CHINA, INDIA, AUSTRALIA, AND THE FATE OF S.E. ASIA

AUSTRALIA TO DEFEND TIAWAN IF CHINA ATTACKS?

By: CliffMickelson

Date: Sunday, 6 March 2005, 5:50 a.m.

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"Australia will come to the defense of Taiwan if attacked by China. "

-Australian Foreign Minister, Alexander (the) Downer:

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Greetings, My Fellow Sweaty Bomb Shelter Diggers!

What say we all put down the shovel for a moment and take a well-deserved break!
Let us consider whether or not to take the measure of the above quote as an indicator of the necessity for making the wife and kids dig too!

My take on the significance of Mr. Downer's "downer" remark would be that the honorable Minister is simply reading us a bedtime story. It is a standard ditty and one that he is plagiarizing directly out of the "Once Upon A Time" section of his textbook, entitled:
"Statecraft 101" (sub-title) "International Power Politics and the Maintenance of The Balance of Power."

But be warned, because the Surgeon General and the state of California have established that bedtime stories have been know to cause nightmares.
Not to worry, my blister-handed friends...The nightmare is already here. (If you don't believe me, just move to California!)

Further...It is a well established fact that among nations......
The pack will always seek to pull down any wolf that grows too tall.
In the unending shifts of alliances between nations, the common denominator is a socialist paradyme on the equality of players.
This, in and of itself, is not necessarily a bad thing.
(Among nations, that is)

The military application of the concept that our Aussi Foreign Minister is so impolitely reminding us of, can be seen as occurring in force, time and time again, back through history.
No matter how out of kilter the world's balance of power may be at any given moment in time, (it is currently VERY out of kilter) The applicable rule states that: The enemy of my enemy is my friend, etc. (and variations upon the theme, ad nauseum)

With this in mind, the Situation with Taiwan is a worrisome one. It is one that is fraught with the possible emergence into dominance of random chaos potentialities.
For all intents and purposes, the Mainland Chinese claim to Taiwan is absurd. If for no other reason than by reason of the one that I have just now invented, and have decided to dub (ya): "Cliff's International Statute of Reasonable Time Limitations"! (AKA, Com'mon' youze guys!... It's been YEARS!.. Give us a break!)

The sound and fury signifying the true nothingness comprising Beijing's weeping and gnashing of teeth over Taiwan, provides a heaping plate full of instructive entertainment for apprentices in the disinformation field as well as serves up an excellent second helping of motivation among political catastrophists to experience the virtues of fresh air and the benefits of physical exercise. (Hey, buddy, ya' got'a spare shovel?)

Our peevish Mainland Neo-Mandarins kindly provide the audience with an enlightening example of how to create a new political reality.
They dazzle those of us who live on the World's pumpkin wagon by the exhibition of a marvelous sleight of hand, wherein, they make an insulting assumption about the level of human intelligence by waving the sacred semantic wand of false illusion above a formerly empty box, all the while, informing us that it really contains the a living, breathing, reality.
This apparent impossibility they then pull out of the box, (via their hat) much to the endless mystification of all who can pass a literacy test.

However, at risk of life and limb, my sources tell me that the secret ingredient used by the Peking prestidigitators is the relentlessly generated repetition of a false or partially false set of facts and claims! (So THERE!...Chou down on THAT one!)

In other words, We don't need no stinkin' true facts cuz we aim to change 'em!
And...
As we all know much too well, After a while, the lie becomes truth and the truth now becomes the lie.

Taiwan has been an independent nation and recognized as such since long before the mainland Chinese obtained similar recognition.

Remaining conscious of this then, if we closely observe the attitude and tactics of Beijing as per Taiwan, we will be able to most likely discern what they infer for the rest of the world at some point in time.

One verity, above all others, remains self evident in the world and life of the common man as well as in the more rarefied Olympian heights of international power politics:
And that is:
The way that the words are assembled in the effort to enable how any problem is approached, will always betray the agenda, the motivation, and/or extended intent of the participants.
This is the reason that political analysts as well as Intelligence agencies are so meticulous with every nuance of a world leaders speeches and statements.

You will recall that Hitler told Chamberlain that he only wanted the Sudatenland. ...Uh...Oh...and by the way, a corridor through Poland to Danzig!

Taiwan is a tiny and insignificant speck compared to the huge bulk of the Chinese mainland. What skin is it off the tail of the People's Republic to let the Taiwanese decide their own destiny?
Isn't this what Self determination of nations, world peace, and the attendant organizations charged to guard and insure the above are all supposed to be about?
But...When it comes to Taiwan, where are the vociferous voices in the United Nations that cry out so often and so loudly for the oppressed peoples of the world? The same voices that are so silent now were buying Taiwan radios and knick knacks 20 years ago. Now they buy from China.

Taiwan is a representative republic with freely elected representatives.
This is not a boast that the bully boys of Tienamen Square can also advertise.
I believe that it would speak much better of the long term intent and agenda of the mainland, were they to allow the free expression of the will to the people of Taiwan to be respected.
That they are unwilling to do so is ominous.

It is also important to remember that it is the Mainland that is keeping this issue alive and not the other way around.... But then, I suppose if we applied the yardstick of what I wrote above to Tibet then we will know what is in store for Taiwan in the near future.
Northern Vietnam, Mongolia, India and the Russian far East had better get ready for the inevitable, because Taiwan is but a small morsel and will only whet the appetite for equally or even less valid and honorable claims upon their national territories.

Australia will find itself, willing on not, as much an eventual front line target of Chinese expansionism as it was to the Imperial Japanese who bombed Darwin. Fortunately, the unforeseen victory by the US Naval forces at the Battle of Midway removed any serious Japanese threat of an invasion of Australia. The Chinese may not be as unlucky as to have a squadron of American bombers catch them with their planes on deck, fully loaded with fuel and bombs.

In my opinion, the fate of Southeast Asia turns upon how successfully India matches the ante-up of Beijing.

-CliffMickelson