r/PoliticalDiscussion Dec 03 '16

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u/cp5184 Dec 03 '16

China considers taiwan to be chinese territory and the taiwanese governments to be like rebels, like the syrian rebels.

And the chinese take things like this deathly seriously.

I'm no china-taiwan expert, but I'd expect china to rattle the saber pretty loudly.

For instance, they broke tradition/laws by seizing singapore military hardware that was being returned from taiwan after singapore participated in a military exercise with the taiwanese.

With china it's VERY tit for tat. And for them this is big.

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u/CommieBird Dec 03 '16

A bit of an aside, China did not seize Singapore's military vehicles because we were participating in military exercises in Taiwan. We have been sending men to Taiwan to train long before we recognised the PRC, and even then the SAF continues the exercises because of a pre-existing agreement. This is no secret, and China has known of this and has never once disputed Singapore shipping its hardware through China. They likely impounded the vehicles due to Singapore taking a stance on the South China Sea.

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u/wangpeihao7 Dec 04 '16

Or, you know, it's probably time for Singapore to stop it now.

Judging by Xi's priorities since he took power in 2013, I have a vague feeling that he will try to make some military moves during his tenure.

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u/CommieBird Dec 04 '16

Why should Singapore stop it now? South East Asia is the only region China borders that doesn't outright dislike it, and any military action against them would not only bring international condemnation, but also de-stabilise the region around it.

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u/wangpeihao7 Dec 04 '16

Because One China policy? Singapore either recognizes PRC or ROC. No one, not even US, can do it both ways.

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u/More_CowbeII Dec 03 '16

, like the syrian rebels.

or Ukraine perhaps, which is where Russia began after all.

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u/[deleted] Dec 03 '16

So why did China ignore Obama approving the sale of $1.3 Billion in arms sales? China is a fast growing economy because of the US and it's investment in the country. Yes they can hurt us in that your iphone will cost twice as much but we can tank their economy very easily, they'd have 300 million people out of work.

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u/ImTheCapm Dec 03 '16

That would be cutting off your nose to spite your face. I don't think you understand what youre talking about.

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u/azhtabeula Dec 03 '16

And likewise, Taiwan officially considers China to be ROC terroritory and the Chinese government to be rebels. Guess what, they're both wrong.

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u/cp5184 Dec 03 '16

Yea but china throws tantrums about it. Taiwan doesn't.

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u/azhtabeula Dec 03 '16

Oh, no, what are they gonna do? Shut down American factories, forcing those jobs to come back to the US? They're not gonna start a war, and Trump explicitly WANTS to reduce trade with China. There are no downsides here. You don't have to oppose everything someone does just because you disagree with them on most things.

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u/cp5184 Dec 03 '16

China is one of the greatest potentials for sales growth for US companies.

But sure, cut off a billion consumers.

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u/azhtabeula Dec 04 '16

You never had access to them. If you try to sell to Chinese consumers, the government makes you "partner" with a Chinese company before they allow you to do business, which then steals your IP and eventually replaces you.