Commentary
China’s blockade exercises to practice isolating Taiwan from the rest of the world and from rescue by America and its allies suggests that war could be on the horizon. Some analysts contend that Chinese leader Xi Jinping will not risk war before his reconfirmation to an unprecedented second 10-year term at the 20th Party Congress later this year. Once the Congress ends and Xi gets his anticipated reconfirmation, all bets are off.
The Chinese view Taiwan’s conquest as inevitable. Xie Feng, vice minister of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, declared the path was “irreversible and public opinion cannot be violated. Playing with fire will surely set yourself on fire. Taiwan is China’s Taiwan, and will eventually return to the embrace of the motherland.”…