. Beijing's plans for Taiwan involve the same strategy as Hong Kong. They're going to lasso the island through economic expansion, knowing the hyper-capitalist Taiwanese will sell them the rope to do it. They don't need an occupying military presence in Taiwan any more than they need one in Shanghai or Singapore or California. They just need the manufacturing side of the supply chain.
The UK formally handed over Hong Kong to the PRC, there won't be anything similar happening with regards to Taiwan. So how would it be possible to replicate the same scenario then?
Formally, sure. But the real transition took place through the municipal government. Beijing's control over Hong Kong stems from the number of seats on the Executive and Legislative Council occupied by Beijing loyalists.
And control of the these Councils is established through functional constituencies, which are organized by profession.
This is some Deep Statecraft shit, but the TL;DR; of it is that Hong Kong is ruled by prevailing business interests. And as Beijing business leaders own the bulk of the capital and debts, they select the city's leadership.
Through the formation of economic partnerships and dependencies between Taiwanese municipal/business leadership and Beijing loyal constituents.
Taiwan doesn't operate like Hong Kong, but it remains highly vulnerable to economic pressure groups and local financial interests.
Taiwan's own corrupt kleptocracy will open the gates to Beijing bureaucrats without any need for a military invasion.