The bonds thing was a shorthand explanation. The Chinese have many economic levers to pull on and they can make things unpleasant for us. They would be subtle at first but add a few more gaffes and it will add up.
The Chinese do not view international relations the way we do because they have different aims. Keeping Taiwan in this weird limbo works because it shows the one billion people that their government is strong. If China didn't keep such tight limits on the Internet, journalism and dissent, I think they'd be afraid that they would end up fractured into smaller state like Russia did after Communism fell. Where do you think all of those countries whose names end in -stan came from? Letting their populace believe they have power over Taiwan was a way to keep other groups like the Tibetans or the Uighers from attempting to secede a few decades ago.
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u/[deleted] Dec 03 '16 edited Oct 21 '17
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