Fourth Taiwan Strait Crisis

[Kich]

Color me spectacle but I don't even believe the new zones of exercises around Taiwan.

After what happened today, my brain doesn't take anything coming out China's govt. seriously anymore.

Not saying they should have shot her down or something; just thinking that their actions didn't match their bellicose rhetoric.

 

[davidau]

You need calm down a bit.

To fight a PR war you need to export ideaology and a model of development. When did China start having a good story to tell the rest of world, the third world countries in particular?

Deeds speak louder than words! For one, look at the infrastuctures provided to the African countries. the Covid-19 doses to many Aisan and African countries.

 

[name]

This is exactly it. Private Chinese internet media outlets like Guancha produces far more attractive and persuasive content. Honestly at this point it's time to purge the state media and just let vetted private companies to handle PR. The government just need to set general direction and bankroll them. I mean, look at South Korea and how relatively successful they are.

It's not about private vs public/government. It is only about competence. The west also has centralized control of propaganda, but they understand human psychology far better. They understand that diverse "independent" outlets saying variations of the same few dumbed down talking points over and over are far more effective at persuasion than a few government voices saying some long winded drivel once or twice (China's white papers). They understand how to organize a choir of liars to birth new propaganda to weaponize later.

For example, for several months Western atrocity propaganda about Uyghurs were spread. Months later, they can easily weaponize it with a mere shortcut such during a debate by saying as "genocide of Uyghurs" or "concentration camps in Xinjiang". It's impossible unravel all the lies at once during a live debate (this is a version of gish gallop), which is why it is so effective. China does none of these things. They don't birth talking points. They don't use talking points so they're stuck with these long rambling pointless super boring shows and articles that persuade no one.

Messaging needs to be dumbed down and then repeated over and over.

>The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly - it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over.

Joseph Goebbels (Minister of Propaganda of Nazi Germany)

The good news is that China can become masters at this vital skill because it is super easy compared to everything else they achieved. However, they need to take it seriously and stop being in denial.

 

[canniBUS]

His threats doesn’t matter if the public lacks confidences that he will fulfil on his threats. If future high level visits results in only milk toast responses then it will eventually lead to the domestic public questioning his resolve to an armed reunification if Taiwan declares independences. Here is the problem. You are assuming Xi will do something but what if it turns out is he really is just a paper dragon and his actually just Boris Yeltsin 2.0.

That's a rather serious accusation to call Xi a Yeltsin. Let me remind you Yeltsin was put into power by the CIA. He (with instruction from the west) allowed Russian industry to be dismantled and oversaw the deaths of 10+ million Russians as a result of the economic collapse. Whatever complaints you may have about China's current response, it is nothing like what Yeltsin did to Russia.

 

[SanWenYu]

Deeds speak louder than words! For one, look at the infrastuctures provided to the African countries. the Covid-19 doses to many Aisan and African countries.

Exactly. This is after China having sorted out its own lack of development.

 

[SteelBird]

Just some exercises in response, as usual. However, they are quite extensive this time, and includes a bit of Taiwan’s territorial water.

This means the US and Taiwan know what are the consequences and they already got used to with it. China isn't Russia after all and does not dare to do any physical damage to them.

 

[Petrolicious88]

From my end, what is clear is that Hu should have his social media accounts removed from him. There are fools and then there is Hu. The Chinese government shouldn't have to get into all this trouble because Hu fantasises about all sorts of things every day.

Hu doesn’t have the support of the government? He can’t bark like that without some tacit support from the government. Isn’t that the reason people expected some kind of action.

Im waiting to see what Hu will say next. The man is hilarious.

 

[SampanViking]

Well the key to this is not actually Pelosi but the actions of the DPP. As others have said, Pelosi could stand up and say she recognises Taiwanese Independence, but it doesn't actually count for much, because she is only the Speaker of Congress; a senior Congresswoman. Yes there is much symbol;ism but little of substance in her visit.

If the DPP start to say things along that ilk then that is a very different matter and that will illicit a much more robust response.

China will, I am sure, see this as a deliberate disregarding of their red lines and so the Chinese response is likely to be in kind.
The kind of thing they can do is to formally disavow any recognition of US Sanctions on third party countries
Or they might give formal recognition to the Lughansk or Donetsk Peoples Republics.

This is an exercise which is mainly symbolic and designed to make Beijing lose face. It can reciprocate to make the US and DPP lose face.
Military Exercises which do not recognise Taiwanese territorial borders and limits is a low cost way to do this, as the Taiwanese military is highly unlikely to respond, nor will the US.
If something stronger was needed, the PLA simply need to overwhelm and occupy a few of the smaller ROC controlled Islands just off the Fujianese coast. Again this would expose the impotence of Taipei and Washington at very little cost or risk.

The best way to deal with Pelosi is to respond in a way which blights her triumph and leaves vast numbers of those she purports to care about cursing her name and the fact she was ever born. Pelosi seems like a woman in search of a legacy and so to poison the one she is currently seeking to create, seems the most effective rebuttal.

 

[Bellum_Romanum]

If the CPC isn't careful their perceived inaction and if this latest stunt is nothing but a dog and pony show to dampen the sheeps then he better be ready for a lot of people in China getting radicalized in their thinking that their government is paralyzed against the west onslaught especially to what most of us consider us recline that's Taiwan.

I mean, most of the folks leaving comments here no longer lives in the mainland and yet some of us are expressing quite angry posts, and unfortunately even questioning the manhood of the country's leadership. How much more for the people in the country being whipped into nationalist frenzy thinking that finally the dragon will spit out fire only to find out that it's just a baby dragon with no teeth.

The people has endured Zero-COVID lockdown no problem, economy is shaky as a result. Then this opportunity came but nothing came off of it but just another exercise and banning of 100 junk foods from Taiwan.

 

[dasCKD]

Hu doesn’t have the support of the government? He can’t bark like that without some tacit support from the government.

Even if he has the blessings of the state to say things like that, the PRC should still have disavowed his words if his rhetoric was not to be state policy.