We Shouldn’t Underestimate the Incredible Danger Posed by the Taiwan Crisis
The media isn’t conveying how serious the Taiwan situation is. China is willing to fight for the island — possibly with tactical nuclear weapons — and if war comes to the Taiwan Strait, the US has a high chance of losing.
Tourists look on as a Chinese military helicopter flies past Pingtan Island, one of mainland China’s closest points to Taiwan, as part of Chinese military exercises in response to Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit, August 4, 2022. (HECTOR RETAMAL / AFP via Getty Images)
As predicted, Beijing did not respond well to Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan.
It imposed new trade restrictions while embarking on a series of days-long military drills encircling the island, which at one point saw four Chinese missiles sail over its territory. Yesterday, Beijing sanctioned Pelosi and her family and cut off dialogue with Washington on military matters and climate change, potentially setting back international efforts to deal with what is the most serious and urgent threat to global security.
Pelosi’s provocative visit had come in the face of numerous warnings from experts like Lyle Goldstein. A researcher on Chinese and Russian strategic military development who taught at the US Naval War College for twenty years, Goldstein spoke with Jacobin’s Branko Marcetic shortly after Pelosi’s visit.
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