#Biden calls #America’s democratic values the “grounding wire of our global power” & its #alliances “our greatest asset.” …#Trump, called for withdrawing American forces in #Europe & #Asia & has promised… to cut loose even our closest #allies if they don’t do as he tells them. …Trump sees all countries as unreliable, the relations between them #transactional. That sentiment has spread throughout a #GOP that once championed America’s values abroad…
President #Xi has told his military to be ready to invade #Taiwan by 2027…. #Biden doesn’t rule out sending troops to defend Taiwan if #China attacked, saying, “It would depend on the circumstances.”
Biden’s record in facing these tests is more than just nostalgic talk. He has added 2 powerful European militaries to #NATO, & will soon announce the doubling of the number of countries in the Atlantic #alliance that are paying more than the target 2% of their GDP toward #defense….
When SARS broke out in #Taiwan in ‘03, the WHO denied Taiwan’s request for the virus’ DNA to combat it.
The WHO told Taiwan’s health minister at the time to ask China.
#China refused the request and 137 people died in the following four months.
Taiwan has been denied WHO membership for five decades due to political reasons, says Dr. Chien-Jen, Taiwan’s Minister of Health at the time of the SARS outbreak.
Karaoke singing is very popular in Taiwan. Apart from the large karaoke parlours, or K-TV as they are called in Taiwan, there are also Mini-K-TVs throughout the city, like in this MRT station in Da'an district.
“#Taiwan’s opposition-controlled legislature passed changes on Tuesday that are seen as favoring #China and diminishing the power of the island’s president.
The changes pushed by the opposition Nationalist Party and its allies give the body greater power to control budgets, including defense spending that the party has blocked in what many see as a concession to China”
#Taiwan's military mobilised forces & said it was confident it could protect the island, after #China started 2 days of #punishment drills around Taiwan in what it said was a response to "separatist acts".
The exercises in #TaiwanStrait & around groups of Taiwan-controlled islands…,come 3 days after #Lai Ching-te took office as Taiwan's new #president, a man Beijing detests as a #separatist.
China, which views democratically governed #Taiwan as its own territory, has denounced Lai's inauguration speech on Mon, in which he called on #China to stop its threats & on Tues Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi called #Lai "disgraceful".
Lai has repeatedly offered talks w/ China but been rebuffed. He says only Taiwan's people can decide their future, & rejects Beijing's #sovereignty claims.
The Eastern Theatre Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (#PLA) said it had started joint military drills, involving the army, navy, air force & rocket force, in areas around #Taiwan at 7:45AM.
The drills are being conducted in the Taiwan Strait, the north, south & east of Taiwan, as well as areas around the Taiwan-controlled islands of Kinmen, Matsu, Wuqiu & Dongyin, the command said in a statement.
Putin is in China to ask, if Xi could help a fellow dictator in need. Before anyone gets too scared about that, you should know that China’s national debt is skyrocketing, and their economy is in chaos because of a financial crisis which started in their construction sector.
China would like to turn Russia into a vassal state, but there is no way, Xi is sending weapons to the frontlines in Ukraine and risking sanctions from the west at a point in time, where China’s economy is this challenged.
@randahl
Some 🫏🕳️ who calls himself Bridge insists we should abandon #Ukraine because #Taiwan (Bridge Also has Shiba Inu's living in his walls but that's another story).
Meanwhile in Taiwan...
Senate passes a long-delayed $95 billion package sending aid to #Ukraine, #Israel and #Taiwan. The bill also includes language that could ban #TikTok -CNN
"We are witnessing a historic process -- Russians are leaving for the first time in two centuries," independent Azerbaijani analyst Elhan Shahinoglu told AFP.
In a sweeping 80-19 vote, the #USSenate overwhelmingly voted to advance the measure in a step hailed by the Senate majority leader as “one of the greatest achievements the Senate has faced in years”.
#JoeBiden said on Wednesday he signed into law legislation that rushes $95bn in foreign aid to #Ukraine, #Israel and #Taiwan, a #bipartisan legislative victory he hailed as a “good day for world peace” after months of congressional gridlock threatened Washington’s support for Kyiv in its fight to repel #Russia’s invasion
"Deliberately grounded on a tiny reef in the #SouthChinaSea, part of an island chain claimed by the two Asian countries, the #BRPSierraMadre is now the unlikely base for a detachment of Filipino marines who stand guard over the atoll, scanning the turquoise waters for Chinese ships." #AyunginShoal#SecondThomasShoal#Philippines
There has been relative calm in the #TaiwanStrait since the #Biden-#Xi summit, after a period of high tension in which Chinese warships and planes would regularly approach #Taiwan. At the same time however, there has been increasing friction in the #SouthChinaSea between #China and neighbouring countries, particularly the #Philippines, a #US ally. #WestPHSea
#Yonaguni is a tourist hotspot – but its location just 100km from #Taiwan means residents must wrestle with the creeping militarisation of their home.
This tiny island, located far closer to #Taipei than #Tokyo, now finds itself at the centre of regional tensions triggered by a new round of Chinese aggression towards Taiwan.