Andre Damon – WSWS.org Aug 10, 2022
Amid the military standoff in the Taiwan Strait triggered by the visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan last week, the US is planning to send warships through the Taiwan Strait “in the coming days,” the publication of the United States Naval Institute reported Tuesday.
On Monday, the Pentagon confirmed earlier statements by the White House that the US was planning another so-called “freedom of navigation exercise,” with Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl stating, “We will continue to do Taiwan Strait transits, as we have in the past, in the coming weeks… We will continue to do freedom of navigation operations elsewhere in the region.”
The United States has stationed a carrier strike group, led by the USS Ronald Reagan, in the waters near the island, flanked by the amphibious assault carrier USS Tripoli. The USS America Expeditionary Strike Group is currently in port nearby in Sasebo, Japan.
In recent years the United States has increased the tempo of its provocative operations near Chinese waters, on the other side of the world from the American mainland.
But none of these operations, which routinely involve American and Chinese warships shadowing each other and issuing radio warnings, have ever taken place in such a tense military and political climate.
Chinese forces have indefinitely extended live-fire military exercises around Taiwan that began after Pelosi’s visit, and are concentrating on “honing the capabilities of joint blockade under complex electromagnetic environment,” the Global Times reported.
China’s two aircraft carriers are operating in the area of Taiwan, but have not yet been reported to have joined the drills.
The Global Times reported that the Chinese aircraft carriers are expected to join the drills, and are “expected to deter and cut off routes of external force interference from the east side of Taiwan island.”
Following Pelosi’s trip, the Chinese government and Chinese military forces have cut off communications with their US counterparts, giving the looming standoff between US and Chinese forces an even greater element of danger and unpredictability.
Even prior to Pelosi’s visit, Chinese officials had argued to their US counterparts that the Taiwan Strait should not be considered international waters, raising the prospect that the Chinese navy would seek to block US warships or aircraft from transiting the strait.
The Global Times, paraphrasing a Chinese military expert, noted that “The PLA can set new navigation restriction zones amid its consecutive exercises around Taiwan island, and this will deny US warships from entering the Taiwan Straits from a tactical level.”
It continued, “The US must realize the PLA will not give in an inch when it comes to safeguarding national sovereignty, security, and the major core interests like the Taiwan question, Song said.”
Given this supercharged military climate around the Taiwan Strait, a further US freedom of navigation operation would take on a a far higher level of danger.
The announcement comes amid warnings in sections of the media over the increasing likelihood of a US war with China over Taiwan.
Writing in the Financial Times, columnist Gideon Rachman warned that, “In the past a US-China war over Taiwan seemed like a real possibility—but no more than that. Now an increasing number of experts believe that a US-China conflict is not just possible but probable.”
He cited a statement by James Crabtree, the Asia director for the International Institute of Strategic Studies, who warned, “On our current course some kind of military confrontation between the US and China over the coming decade now looks more likely than not.”
On Tuesday, a series of media reports reported on a war game carried out by the Center for Strategic and International Studies gaming out the consequences of a US war over Taiwan.
Although the participants were not allowed to use nuclear weapons, the hypothetical war was by far the most destructive US military conflict since World War II.
The Wall Street Journal reported that “In the first three weeks after invading Taiwan, China sank two multibillion-dollar U.S. aircraft carriers, attacked American bases across Japan and on Guam, and destroyed hundreds of advanced U.S. jet fighters.”
In the simulated exercise, “Chinese missiles sink a large part of the US and Japanese surface fleet and destroy ‘hundreds of aircraft on the ground’.”
“However, allied air and naval counterattacks hammer the exposed Chinese amphibious and surface fleet, eventually sinking about 150 ships,” one participant told the Journal.
He continued, “To get a sense of the scale of the losses, in our last game iteration, the United States lost over 900 fighter/attack aircraft in a four-week conflict. That’s about half the Navy and Air Force inventory.”
Critically, the war game did not calculate the number of lives that would be lost in such a conflict, but the minimal scenario with such losses would mean the death of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of lives of people in China, Taiwan and Japan, as well as American sailors and airmen.
Yet despite this horrific prospect, the United States is relentlessly seeking to escalate tensions with China, seeing in war a way out of its protracted economic crisis and the growth of opposition within the working class at home.
Even as the US is escalating its conflict with China, it is encouraging its puppet government in Ukraine to escalate the war with Russia. In the same press conference reiterating US plans to sail through the Taiwan strait, the US for the first time acknowledged sending HARM anti-radiation missiles to Ukraine.
That same day, an explosion occurred at an arms depot in Crimea, in what the Kremlin denied was a Ukrainian attack.
Speaking just hours after the explosion, Ukrainian president and US proxy Volodymyr Zelensky said, “This Russian war against Ukraine and against all of free Europe began with Crimea and must end with—with its liberation. Today it is impossible to say when this will happen. But we are constantly adding the necessary components to the formula of liberation of Crimea … I know that we will return to the Ukrainian Crimea.”
Russian officials have made clear that they would consider an invasion of Crimea as an existential threat. Earlier this year, Malcolm Chambers warned, “Faced with losing Crimea, Putin might consider [the use of nuclear weapons] a worthwhile gamble.”
The systematic and simultaneous US efforts to escalate its conflicts with Russia and China threaten all of humanity with a disaster of monumental proportions. These plans must be opposed by workers all over the world.
get your popcorn ready folks. Looks like a heavyweight title match.
I wonder what wartard will be saying about this one
The wreck of the USS Ronald Reagan could be turned into an amusement park for divers. This might not be the final countdown for the old tub.
remember the wartime song of the british soldiers
beware beware the dirty jew
https://christiansfortruth.com/how-chabad-jews-orchestrated-ukraine-war-to-establish-their-third-khazaria-kingdom/
last night israel again bombed palestinian suburbs
how much more will it take for the world to react to these crimes ?
https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2022/08/10/687139/Israel-commits-war-crimes-in-Gaza
DONT LOOK HERE LOOK HERE ” Jewish saying.
We all know King Harold was killed at the battle of Hastings
but most folk do not know what it was all about.
The jews funded Harolds half brother Tostig to claim the throne
so Harold marched with the English army to the North of England
to put down the uprising.
At the same time Duke William of Normandy lands near Hastings,
the exhausted English army marched non stop from the North and by the time
they were able to confront Duke Williams, whose forces were well dug in by this time.
The English realised the Northern uprising was a ruse.
Duke Wiliam became King Wiliam the 1st and the jews who financialy backed him
became immensly rich robbing the English, which is where Robin Hood came in.
Move forward now to the great plaque, jews in Palestine admit to poisoning the
drinking water wells, at times slipping in diseased rats to the wells,
Nostradamus claimed to walk among the plague victims and never caught the plague
as he knew which wells were poisoned.
three and a half million people
….”The group that should be studied is the one that dismisses such ideas (conspiracies) without even looking at the merits of the case” ..
America will start the war that kills a billion. It might even start here with all those Chinese military assets around Taiwan. American sailors and their families must be dismayed at being the obvious provocation. It may not end well at all, just because Pelosi made it home.
A message to 22nd century underwater vessel-wreck-enthusiasts, the waters around Taiwan are going to be very interesting. Oh, and Guam too, maybe even Darwin…
DONT PAY UK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IRaCEKRwB0
China should just take the hit, keep its mouth shut, and just quietly work on making underground missile manufacturing facilities.
Once they are able to produce 200 onyx of similar type missiles a day, then they will be prepared for war.
Otherwise, they need to meekly go about their business.
The UK leadership race
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5pF39OrZEo
Don’t you know? White gentiles from the USA/UK/OZ-NZ/Canada love fighting for the ‘freedom’ of gooks, chinks & Commies.
More stupid than the US Nomenklatura simply doesn’t exist anywhere in history; the last time they used a similar absurd propaganda motto; “French Fries“, not only did they get a bloody nose from which they’re still bleeding, but it seems that these thick masochists are blindly looking for more trouble, so that they can be completely and forever annihilated with this nonsensical “freedom of navigation exercise” in China’s own back yard, they really are precipitating their Karma.
“These foreign stupid backward darkles are all the same; Iraqis, Chinese, Afghanis, Somalis, Chinese, etc, are all jealous of American Freedom and Democracy, they need to be taught a lesson… Yeeha!!!”
“… increasing likelihood of a US war with China over Taiwan.”
This is consistent with a surge in “Flying Triangle” (TR-3B or similar) activity since 2020. The criminal gang has been preparing for another big war. More here: https://evolutionofconsciousness.health.blog/
Send them to down to Davy Jones Locker!
So the US sends warships to China. Oooh that hurts. How do you laugh in Chinese?
How long before HMS Bathtub sets sail in support? 🤔
@Augustin re “More stupid than the US Nomenklatura simply doesn’t exist anywhere..”
You’ve obviously never come across the THICK Brit Nomenklatura! 🤣
I wonder what would happen if China sent their warships to encircle Pearl Harbor or sent them off the West Coast.
In those simulated war scenarios, NOT A SINGLE JEW PERISHED.
I breathed a sigh of relief.
Is it pure luck or
divinediabolic protection by jehovahahaha?Yet jews are the bravest of all calling for this apocalypse, they strut and demand military action, their I am american, don’t call me dual loyalist™ patriotism shines brighter than any goy american worried about their menfolk getting vaporized by hypersonic torpedoes aboard sluggish naval hulks far from homeland.
And when it is over, who will cry victimhood, demand massive reparations into the 20th generation and beyond? (i am a great-great-grandchild of taiwan pogrom™ survivor and cannot be subject to any criminal prosecution)
Who will seduce impoverished widows and daughters into porn and prostitution mega-industry in order to survive?
Who da winnah? Who if not da joo.
DUUHH
Thick BRIT!!Thick BRIT!!Thick BRIT!!
Thick BRIT!!Thick BRIT!!Thick BRIT!!
Thick BRIT!!Thick BRIT!!Thick BRIT!!
somebody get Petherington his dummy
he spat it out with his rusks all over his keyboard
Everything the U.S. does is for misdirection—-China, Russia, everything.
Why can’t anyone think about what is really going on.
China owns the most U.S. debt by far.
China has the most global manufacturing output by far.
The U.S. knowingly encouraged this eventuality.
It demonized Russia for being communist, but the CCP is more threatening to American-style democracy than Russia ever was.
So, what do you think is really going on…
this surely diverts attention from a clot-shot disaster.
@ michaelpaulbo
everything in USA is in jewish hands +
hidden under american names so that
the most goyim like in europa dont
know exactly who is jew (exeption the VIPs) .
so over decades the jewish billionaries
from wallstreet gambling palace could put
unchecked by publicity their investments
into southeast tiger states + china . so USA
lost more+more its own production +
unemployment rising . bevore 2000 an US-
made graficcard cost atleast 150dollar .
chinamade after 2000 less than 50 $ + used
second hand much cheaper . so all steelindustry
in USA + europa broke down . pacemaker
was always jewish billionary capital .
USA government wants always keep down
europa + specialy its driving motor the “once”
diligent (now no more) german people .
therefore Biden stoped Nordstream 2 gaspipe
for germany + others . same they want do with
china : keeping chinese productivity down .
but with this warpolitics USA will not get more
employment + industry production what WEF
anyhow dont wants . its just IDIOTS POLITICS !
therefore the world needs a big atomar culling !