OPINION

Target Taiwan

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In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic was unleashed on the world from China. The evidence is now growing that the bioweapons laboratory in Wuhan, China was the original source of the virus. If this theory is true, the virus was either accidentally or intentionally released on an unsuspecting world. 

Of course, the government of communist China is not cooperating with an investigation into the origins of COVID-19, so the world may never know the truth. The mere fact that China is blocking this investigation should lead everyone to question what China is trying to hide.

The pandemic has killed over 700,000 people in the United States and over 4.7 million people worldwide. The economic costs in this country have been staggering. Millions of jobs that were lost may never return. 

In China, it is a much different situation. According to the World Health Organization, less than 6,000 people have died from the virus in China. Their economy has prospered as their products have continually been shipped to “big box” retailers like Walmart. 

In the United States, these large retailers, which are heavily dependent on Chinese goods, never closed. In contrast, American small businesses were closed during the pandemic lockdown. Sadly, many of these small businesses, the backbone of the American economy, will never reopen. 

China benefited in another important way from the pandemic. Until early 2020, President Donald Trump was a thorn in China’s side. Throughout his campaign and presidency, Trump warned of the Chinese threat to the American economy. He spent his entire administration working to bring home American factories from China. He also significantly raised tariffs on Chinese goods. His goal was to improve our economy by increasing the number of American jobs and boosting American manufacturing.

The Chinese hated the losses being inflicted by the Trump administration. However, this all changed once the pandemic started to dominate media headlines in the United States. The pandemic led to a new voting model in the 2020 election. There was a massive expansion of mail-in voting, which was pushed throughout the country because of the fear of COVID-19 and supposed dangers of in-person voting. In a Pew Research study, it was determined that an astounding 46% of all votes cast in the 2020 election were mail-in or absentee ballots. 

Of these votes, the vast majority supported Joe Biden for President. In just the state of Pennsylvania, it was determined that 75% of the mail-in votes were cast for Biden. With this type of election model, it is no surprise that Biden won the presidency. While the outcome has been hotly disputed by Trump and millions of his supporters, nothing has been overturned and Biden has been able to implement key components of his far-left agenda. 

China has benefited tremendously by Trump leaving the presidency. Under Biden, China has a “friend” in the White House. Not only is Biden considering easing the Trump tariffs, but he is also not too concerned about human rights abuses in China. 

In his recent speech to the United Nations. Biden did not mention China at all. He could have denounced how China brutally eliminated the freedom movement in Hong Kong and imprisoned the courageous leaders challenging the communist government.  He could have advocated for the people of Tibet, who have faced severe repression by the communist Chinese for decades. In addition, he could have condemned what many consider to be genocide practiced by the Chinese against the Muslim Uighur community. 

Many Biden critics claim that the reason Biden refused to condemn China was that his son, Hunter Biden, has longstanding and lucrative financial deals with business entities in the communist mainland. 

Whatever the reason, Biden’s silence may only encourage more Chinese aggression toward their favorite target, Taiwan, otherwise known as “Free China.” After the humiliating withdrawal of American military forces from Afghanistan and the continued presence of American hostages in that country, the Chinese have become more emboldened and have escalated their threatening behavior against Taiwan. 

China has conducted “assault drills” near Taiwan and on Thursday sent two dozen military aircraft to penetrate the island’s air defense zone. This is just the latest example of Chinese aircraft entering Taiwanese airspace, which has been happening quite frequently over the last few weeks.  

The Chinese goal is likely to either invade Taiwan or encourage the capitulation of the country without firing a shot. What has been the response of the United States to these multiple Chinese provocations? Absolutely nothing, even though we have a “security partnership” with Taiwan. 

With the Biden administration intent on purging Trump supporters from the military and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, supporting the teaching of “Critical Race Theory” at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, the United States does not seem to be ready to challenge China, which is the largest military in the world. China has 2.8 million people serving in their military forces, approximately twice the number of American service members.

Despite our economic ties, the Chinese are a formidable enemy. What will we do if they invade Taiwan? Many analysts believe that the Chinese will act quickly while our country is still reeling from the debacle in Afghanistan. 

Sadly, our leadership team at the White House is uninspiring to say the least. While Biden has refused to confront China, Milley has made questionable contacts with them. In the new book, Peril, Milley is reported to have contacted his Chinese military counterpart to assure them that Trump was not planning military action against them. He also promised to give them advance notice if any military attack was imminent. 

As China eyes Taiwan and threatens this democracy, the brutal communist dictators of the country must be reassured that the United States is in a weakened state and has horrible leadership. 

If ever China was to make a move, now might be the time. We must not be unprepared like we were in Afghanistan. The implications for national security are too enormous. 

Jeff Crouere is a native New Orleanian and his award winning program, “Ringside Politics,” airs nationally on Real America's Voice Network, AmericasVoice.News weekdays at 7 a.m. CT and from 7-11 a.m. weekdays on WGSO 990-AM & Wgso.com. He is a political columnist, the author of America's Last Chance and provides regular commentaries on the Jeff Crouere YouTube channel and on Crouere.net. For more information, email him at jeff@ringsidepolitics.com