No Russian oil due to embargoes and now apparently none from Libya either because the failed state created there can't agree on anything. Gulf countries have already announced they either can't or won't change their extraction rate, and Venezuela is still under a massive embargo itself (in the process of being lifted though) because Maduro is evil but not quite as evil as Putin. And you have politicians in Germany and Europe telling their populace this winter is going to be rough as if there were nothing anyone could've done about it.
(Rest of the) World News
6 days later
Loads of protests in Holland due to the new rules, never a good idea to piss off farmers.
Ex Japan PM Shinzo Abe just got assassinated in public. What the hell
Assassinated with a homemade "gun" too, also apparently was only decided shortly before Abe would go there so no big planning involved from the sounds of it.
Condolences to his family I guess but he'll sleep comfy in hell. Did the whole fascist head of state of a major economic power way before it became cool, Japan is still a closed book to most of the rest of the world which is the only reason along with his comparatively gentle manner it didn't make big news before.
I know they're celebrating in China and Korea, what about your ends Clarence?
We are neutral about it. Doesn't feel either way. Just really shocking that something like this happens in Japan
I'm not clued in on him either, Japanese politics has no bearings to us here. We dislike China more tbf
17 days later
Jesus - did you read all of that? I took his advice and read half. The sentiments are not very surprising I guess.
I did. It's scary, but I think it's an accurate projection of where lots of places in Europe, and perhaps even the US may be headed as the far right begins it's ascendancy.
Tucker Carlson is a huge fan of Orban and Hungary...
I thought it was a worthwhile read.
And as the man himself said....
"Let us also note the problem that once you understand something, you are only a step away from accepting it. But it is very important to make a moral distinction between understanding something and accepting something."
7 days later
Nancy Pelosi is about to land in Taipeh.
Watch Europe do the Pikachu face when semiconductor production crashes completely. No new electronics for the next couple years but at least we showed the baddies we mean business
Why would semiconductor production crash?
Because the biggest companies and the majority of all preliminary producers are based in Taiwan. There are companies elsewhere but they rely on TSMC precursors.
Hopefully it won't come to it but hard to see China not react to a blatant provocation like this, Pelosi may be a useless old bat but she's still the third highest ranking official of the US.
I know that they are all based there but why would production crash?
I'm assuming you were trying to say that China might invade over this? Are they justified to invade over Pelosi attending?
Taiwan or the Republic of China is not a country acknowledged by the vast majority of countries on earth because of the PRC's One China policy. The US have acknowledged that policy since the days of Nixon and didn't send any relevant representatives to the country (ie start any diplomatic action to be conceived as acknowledging the country) in those 50 years.
Last year the first Taiwanese representative office ever in Europe opened in Lithuania causing massive diplomatic tensions. The same year Biden became president he invited a representative from Taiwan to his election party. And now Pelosi visiting Taipeh which has been countless times been warned against by people in mainland China and plenty of politicians in the US.
China is too powerful economically for them to be expected to invade Taiwan, much more likely they'll curb production in specific economic sectors or find other more nuanced ways than starting a war. But the US clearly now what they're doing, especially at a time like this it's absolutely pathetic how not only are these frauds left to do their kindling unchecked but that European politicians fall head over heel pledging their allegiance and warning China against diplomatic overreaction.
I respect the US, someone need to stand up to China and their bullshit.
jones wrote:Taiwan or the Republic of China is not a country acknowledged by the vast majority of countries on earth because of the PRC's One China policy. The US have acknowledged that policy since the days of Nixon and didn't send any relevant representatives to the country (ie start any diplomatic action to be conceived as acknowledging the country) in those 50 years.
Last year the first Taiwanese representative office ever in Europe opened in Lithuania causing massive diplomatic tensions. The same year Biden became president he invited a representative from Taiwan to his election party. And now Pelosi visiting Taipeh which has been countless times been warned against by people in mainland China and plenty of politicians in the US.
China is too powerful economically for them to be expected to invade Taiwan, much more likely they'll curb production in specific economic sectors or find other more nuanced ways than starting a war. But the US clearly now what they're doing, especially at a time like this it's absolutely pathetic how not only are these frauds left to do their kindling unchecked but that European politicians fall head over heel pledging their allegiance and warning China against diplomatic overreaction.
Newt Grinch was speaker of the House and went in the late Nineties to Taiwan so there is precedent of the US sending high ranking officials. Sounds like Biden wasn't too keen on the idea yet this issue has quite strong Bipartisan support with many Democrats and Republicans supporting this.
Why are the US frauds for sending someone? Do China stick to their international obligations and Treaties? Not very good timing though I will agree with that, the last thing the World needs is a conflict there.
Anyway, I don't think there's anything fundamentally wrong with her visit like JazzG said, it's not unprecedented but the power dynamics have changed in the past 25 years and that's the crux of the issue. The US are throwing their weight around but so is China but ultimately Taiwan were happy to host Pelosi and that's what matters. Maybe if a few senators visited Tibet it would still be around too.
I also don't think China will kick up a host of meaningful sanctions or curb their own production. Firstly, because as we've seen from earlier this year, the jury is still out on whether that is ultimately effective. Secondly, when China took a similar approach with Australia it backfired. Thirdly, China's own economy is under pressure - it's really hard to assess how severe those risks are but there's certainly enough going on that no government would want to exacerbate it. I'm not saying China will let the visit pass without any retaliation, I'm just saying it would not be a material one for a whole host of reasons.
Faulty logic imo. How does the visit actually help Taiwan? If anything I’d imagine it gives China an excuse to flex its power and speed up its ambitions to take it by force at some point even if anything material right now is unlikely. At the very least it allows them to turn up the rhetoric. Empty gestures like this have never achieved anything historically and usually just serve the relevant political leaders in their grandstanding. The only thing that works is categorical military backing and that’s not something the US is willing to do.
goon wrote:Faulty logic imo. How does the visit actually help Taiwan? If anything I’d imagine it gives China an excuse to flex its power and speed up its ambitions to take it by force at some point. Empty gestures like this have never achieved anything historically and usually just serve the relevant political leaders in their grandstanding. The only thing that works is categorical military backing and that’s not something the US is willing to do.
There's 3 possible outcomes
1) China does nothing (unlikely) - and the US and every other country in the region gain from that
2) China invades - highly unlikely and we all lose.
3) China raise tensions and Taiwan will have to recognise that an invasion at some point is a possibility (Most likely). That's probably a win for the US, since it's been trying for ages to get Taiwan to take the prospect of an invasion seriously - meaning invest in asymmetric capabilities rather than useless warships. As you say, the US won't write a blank check to guarantee Taiwan's security because China won't be pleased but the US needs Taiwan to be an unappealing target for China.
For the record, visits like this do have an impact - you just have to look next door at China itself to see the impact Nixon's visit had during the Cold War. Nothing gets resolved during the visit but it normalises events and can sometimes be a turning point - it'll only be apparent when you look back in history.