Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are tempted as never before to attack and conquer Taiwan. CCP has declared “one China” its national aim since 1949. Based on their public comments and recent jingoistic actions toward Taiwan and intrusions into Taiwan’s airspace, Jinping and the CCP appear to increasingly view the present as an opportune time to strike. The blame for that perception lays squarely on President Biden.
To the CCP’s undoubted amazement and delight, Biden has succeeded in doing great harm to his own country, rendering it weakened. He has destroyed American energy independence (enriching Russia in the process); unleashed rampant inflation through destruction of that independence and multi-trillion dollar federal spending; demoralized much of the American military through redirecting the emphasis from war fighting to woke politics and climate change; and lost the confidence of America’s allies through a reckless, uncoordinated and costly withdrawal from Afghanistan that left Americans and allies abandoned and thirteen American soldiers dead. Biden has presented no major obstacles to Putin’s annexation of the Ukraine, offering principally economic sanctions that China is able to counter through closer economic ties with Russia. Given that abysmal record, and China’s military readiness, Taiwan is now likely very much in China’s cross-hairs.
Biden’s wounds are self-inflicted. To appease the far-left wing of his party, President Biden adopted the fanciful view that hypothesized climate change posed an existential threat, one that warranted complete destruction of the fossil fuel backbone of the American economy. On day 1, Biden proudly nixed the Keystone XL pipeline, imposed a moratorium on any new oil and gas leases on federal lands and in federal waters, and then of late terminated altogether all of those leases. He also announced a commitment to end American reliance on fossil fuels altogether (with no affordable or realistic substitute available). His actions have driven America from energy independence to energy dependence. That, along with massive new government spending, have resurrected inflation at a forty year high, with even higher inflation on the way. Biden has also enriched Russia through payment of inflated oil and gas prices to that enemy of the United States. The US buys about 7 percent of its oil and gas from Russia. The CCP has perceived these incredible actions of Biden, which no doubt appear to be proof that the United States is engaged in wanton self-destruction, rendering the United States more vulnerable than ever before in the modern era.
That view was no doubt fortified when China witnessed Biden’s ignominious retreat from Afghanistan, turning Americans, allies, and billions in military equipment, vehicles, bases, and state-of-the-art communications and intelligence over to the Taliban--making the Taliban one of the most formidable terrorist organizations in the world. The chaotic and costly American retreat revealed to China further proof of President Biden’s ineptitude, weakness, and abandonment of American interests.
Biden’s day 1 decision to abandon defense of America’s Southern border also greeted the CCP with news that America was collapsing upon itself. Since his inauguration, Biden has maintained largely open Southern borders, permitting largely unrestricted entry into the United States of drug traffickers, sex traffickers, gang members, and terrorists, even enabling criminal cartels in Mexico to effectively assume control over American immigration policy and to spread Chinese fentanyl throughout the nation (which has caused fentanyl overdose to become the leading cause of death among Americans aged 18 to 45).
The Biden Administration’s emphasis on reforming the military to woke politics (indoctrinating soldiers with critical race theory, sensitization to multiple genders and pronoun options, and awareness of their victimhood or white supremacy) along with compulsory vaccination has taxed morale and readiness. That too has revealed to the CCP the extent to which the Biden Administration is willing to sacrifice America’s interests to advance a far-left agenda.
Moreover, China holds over $1 trillion of the U.S. national debt. It also financed through senior members of the CCP access to the Bidens in exchange for deals that netted Hunter Biden approximately $31 million. Consequently, it should come as no surprise if Jinping and the CCP think Biden is soft on China or willing to sell out his country.
And then we have the Ukraine, where President Biden has consistently chosen to respond piecemeal, haltingly and gingerly, presenting no unanticipated or substantial obstacle to Putin’s invasion and very little real opposition to his annexation and control of the entire country. This last event has given Jinping and the CCP powerful reason to suspect that China, too, will face little significant resistance from the United States if China annexes Taiwan.
To China, the mounting examples of Biden’s sacrifice of American interests and weakness present rare opportunities for exploitation. Undoubtedly, Jinping likely views the Biden era as hastening CCP’s timetable for absorbing Taiwan. The military intrusions into Taiwan airspace and the development of bases in the Taiwan Strait area and on China-made islands in the South China Sea are a testament to this increased interest in hastening the “reunification.”
For its part, Taiwan—like Ukraine—is no match for the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA). While Taiwan has benefited from the purchase of American military hardware over the years, it is still unable to overcome the lopsided PLA and Peoples Liberation Army Airforce (PLAA) advantage. PLA troop strength in the area of the Taiwan Strait is presently about 416,000 out of China’s total 1.04 million force. Taiwan has only about 88,000 on active duty. The PLA has some 7,000 artillery pieces in the area and about 6,300 tanks there, compared to Taiwan’s 800 tanks. China’s navy vastly outnumbers Taiwan’s with Taiwan possessing only 4 destroyers, 22 frigates, and 2 submarines. The PLAA has some 700 fighters, 250 bombers and attack planes, and 100 other aircraft in the region compared to Taiwan’s 400 fighters, no bombers, and 30 special mission aircraft.
It is difficult to believe that President Biden comprehends the full gravity of his failure to defend American interests but he may soon discover that those failings will imperil one of America’s most valuable free enterprise partners. Ninety percent of the most advanced computer chips in the world are made in Taiwan.