by Michael Snyder, The Economic Collapse Blog:
China has just launched enormous military exercises codenamed “Joint Sword-2024A” which are designed to simulate what a war against Taiwan would look like. Chinese fighter jets are conducting mock airstrikes against “high-value military targets”, and Chinese warships are practicing for a future economic blockade. Most Americans don’t seem to realize this, but once China goes to war with Taiwan, we will instantly be in a state of war with China. The flow of consumer products from China will completely stop, we will no longer have access to the advanced computer chips from Taiwan that we are so dependent upon, and the economy will crash. All of our lives will be turned completely upside down the moment that war with China begins, and that day may be a lot closer than most people think.
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On Thursday, the Chinese “encircled Taiwan with naval vessels and military aircraft” as Joint Sword-2024A kicked off…
China on Thursday encircled Taiwan with naval vessels and military aircraft in war games, as it vowed the blood of “independence forces” on the self-ruled island would flow.
The two days of drills are part of an escalating campaign of intimidation by China that has seen it carry out a series of large-scale military exercises around Taiwan in recent years.
Taiwan’s new president Lai Ching-te was inaugurated earlier this week, and the Chinese government is not a fan of him at all.
And it is definitely not a coincidence that these military exercises are taking place shortly after he took office.
These are the biggest military exercises that we have seen in the region so far, and CNN is reporting that “dozens of Chinese fighter jets carrying live ammunition” are involved…
As part of the drills, dozens of Chinese fighter jets carrying live ammunition conducted mock strikes against “high-value military targets” of the “enemy” alongside destroyers, frigates and missile speedboats, according to China’s state broadcaster CCTV.
The exercises, which started early on Thursday and will encircle Taiwan, pose the first real test for newly elected Lai Ching-te as he attempts to manage relations with the island’s powerful authoritarian neighbor.
The good news is that these military exercises will only last for 48 hours.
But the Chinese are clearly preparing for the day when war will erupt.
Relations between the Chinese government and Taiwan have reached a breaking point, and I don’t believe that there is any way that they will be repaired.
When discussing the currently military exercises, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin issued quite an ominous warning to those that are pushing for Taiwanese independence…
Foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin then delivered a warning that included language more commonly used by China’s propaganda outlets.
“Taiwan independence forces will be left with their heads broken and blood flowing after colliding against the great… trend of China achieving complete unification,” Wang told reporters.
It is very unusual for a Chinese official to make such an inflammatory remark.
Usually the Chinese are much more restrained.
Once the exercises commenced, the Taiwanese military went on alert, and potential Chinese military targets were actively being tracked…
Taiwan’s defence ministry condemned the drills, saying that it had dispatched forces to areas around the island, that its air defences and land-based missile forces were tracking targets, and that it was confident it could protect its territory.
“The launch of military exercises on this occasion not only does not contribute to the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait, it also highlights (China’s) militaristic mentality,” the ministry said.
Taiwan’s presidential office expressed regret that China was threatening the island’s democratic freedoms and regional peace and stability with its “unilateral military provocations”, but said people could rest assured Taiwan could ensure its security.
When the time finally comes, I think that the first action that China will take against Taiwan will be an economic blockade.
That will suffocate the Taiwanese economy, and it will also cut the main island off from the outlying islands that it controls.
Subsequently, I think that it is likely that the Chinese will attempt to occupy some of the smaller islands before moving to occupy Taiwan itself.
Interestingly, the military exercises that China is currently conducting are simulating action against some of those outlying islands…
Su Tzu-yun, a research fellow at Taiwan’s top military think tank, the Institute for National Defence and Security Research, said that although the drills would only last two days, the scope is large relative to previous exercises, as they included Taiwan’s outlying islands.
This is designed to demonstrate China’s ability to control the seas and prevent the involvement of foreign forces, he added.
“The political signals here are greater than the military ones,” he added.
There has been a lot of concern about what it would mean if China gained control over the chipmaking facilities in Taiwan, because the entire globe is heavily dependent on the advanced chips that Taiwan produces…
Two of the world’s most important chip companies can flip a “kill switch” remotely on their most advanced chipmaking machines should China invade Taiwan, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The Netherlands’ ASML — Europe’s top tech company by market value — supplies advanced machines to chipmaking companies. They include Taiwan’s TSMC, which produces, by some estimates, 90% of the world’s most advanced processor chips.
Okay, so they can flip a “kill switch” which will prevent China from getting those chips.
But once China controls Taiwan, we will lose access to those chips too.
And without those chips, the entire global economy crashes.
So we should be attempting to avoid such a scenario if at all possible.
Unfortunately, Joe Biden and his all-star team of warmongers are making a total mess of things.
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