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Post by Admin on Dec 8, 2022 15:35:46 GMT
China's leader - President Xi Jinping - had hoped this would be the year he would assert China's dominant position on the global stage, with heightened rhetoric about readying for war and his country's claim over Taiwan, leading many to fear imminent invasion.
Then there was the public removal of a former president, Hu Jintao, from the Communist party congress and securing an historic third-term - setting Xi up to be President for life.
But, it hasn't been the year Xi and China had hoped for with runaway cases of Covid and protests at the draconian measures in place under China's strict Zero Covid policy - leading to public protests against restrictions, and perhaps for the first time in his decade of rule, Xi Jinping himself.
These same measures have damaged the Chinese economy which is seeing its slowest rate of growth in nearly twenty years. Xi hasn't been getting it all his own way on the international stage either, as the US further distanced itself with Biden vowing to take back more jobs from Asia to the US.
So what next for Xi and China? Will a faltering economy and a loss of patience over Covid restrictions force China to change its approach and tweak its plans for global domination? Or will Xi double-down and push ahead with a risky strategy at home and beyond?
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Post by Admin on Dec 29, 2022 22:26:03 GMT
"The Chinese seem to be preparing for a war against Taiwan" says Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu. This puts the US and China on collision course for war – with potentially dramatic stakes for the world.
China's President Xi Jinping has vowed that Beijing will "reunify" with the island – if necessary, by force. A large majority of people in Taiwan say they don't want reunification. The United States is increasingly clear that it would intervene to defend Taiwan from any attack.
How did it come to this – and what happens next?
In this special analysis, DW's Richard Walker uncovers the roots of the dispute over Taiwan, in part 1 tracing how the diplomatic breakthroughs of the 1970s between the US and China left unfinished business that has festered ever since.
Part 2 tracks why these tensions have now burst into the open, with accusations of betrayal in all directions. And part 3 projects trends in China, the United States and Taiwan forward into the future to assess where the dispute is heading – and if there is any way of avoiding war.
Leading US authority on Taiwan, Shelley Rigger warns: "I think the danger is greater today than it has ever been before. The US and China are in this spiral of threat and counter threat, and Taiwan is caught in the middle." Retired People’s Liberation Army Senior Colonel Zhou Bo explains the scenarios under which China would use force. Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd sets out ideas for a diplomatic solution that he admits both China and Taiwan would "hate." CNAS think tank Chair Michèle Flournoy sets out her bottom line: "The key thing is for Beijing to recognize that if you go to war to seize Taiwan, you lose."
The film includes further interviews with Taiwan's Foreign Minister Joseph Wu; retired Senior Colonel in China's People's Liberation Army, Zhou Bo; former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd; Center for a New American Security Chair Michèle Flournoy; Enoch Wu of the Forward Alliance NGO; Meia Nouwens of the International Institute for Strategic Studies; German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock; German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck; and Till Steffen of the Berlin-Taipei Parliamentary Friendship Group.
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Post by Admin on Jan 21, 2023 12:55:19 GMT
Speaking exclusively to Sky News, Taiwan's foreign minister, Joseph Wu, says he thinks it's more likely China will invade Taiwan in 2027.
“To me, 2027 is the year that we need to watch out for,” he said.
His words come at a time when tensions across the Taiwan Strait are at the highest they've been for many years, with China now flying fighter jets towards Taiwanese airspace on a daily basis.
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Post by Admin on Jan 23, 2023 18:37:11 GMT
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Post by Admin on Feb 1, 2023 21:06:19 GMT
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