27 April 2021 - protect Taiwan
< yesterday --
tomorrow >
It is easy to deter invasion of Taiwan, though the method is unpopular.
China has shut Taiwan out of many international organizations and
treaties, and as a result Taiwan never signed the Nuclear
Nonproliferation Treaty. And Taiwan is considered a “threshold” state
with the prerequisites at hand, meaning that it could produce nuclear
weapons in short order. A few kabooms for nearby invaders and a maybe
few more for big cities, and there you stand. Perfectly safe!
clue:
No other country wants to defend Taiwan with nuclear weapons, because it
would risk nuclear retaliation from China. For the same reason, other
countries should publicly discourage Taiwan from going nuclear. Taiwan
has a two-way treaty with the U.S. to follow NPT terms anyway, signed at
a time when it unquestionably made sense. But times have changed, and if
Taiwan is facing destruction, it may see little downside.
give me a clue so sweet and true
copyright 2021, 2024 Jay J.P. Scott
<jay@satirist.org>