[suraci]

what you said is how China planed before 2019, reality's development makes it impossible to act as previously planned, now, there's 0 chance that the CCP can take back Taiwan without bombs

however, it really depends on the definitions of 'reclaim' and 'win'

China's purpose is not only to take the land, but also to 'reunite' taiwanese people, so you're right about they are going to need to use soft power to achieve this, so yes, it will not be like what the US did to Hawaii and Iraq

btw, I briefly looked through the book you mentioned and was surprised to find that, compared to other Westerners, the author has a very good understanding of China's war history and philosophy. Although it is somewhat one-sided, Chinese military philosophy is very different before and after the Han Dynasty

[neonsunset]

The soft power should read here as Uyghur concentration camps.

[suraci]

you are right

this is the real soft power

this is the power makes you believe there're genocide in xinjiang without any solid evidence

this is the power makes every discussion about gaza were flagged here

the real power, it's soft, but it's so strong

wonderful, isn't it?

[neonsunset]

100 RMB army will be the first to be turned into landfill when China gets a bit more ambitious. Much like what is currently happening to their North Korean counterparts in the north of my country.

[suraci]

funny, because it seems like the president of south korea is more dangerous than DPRK to the country...

[cempaka]

It's pretty funny that Westerners are still going on about this largely invented issue after underwriting a brutal genocide in Gaza for almost 18 months. Won't someone please think of the oppressed Muslims!

[Ruthalas]

This seems like quintessential whataboutism. I think expanding on how that concern is "largely invented" would serve your point better. I, at least, would be interested.

[fspeech]

It shows up so naturally that one may think it is not whataboutism at work, even though the reasoning is often not well argued. We could choose to see it not as a moral judgement, but as questioning the justification of efforts pushing for conflicts with China.