It’s almost like they never heard ‘never fight a land war in Asia.’ Napoleon tried Russia. Disaster. The British fumbled Afghanistan—twice. The U.S. waded into Vietnam—we all know how that ended. Then they gave Afghanistan a go, stuck around for two decades, and still left in chaos. But sure, let’s run it back one more time for fun. Maybe they should watch ‘The Princess Bride’—you know, for strategic guidance. 🤦🏼♀️
The U.S. Navy’s 7th fleet said a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft transited the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday.
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Around once a month, U.S. military ships or aircraft pass through or above the waterway that separates democratically governed Taiwan from China – missions that always anger Beijing. China claims sovereignty over the island of Taiwan and says it has jurisdiction over the strait. Taiwan and the United States dispute that, saying the strait is an international waterway.
“Watch for Taiwan on the defence side to try and start engaging them on a big arms package – to do something significant, very large,” Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council which helps broker defence exchanges between Washington and Taipei, told Reuters, adding it could come in the first quarter of next year.
“But think of it as a down payment, an attention getter,” he said. “They’ll stack up several big platforms and big buys of munitions.”
The U.S. is already Taiwan’s most important arms supplier, although Taiwan has complained of an order backlog worth some $20 billion. A new order, almost $2 billion of missile systems, was announced last month.
TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense (MND) clarified its definition of “first strike,” saying it considered any Chinese military asset crossing into Taiwan’s territorial borders as an act of aggression.
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Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said that this definition was updated shortly after former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan — when China held live-fire military drills around the nation to express its dissatisfaction.
The Taiwan Strait is “on the brink” of a heightened level of alert, Chiu said at a Foreign and National Defense Committee session on Thursday (March 7). The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has ramped up the frequency of its air and naval operations. He said PLA activities are now creeping closer to Taiwan and have slowly entered “gray areas” from the north and south.
To deter China from escalating tensions in the strait, U.S. senators introduced a bill on Tuesday (March 5) requiring the U.S. Department of the Treasury to terminate the United States-People’s Republic of China Income Tax Convention if Beijing attacks Taiwan.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities’ stubborn insistence on the secessionist position of “Taiwan independence,” attempting to seek “independence” by relying on the US and by using force, begging for US arms sales or military aid, and enhancing military collusion with the US are moves that are making Taiwan a powder keg and ammunition depot, and have increased the danger and risk of a conflict in the Taiwan Straits, Chen said.
If the DPP is allowed to follow this path to the end, the youth will only become cannon fodder, the spokesperson said.
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But no matter how “Taiwan independence” forces collude with external interference forces, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army is fully capable of crushing their attempts in seeking “independence” or resisting reunification by force, Wei said.
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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