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Re:Hong Kong Protesters Keep Up the Pressure by csomar on Friday June 21, 2019 @05:25PM (#20246421)
> Beijing has limited force projection options. Rolling in the military means inviting international sanctions and possibly military aid, if not for Hong Kong then almost certainly for Taiwan.

From my limited knowledge, the US has a military base in Taiwan. It'd be hard to invade the country without conflict with such a base. And even a small incident can spiral into a war with China. So no, I think Taiwan situation is way different than Hong Kong.

Re:Hong Kong Protesters Keep Up the Pressure by JumpCrisscross on Friday June 21, 2019 @06:15PM (#20246720)
> Taiwan situation is way different than Hong Kong

It is. But re-integration remains a goal for Beijing. If not realistically, then at least politically.

The more aggressive Xi has been with Hong Kong, the more Taiwan has stiffened. Rolling tanks into Hong Kong would give Taiwan legitimate cover for being supplied weapons. For a variety of reasons, China doesn’t want that. That, in turn, gives the protesters leverage.

Re:Hong Kong Protesters Keep Up the Pressure by petre on Friday June 21, 2019 @07:42PM (#20247138)
Taiwan is supplied with weapons. US and Taiwanese gov't officials take Xi's threats quite seriously. No need for legitimate cover.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/06/us/politics/trump-taiwan-...

Re:Hong Kong Protesters Keep Up the Pressure by seanmcdirmid on Friday June 21, 2019 @06:33PM (#20246818)
> From my limited knowledge, the US has a military base in Taiwan.

Huh? No, it doesn't. It has military bases in nearby Okinawa, however. I'm sure the USA setting up a military base in Taiwan would really piss China off, and it would also be not very useful since the Ryukyu Islands are right next door anyways.

The USA simply provides Taiwan with weapons, and occasionally meanders an aircraft carrier around (or used to, it doesn't do that much anymore).

Re:Hong Kong Protesters Keep Up the Pressure by csomar on Friday June 21, 2019 @06:53PM (#20246917)
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Taiwan_Defense_C...

Taiwan existed because of the US. Basically, the other side of the civil war got defeated and come hiding in Taiwan behind US military. Otherwise, it'd have been invaded by China since.

It seems currently that there is no official military presence. However, there is this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Assurances

I think it's enough to deter China from attacking Taiwan.

Re:Hong Kong Protesters Keep Up the Pressure by seanmcdirmid on Friday June 21, 2019 @10:46PM (#20247732)
Taiwan exists because Mao decided to spend all his international capital on a Korean invasion rather than a Taiwan one, making the USA care about Taiwan again.

In an alternate dimension where Mao held back, we would have had a unified Korea and China, strange.

Re:Hong Kong Protesters Keep Up the Pressure by lsc36 on Friday June 21, 2019 @09:53PM (#20247552)
This was only active until 1979; the US currently has no military presence in Taiwan.