How the US & China Are Preparing to Fight Total War [50 min very informative video]

By Free Republic | Created at 2024-11-16 01:30:51 | Updated at 2024-11-16 03:57:23 2 hours ago

How the US & China Are Preparing to Fight Total War [50 min very informative video]
.youtube ^ | RealLifeLore

Posted on 11/15/2024 5:21:06 PM PST by daniel1212

[Small excerpt of transcript, formatted by https://www.perplexity.ai/, but there is way more to the 50 min. video

The United States and Taiwan have always maintained a complicated relationship. Taiwan's official name is the Republic of China (ROC), a government that was initially established all the way back in 1912 across mainland China following the collapse of the Imperial Qing Dynasty.

The ROC was subsequently one of America's top allies during World War II, fighting against the Japanese in the Asia-Pacific theater. However, following the conclusion of that war, the Chinese Nationalist government of the ROC almost immediately resumed its long-standing civil war against the Chinese Communists. By 1949, the Communists had emerged victorious on the mainland and proclaimed the People's Republic of China (PRC).

Despite this, the Nationalist government of the ROC continued to survive and fled from the mainland to Taiwan, where they have remained ever since. Both governments—the ROC and the PRC—never agreed on any kind of formal peace treaty and have remained officially at war with one another ever since. Both sides continue to officially claim on paper to be the sole legal government of all of China, meaning that the Chinese Civil War never really ended in any official capacity and has remained frozen for the 74 years that have followed since 1949.

The United States was among the very first countries in the world to recognize the ROC government when it was first established in mainland China in 1912. After the retreat to Taiwan in 1949, the United States continued recognizing the ROC as the sole legitimate government of all of China for decades. To deter the larger Communist PRC on the mainland from ever launching an invasion of Taiwan to defeat the ROC once and for all, the U.S. provided economic and military aid to the ROC government.

The ROC welcomed thousands of U.S. troops to base themselves on the island, which peaked in 1958 when nearly 20,000 U.S. troops were stationed there. It wasn't just American troops on Taiwan; the U.S. Air Force activated an entire air division headquartered in Taiwan while also deploying some of their own nuclear weapons to the island.

In 1955, the U.S. signed a mutual defense pact with the ROC, promising to intervene militarily on their behalf if the PRC ever launched a cross-strait invasion. This firmly deterred the PRC from considering such an invasion for decades.

In fact, throughout the entire Cold War, the ROC in Taiwan remained determined to reclaim the Chinese mainland by force. They offered to invade mainland China on multiple occasions throughout the 1950s and 1960s. The closest they ever came was in the early 1960s during the Great Chinese Famine, which killed tens of millions on the mainland.

In light of PRC's first nuclear weapons test in 1964, the Nationalist ROC government believed there was enough instability within mainland China to launch a cross-strait invasion and hoped that millions of disillusioned Chinese mainlanders would take their side. The ROC mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops for this operation and requested direct U.S. support for an invasion of mainland China on multiple occasions.

However, constant American refusals forced them to reconsider their plans. Then, in 1965, three ROC naval vessels were intercepted by the People's Liberation Army Navy and sunk by torpedoes, killing nearly 300 ROC naval personnel. This incident convinced the ROC military that they were not as prepared for a cross-strait invasion of mainland China as they had previously thought.

TOPICS: Business/Economy; China; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; War
KEYWORDS: fakenews; taiwan; tldr; usnavy; veterans; ww3

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I rarely post videos, but this one is very substantive and informative, and befits a video.

1 posted on 11/15/2024 5:21:06 PM PST by daniel1212

To: daniel1212

Another excerpt:
U.S. Military Response to a Chinese Invasion of Taiwan
If China were to launch an invasion of Taiwan and the United States decided to respond militarily, the following actions might occur:
Initial Deployments

U.S. Marines Positioning:
Armed with anti-ship and anti-air weapons
Deployed across Japan’s Southern Ryukyu Islands and the Philippines’ northern islands within the Bashi Channel
Extending to Yonaguni Island, less than 90 miles from Taiwan
Objective: Hold these islands and destroy Chinese warships and warplanes attempting to flank Taiwan
Air Operations:
U.S. planes from bases in South Korea, Japan, and the Philippines would aim to achieve air superiority around Taiwan
Naval Movements:
U.S. naval assets in Singapore would likely move to sever China’s critical oil import routes
Nuclear attack submarines would deploy from bases in Kitsap, Hawaii, Guam, Perth, and potentially Subic Bay

Submarine Operations

Objectives:
Plug up narrow maritime choke points across the Indonesian archipelago
Patrol around maritime choke points near the Philippines, within the Bashi Channel, and around Japan’s Ryukyu Islands
Monitor the Korea Strait
Orders to attack and sink any PLA warships attempting to break into the Sea of Japan, Philippine Sea, or wider Indo-Pacific

Nuclear Deterrence

America’s strategic nuclear triad in the Indo-Pacific would remain on standby
Assets located in Kitsap, Tindal, and potentially South Korea
The threat of nuclear war between the U.S. and China would loom over the conflict

Nuclear Capabilities

China’s estimated nuclear arsenal: ~400 warheads (2023)
Projected to increase to ~1,000 warheads by late 2020s
U.S. maintains a larger nuclear arsenal
Both nations capable of mutually assured destruction

Conflict Limitations

Theorists suggest neither side would strike the other’s mainland, even with conventional weapons
The war might be limited to maritime, aerial, and amphibious assaults around Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific

U.S. Strategy and Chinese Perspective

U.S. argues its military preparations are meant to deter a Chinese invasion of Taiwan
From China’s viewpoint, U.S. actions may appear aggressive and containment-oriented
China could potentially face a total maritime blockade by U.S. and allied forces

Potential Chinese Considerations
Some analysts speculate that U.S. military posturing might encourage China to consider launching an invasion sooner rather than later, before:

The AUKUS security pact fully materializes
New U.S. military bases in the Philippines are established
Japan fully militarizes its Southern Ryukyu Islands
American nuclear weapons potentially return to South Korea
Taiwan acquires more advanced arms from the U.S.

This scenario highlights the complex dynamics and potential risks involved in the ongoing tensions surrounding Taiwan and the broader U.S.-China relationship in the Indo-Pacific region.

2 posted on 11/15/2024 5:27:49 PM PST by daniel1212 (Turn 2 the Lord Jesus who saves damned+destitute sinners on His acct, believe, b baptized+follow HIM)

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