FLASHPOINT: TAIWAN

In this column, I try to discuss things that I think people should know, although I was hoping to write something about the tech industries. Something has lately drawn my attention to Taiwan, something that is not being talked about or addressed nearly enough. The situation between China and Taiwan has reached a point where staying neutral has no longer become possible with the involvement of Japan and thus, the concerns of the United States.

Why is Taiwan important to the USA?

Besides being a major manufacturer of microchips, Taiwan is a small democratic country being threatened by a major superpower. If the USA seeks to keep its role as a superpower, it will have to protect its fellow democracy, which is threatened by its rival, unlike Afghanistan. This time other US allies will doubt the United States’ capability in protecting Taiwan. This has recently become a situation that can no longer be avoided with the policy of ambiguousness that the USA has pursued thus far. With Japan announcing its support for Taiwan, the lack of US support or response to the upcoming Taiwanese invasion is obvious.

Will this lead to an all-out war with China? It’s possible. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has made “Unification” with Taiwan one of its chief goals. In the event of war, and due to the nature of totalitarian regimes, any investments made in China are very likely to be seized outright, considering that Chinese law allows it — as well as any collected data and intellectual property. It would be quite ironic, considering that much of the CCP war effort has been financed by US investment firms whose CEOs and their executives, admitted ignorance of the goals and nature of these regimes — as revealed in an interview with Ray Dalio, of Bridgewater Associates, with CNBC’s Squawk Box, Nov. 2021).

A storm might be coming, and I am not referring to the weather.