For those of us, unfortunately, in the imperial core, what steps should we take to stop a US war with China over Taiwan? I’ve honestly been pretty scared since the war in Ukraine started knowing that China is next. We must avoid this at all costs to save the thousands of Chinese lives that will be sacrificed by the west in their bid to reestablish a unipolar world.

While I’m not discounting the achievements of the anti-war movement in support of Vietnam, the war still waged on for years. The same with Iraq. What should be done differently?

  • diegeticscream[all]🔻@lemmygrad.ml
    65·
    1 year ago

    Taiwan: the people of Taiwan don’t want China there and China shouldn’t invade.

    Not to link dump below, but I think the history of the civil war and specifically the White Terror give necessary context. China (as the ROC) already invaded Taiwan.

    “The KMT lost the Chinese Civil War and retreated to Taiwan in 1949. However, Chiang Kai-shek intended to eventually return to mainland China and retake control of it. In order to do this, the KMT attempted to “sinicize” the Taiwanese people.[19][20][21][22] KMT’s Taiwan Garrison Commander Chen Yi stated that after 50 years of Japanese rule, “Taiwanese customs, thought, and language would have to gradually return to that of the Chinese people”.[23] The KMT believed that a centrally controlled curriculum would forge a unified national sentiment in Taiwan. They also believed education would help build a martial spirit and stimulate enough military, economic, political, and cultural strength not only to survive, but also to recover the mainland.[24]”.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwanese_people

    40 years of martial law and something like 20,000 executions were enacted in order to build the public opinion they have now.

    Please note that I agree with your main point (China should not militarily invade Taiwan), but I do support China’s stated goal of peaceful reunification

    • odium@programming.dev
      91·
      1 year ago

      I believe that regardless of what happened in the past, the only thing that matters is what current Taiwanese people want.

      • diegeticscream[all]🔻@lemmygrad.ml
        81·
        1 year ago

        The White Terror ended in 1987, and involved the genocide of the native peoples of Formosa.

        It doesn’t seem honest to refer to “public opinion” while ignoring the events that shaped that opinion.

        • severien@lemmy.world
          53·
          1 year ago

          If you condemn the events leading to the status quo, then it’s necessarily the case that you should not take the status quo as any sort of ethical baseline.

          That’s quite impractical since all nations and their borders were established as a result of unethical conquest. This can be used as a justification for an unending cycle of violence.

            • severien@lemmy.world
              11·
              1 year ago

              My POV is that old events whose participants are dead stop being relevant for future moral actions. We should prefer justice for the living as opposed to justice for the already dead.

                • severien@lemmy.world
                  11·
                  1 year ago

                  The problem is that it’s all a huge “what if” amenable for any narrative you want. In the end it provides justification for the never ending cycle of violence on people having no personal guilt.