[rtpg]

(I am not an expert on any of this)

HK is a police action, a difference in degrees with what countries in Europe and the US do from a layperson's perspective. Like "dealing with rioting people who are trying to subvert the system".

Now one could say "_in reality_ it's the same cuz of all the agreements with HK etc." And I'm inclined to agree. But the optics of police arresting rioters vs.... what? dropping bombs on military forces? Images of boat inspections + being turned away?

Even the US, it could barely stomach the idea of a ground invasion of Syria, despite _all_ the sort of things that would make it easy to sell to people (despite the absolute atrocity that it would be).

China has much less experience selling wars to people, and all the "disadvantages" that come with pop culture covering war, and on top of that it's not even the "heathens" halfway around the world!

[kenneth]

A key difference is that Taiwan independence is a LOT more important to the US' strategic interests than who runs Syria. Taiwan independence matters to the USA in that it helps contain China. Syria, despite Russia's meddling, has no such importance to the US.