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glieseg t1_ja7974t wrote

Well, duh?

Otherwise they would have.

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Freethecrafts t1_ja7k96h wrote

They definitely could try. It’d cost them 3/4 of their fleet and half their military,and at least a dozen major cities on the mainland. Probably a Premier/Chairman, half the party leaders.

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CliffsNote5 t1_ja7oboh wrote

I mean yeah you can do it look at Russia they totally invaded Ukraine very hard to deny that they invaded. Lots of good people say they invaded.

Holding it without massive losses of personnel, wealth, and face may be entirely another matter.

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Freethecrafts t1_ja7oroj wrote

The PRC would get their ass handed to them. The majority of places to drop infantry are kill zones, protected by multiple reinforcing zones. The US fleet would absolutely engage, on day one. There is literally no taking of Taiwan. It’d be easier to sink Taiwan than take, much less hold.

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Benevolent_Grouch t1_ja7r5z1 wrote

What do you mean sink? Islands don’t float and can’t sink.

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ash_274 t1_ja7w0lw wrote

Perhaps you haven’t heard that a congressman was concerned that they could tip over and capsize.

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Benevolent_Grouch t1_ja8q7pi wrote

I’m confused about the downvotes! Was this supposed to be obvious sarcasm? I live in the US where congressman seriously propose cutting down rainforests to lower greenhouse gases they emit. There’s no such thing here as too stupid to take seriously.

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GatoradeNipples t1_ja8we99 wrote

I didn't downvote you, but in context, it feels pretty obvious to me that what you're saying is... the point the original poster was trying to make. Sinking Taiwan is physically impossible, but at least attempting that would just make China look really stupid. Attempting to take Taiwan is both stupid and actively suicidal.

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washington_jefferson t1_jabpqi4 wrote

> What do you mean sink? Islands don’t float and can’t sink.

Since this is a political thread you have to be a little more obvious with the sarcasm if you don't use /s (I hate the use of that hashtag- so, kudos). Something like:

> "What's the deallll with sinking Taiwan? They're not a boat. They're just big chunk of land. You can't sink land. It's like trying to drown a cactus. It's not gonna happen."

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AbuQittun t1_ja85k0h wrote

Then, afterward, successful or not, have to deal with a weakened country with rampant succession movements. It would be the death of the CCP.

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spasske t1_jaad2yo wrote

They like to sabre rattle and beat their chest but the know any altercation with Taiwan Wouk be very bad for business.

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TheDarkRider t1_ja93qxn wrote

From years of playing command and conquer they don’t have a chance

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YakInner4303 t1_jabfn0c wrote

You just made me imagine Xi going all Kane and screaming, "It time you saw tiberium future! While still have human eyes!"

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series_hybrid t1_ja96rg8 wrote

It would have to be a massive strike-force, and it would have to travel roughly 110 miles over water.

Logistically, they probably wouldn't depart from a Chinese beach and land on the nearest Taiwanese beach, so from launch to combat zone would be farther.

They would have to hide the buildup of the massive strike-force from satellites, drones, and spies.

Would they attack the military bases, or the capital city? Or both?

China can lose millions of soldiers, but they can't be swimming to Taiwan, they need boats, aircraft, and parachutes.

Every Chinese ship that goes up against Taiwan will be sunk on approach.

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Hot-Delay5608 t1_ja9rgnu wrote

I don't think "China can loose millions of soldiers". The Chinese people are much more vocal and willing to demonstrate against their own government than the Russian sheep. With the Chinese one child policy, the population wouldn't be too excited about the very real prospect of loosing their only child. There would be massive demonstrations against the government if there'd be massive losses of life in a war seen as uncle Pooh's vanity project.

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series_hybrid t1_ja9t8r1 wrote

I'm not saying China would win, I'm just saying that they have done some crazy stuff.

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Pudding_Hero t1_jaagscq wrote

Taiwan has a dead man’s switch. Their chip technology is a big deal and they have plans to sabotage and destroy all of it if an invasion occurs. A lot of Chinese missile technology relies on those chips

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[deleted] t1_ja9y5vl wrote

The real threat to them is the world choosing to not do business with them should they push this too far.

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Tweed_Man t1_jaa3rs1 wrote

Honestly I wouldn't be surprised that even if we somehow ended up in a nuclear war with China our politicians would refuse to sanction them to not hurt the economy... while nukes rained down on us.

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jackloganoliver t1_jaagipg wrote

The thing is that more and more companies are already moving manufacturering out of China, partially because it's no longer as cheap as it once was, but also probably as a hedge against possible sanctions in the future.

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RyokoKnight t1_jaa56nr wrote

As long as the US is a naval/aireal world power, and as long as the US is involved in the region. China cannot take Taiwan.

They don't have the navy or airforce numbers or quality to perform a sustainable landing operation while facing a naval/aireal threat from other countries.

A regional power like Japan's navy alone, if they got involved, might be enough to counter China's invasion simply by threatening troop convoys and supply convoys throughout the invasion attempt... and obviously if the US is involved basically every Chinese ship above water would be sunk in a matter of a week or two.

It also realistically isn't worth it, even in a world China had the navy and airforce to conquer Taiwan they'd lose hundreds of thousands if not a full million men in the attempt. All for a Tiny island they'd have to level with bombs and make more or less worthless just to obtain. Losing that much of your army/population all for an island just isn't logical.

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Wired_143 t1_jaaa99h wrote

In my non-expert opinion. China is most likely watching Russia, with a more combat proven military. Not do very well, in their invasion attempt. They are not too anxious to attempt their own invasion. Their troops are not combat veterans (at least I don’t think so) and would most likely not perform very well.

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tacoito t1_jaake01 wrote

They should do a test run by invading Russia

2

mjohnsimon t1_jab0t23 wrote

An invasion of Taiwan, even if NATO/the US wouldn't get involved, would make Ukraine look like a border dispute.

The Chinese know this, and everything happening over at Ukraine is making them reconsider.

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damattdanman t1_jab9vqn wrote

Taking a look at Russia, they should keep asking themselves the question, is it really worth it?

This is why we are committed to supplying Ukraine. It's costing Russia everything. Pride is not worth the price of admission. China should ask Putin. In the end, China will benefit more from buying up Russian assets on the cheap instead.

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Foreign_Ad_6052 t1_jab9gia wrote

Taiwan’s soldiers is extremely inexperienced and craven. I suspect whether they have such resolution to protect their country like Ukrainian

−1

RobertusesReddit t1_ja8b4di wrote

The CIA has lied to its own head of government to do unholy things.

Edit: because people didn't understand

−10

swisscriss t1_ja7a9zw wrote

This may sound ignorant but could someone tell me the difference? When they talk it sounds almost like they are speaking the same language

−27

tim36272 t1_ja7c5z2 wrote

Read as: China is unsure if it can successfully invade Taiwan.

Similar to how Russia thought the Ukraine invasion would be easy, but here we are a year later.

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swisscriss t1_ja7edeg wrote

Again more of the same, you put a Russian next to a Ukrainian and I'm sorry but you'd have to tell me who is who

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Freethecrafts t1_ja7jw5q wrote

Excellent, then you wouldn’t mind that Taiwan is the best China and takes over as the legitimate government of all of it. Problem solved. Same language, Taiwan wins.

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tim36272 t1_ja7f1fd wrote

Oh, you're asking what the difference is between China and Taiwan?

I'm sure others can provide a more thorough history, but in summary:

Yes the Taiwanese people are linguistically, culturally, and politically similar to the Chinese. The difference between them is largely geopolitical and ideological.

Similarly the people of Oregon and Washington in the US are very similar and it would be hard for an outsider to distinguish between the two.

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bsoto87 t1_ja7i37a wrote

Well there are indigenous Taiwanese, but 97% of the population is Han chinese

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cowvin t1_jaa8nxl wrote

Sure, there are similarities between many groups of people in terms of appearance, culture, language, etc. However, here are some interesting facts about Taiwan:

Taiwan has its own language, Taiwanese, that is slowly being pushed out by Chinese. Additionally, Taiwanese people who read and write Chinese use traditional Chinese characters rather than the simplified Chinese characters (introduced by the Communists).

Taiwan is the global leader in manufacturing computer chips because their manufacturing processes are years ahead of anyone else (for more info, look up TSMC).

Taiwan is a very modern democracy and they deserve to be recognized as an independent country.

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Skarr87 t1_ja7thcl wrote

Taiwan’s real name is “Republic of China” and China’s real name is “People’s Republic of China”. Before the Chinese Communist Revolution they were all part of one nation. Taiwan managed to not go communist and maintains that they are the real China. Communist China maintains Taiwan is part of China and won’t do business with anyone who calls Taiwan “Republic of China” and won’t recognize their sovereignty. It’s sort of (but not really) like North and South Korea.

This is a two minute explanation, the full history and intricacies are far more interesting and subtle.

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Velociraptor2018 t1_ja8ptak wrote

China fought a civil war before and after WW2 (only had a truce to deal with the Japanese) and the Communist side won. The Republic of China fled to Taiwan and the U.S. navy kept the People’s Republic of China from invading. The PRC sees Taiwan as a breakaway province and Taiwan see themselves as the legitimate government of China, although Taiwan has sort of formed their own identity and not just kinda wants to be left alone.

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