Comments by "Doncarlo" (@doujinflip) on "Taiwanese armed forces: Up to the task?" video.

  1. It's not promising for the formal forces of the ROC, but this analysis stops short of the generation or two of insurrection that would inevitably follow. Rumor is that the Taiwanese are already consulting with the US on how through a land war minimally trained casual combatants could neutralize the technological advantages and overwhelming firepower of a modern military, and defeat the political objectives of even the richest and best equipped occupiers.
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  2. Right, there's a reason the US didn't even try to invade Japanese Táiwān even at the peak of its strength during WWII.
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  3. The West doesn't even need to declare an embargo, just maneuver and provide enough return fire to scare away civilian ship traffic -- anti-ship missiles are not that smart and on final approach could too easily mistake a fuel tanker for an equally large aircraft carrier, especially if the desired enemy warships are nearby. It likely won't stop all trade traffic, but the upcharges on those willing to sail in as well as more expensive overland alternatives will see the PRC's treasury emptying a lot faster than expected. And Mainland China depends heavily on imports for unpolluted food and high-energy fuel.
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  4. No, Táiwān's chip production prowess relies on its human capital: the ability to get its most specialized engineers experienced and quickly redeployed to the fab station that needs the most attention as they start deviating from their subatomically tight tolerances -- this is why their biggest competitor is South Korea and not a more spread-out Mainland China, Japan, or US. A PRC seizure would see the irreplaceable loss of these critical Taiwanese brains, not to mention those fab stations that were knocked completely out of alignment in the process. Even if China manages to redevelop a native production level equal to that of today's Táiwān, it would already have been surpassed by the nimbler South Korea, maybe Japan, and probably even Singapore.
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  5. Táiwān resisted the Mainland-invented Hànyǔ Pīnyīn for the longest time, hence their schizo romanizations
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  6. Táiwān (along with Japan and South Korea) still remains a breakout nuclear power, able to produce a warhead probably within a year. It would be cause for grave concern if the Party's shows of strength ironically inspire their neighbors to develop a nuclear capability independent from the US umbrella.
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