The profligate spending and irresponsible borrowing of the Obama administration has left the United States over one trillion dollars in debt to communist China. Many have speculated on what will happen if China decides to alter the terms on that debt, call for immediate payment, stop lending, or use the leverage to influence American foreign policy. None of the scenarios are pleasant, but there is at least one further possibility that could have permanent global impact.
First, let’s examine the evidence. Why does communist China continue to buy up the debt of a nation in economic strife? It’s not because they believe that American economic policies of the past year are responsible. The Chinese themselves have lectured us on the danger of unsustainable debt. Still, the Chinese hold a trillion dollars of our IOU’s, and continue to increase that amount. They must have a reason.
Communist China has never recognized the island nation of Taiwan as independent. Red China has always claimed sovereignty over the island, which was the sanctuary of Chiang Kai Shek’s Nationalists once the communists ran them off the mainland in the years after World War II. Taiwan has since grown into an Asian economic powerhouse, but the nation continues to exist under the threat of communist oppression.
The chief guarantor of Taiwan’s freedom and independence (other than Taiwan’s own military forces) has been the United States. We have resisted all moves by communist China to invade, reclaim or absorb Taiwan. We send naval forces into the area when tension are high, we sell Taiwan sophisticated weapon and defense systems, and we carry on a robust trade with the nation. We have failed them once, when in 1971 we allowed communist China to replace Taiwan as one of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. This drastically reduced the status of Taiwan as an independent nation. Since then, the United States has supported Taiwan militarily and politically.
Taking over Taiwan would be a priceless coup for communist China, giving them a vast new chunk of real estate, industry, commercial infrastructure, and political power. The communist Chinese have made no secret of their desire to take Taiwan by any means necessary, but the cost of opposing the United States and an American-led coalition has always been too high.
The Obama administration has an almost unbroken record of abandoning our allies and strategic positions. Obama’s state department warned Israel against defending herself against Iran’s growing nuclear ambitions. Obama’s administration withdrew missile defense systems from the Czech Republic which would have shielded all of Europe from attacks by enemies to the east. Obama has denied that any special relationship exists between the United States and the United Kingdom. The current administration sells out friends regularly, but seldom misses an opportunity to appease, honor and legitimize the worst of the world’s bad actors–Ahmadinejad, Chavez, Castro, Putin, and Kim Jong Il.
Communist China knows all this, and cannot have overlooked the influence of these factors on the subject of Taiwan. There would never be a better time to make an irresistible offer to the debtor American nation: communist China will forgive America’s trillion dollar debt if the United States looks the other way when the Chinese invades and subjugates Taiwan.
The Chinese know no other nation will resist the attack if the United States refuses to be involved. Taiwan cannot stand up to communist China by itself. The invasion would be costly, but only a fraction of the price the Chinese would pay if their move were opposed by the Americans. And once the Chinese hold territory, they do not surrender it.
Yes, this is an outrageous scenario. But it is no more outrageous than a nuclear-armed Iran, North Korean missiles flying over Japan, or Mexico becoming a narcoarchy. Every one of those situations is a distraction making the Chinese move even more plausible. We are stretched thin, and literally cannot afford another war on our hands.
Does anyone really think the feckless incompetents in the White House would think twice about erasing our debt by throwing Taiwan under the bus? Does anyone believe that Obama could resist a trillion dollar bribe to stay out of a war he has no interest in fighting anyway? Our enemies and allies certainly don’t. Over the past year, they have taken the measure of our president, and they know he can be bought. Taiwan may pay the price.
