General Myers speaks out against `Anti-Secession' Law

[dArKeR]

In a television interview on Sunday, the top US military commander reiterated Washington's displeasure with China's "Anti-Secession" Law, saying that threatening to use force against Taiwan was not in China's interest.

In an interview on NBC News' Meet the Press, General Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was asked by the show's host, Tim Russert, if the US would intervene in a cross-strait crisis.

"If, in fact, the Chinese invaded or attacked Taiwan, would we defend Taiwan?" Russert asked.

"Well, the president has said, and I think it's the most powerful statement that we can refer to, and that is ... no change of the status quo by force by either side," Myers said.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2005/03/22/2003247281

[sasquatch]

1. The Chinese could do the following and we wouldn't lift a finger

-Invade Taiwan.
-Inslave the people of Taiwan.
-Rape Women in Taiwan.
-Rape children in Taiwan.
-Massacre women and children in Taiwan.

Because if we were to take actions against China it would interrupt American corporate buisness and the Bush Crime Family can't have that.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

2. Ain't no bigger corporate business than war.

As for how we would handle China, look at how we handled them when they snagged one of our spyplanes.

[sasquatch]

3. That's my example

[Mechatanketra]

4. It's why I always laugh (bitterly) at "world's only superpower".

If there's only one remaining superpower in the world, like the press keeps saying, I guess they mean "China". Because whenever we butt heads, America is the one that ends up knuckling under.

Washington bitches and moans about China's lack of democracy or whatever, but they don't dare actually do anything. If China had declared themselves allies of Saddam Hussein, Bush would have suddenly 'discovered' his WMD intel was bogus (and blame it on the Democrats). If China said they couldn't imagine trading with a country that didn't have a decent pension plan, Bush would become a privatization apostate (and call it part of the liberal agenda).

Ultimately, I think size matters. If it came to war, China can afford to choke us with their dead, and they know it. (And they've got the bomb, so they don't have to worry about ours.)

[qazplm]

10. eh

China is about twenty years away from being able to "choke us with their dead"...

Sure if we invaded China we would be in a world of pain obviously and wouldnt get very far, but considering their invasion plan for Taiwan currently involves fishing boats because they dont even have enough invasion vessels, their air force and navy are both a joke, they cant get anyone on an island that is a stone's throw away from them and halfway around the world from us.

heck, I am not 100% convinced that in a conventional attack Taiwan couldnt hold them off by themselves.

[Pab Sungenis]

11. One big thing you forget.

China's army, navy, and air force might be underpowered by our standards (well, if we weren't wasting all of our soldier's lives one by one in Iraq), but China DOES have WMD and the capability to deliver them, so that trumps us.

[Dave Reynolds]

8. I lived down-island from the spy plane's home base

during that time, they held rallies with small American flags.....made in China.

[noonwitch]

12. Too funny

If Bush took action about China, it would cut into Walmart's profits and possibly put some fair competition back into retail.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

20. Whidbey?

Pretty hard to stomach that crap at the time. I live on the Sound and remember it well.

[Dave Reynolds]

23. Yep, I was in Freeland,

about 30-40 minutes from Oak Harbor.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

25. I know Freeland well.

Can't be more than a thousand people there. The school rec fields are bigger than the town.

:cheers:

[Dave Reynolds]

28. I liked it there very much,

but 2.5 hours each way to U-W for work was a killer.

[libpunkmom]

5. CIA is very concerned

about China modernizing their military. It was discussed in the Senate Hearing on 3/17/05..

[Media_Lies_Daily]

14. Here is what China is currently doing to modernize their military....

*Increased their 2005 Defense Budget by 13%;

*Have already modernized their nuclear missiles;

*Are in the process of modernizing their air force;

*Will modernize their navy to allow them to project power abroad...in other words, they will adopt the US Navy's more than 200 year strategy.

*Other modernizations will follow to better equip their army for fighting a war with the US, which they feel is inevitable.

[Ilsa]

15. Who knows, maybe they'll offer to trade

some of our debt they hold for better military technology. Not that this would ever happen... but it makes for an interesting premise to consider if it had been another powerful country whose debt they hold.

[libpunkmom]

18. Yep! Goss and Jacoby

brought this up several times. Basically that the CIA and Military Intel were "extremely worried" and that China needed to be monitored. Of course they also added Russia, Venezuela, Iran and Cuba to that list as well!! Interesting group of countries they feel need to be monitored, especially when you look at the "deals" these other countries are making without the US. This administration doesn't like being cut out!! No sir, Georgie wants everyone to play with him, and nobody else.

[oasis]

6. We can pick a fight with China, defeat them, and charge them the expense

of the war. A great way of working out our debt to them.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

13. Just curious, but how do you propose to defeat the Chinese?...

Don't worry....if you can't come up with a plan, you'll join a long list of people that have either failed in the actual attempt, or failed to come up with any plan at all.

And even if we defeated them, how do you propose to get them to pay the costs of the conflict?

[Canuckistanian]

21. Yeah, they're not gonna fall for that opium trick again...

And 'gunboat diplomacy' doesn't work when your target has Silkworm missiles....

[PhuLoi]

24. Bugger silkworms, the Sunburn missles would clean our clock.

We currently lack an effective defense against these anti-ship missles. They have sufficient destructive capability to sink most of our vessels. See http://www.aeronautics.ru/ The new MIGs bested us in the recent war games with India. Oh yeah, we're kicking ass.

[libhill]

27. That's why

We only pick wars with backward countries with poor defences -Iraq / Somalia / Panama / Grenada - I'm impressed!

[Trillo]

7. Uh, oh-- Schiavo distraction isn't going well

time to ratchet up the fear...

[GoBlue]

9. The status quo..

is changing and China may soon own US.

[saigon68]

16. The Walmart family won't allow china to be attacked

China supplies all the cruddy products sold by these Corporate Criminals to the Amerikan SHEEP.

[rfkrfk]

17. China has no face

Why is it that, a continental power with a billion
people and nuclear weapons,
can't knock over a tropical fruit stand?
The people of Taiwan will fight harder
than the people of Tiananmen or Tibet, but not much.

[cascadiance]

19. Would the Chinese then feel justified in defending California...

If we here in California were to vote in a proposition to secede from the Christian States of America too... If U.S. sends troops in to prevent China from going in to stop a secession and say that China's using of force to prevent secession is a bad thing, would seem that in order to be consistent, our feds should also not take force to keep California from seceding too, and if they send ships and troops to Taiwan, then China would feel justified in sending ships and troops to California too!

[cascadiance]

22. Then I could fit in a lot more with this mug that's sitting on my desk

[lovuian]

26. Go to war with China Bush would pee in his pants!!!

and China knows it!!!