Senior Chinese military officers have suggested that China sell off some U.S. bonds to punish Washington for its latest round of arms sales to Taiwan.
According to Reuters, the calls for retaliation came from officers at China’s National Defence University and Academy of Military Sciences.
“Our retaliation should not be restricted to merely military matters, and we should adopt a strategic package of counter-punches covering politics, military affairs, diplomacy and economics to treat both the symptoms and root cause of this disease,” said Luo Yuan, a researcher at the Academy of Military Sciences.
“Just like two people rowing a boat, if the United States first throws the strokes into chaos, then so must we.”
While these threats don’t represent fixed government policy, the open demands for retaliation clearly underscore the domestic pressures on Beijing to deliver on its threats to punish the White House over the arms sales.
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Leave it to the Chinese military to screw up even an analogy: “Just like two people rowing a boat, if the United States first throws the strokes into chaos, then so must we.”
If the Chinese believe the US has “thrown the strokes into chaos” – why don’t they just stop rowing, get things calmed down, and start again? After all, isn’t the point to get from one place to another on the water? Instead they propose their OWN erratic rowing and MORE chaos. When that happens in a racing shell, the boat can tip over and both the athletes end up in the water. No one gains – everyone loses.
My suggestion is the China to take a deep breath and expend its energy on selling the people in Taiwan on a peaceful reconciliation. When Taiwan tells the US “its ok now”, we’ll fold our tent and go home. Until then, China needs to understand that we will not abandon an ally no matter how much they bluster.
“If the Chinese believe the US has “thrown the strokes into chaos” – why don’t they just stop rowing, get things calmed down, and start again? After all, isn’t the point to get from one place to another on the water? ”
Ah, no, it’s you who didn’t get the analogy. What makes you think if the Chinese stopped rowing to calm the water, the US will reciprocate and stop disturbing the water as well? The point of the analogy is that the Americans are not being a team player, and therefore, the Chinese must show that by not cooperating, everybody loses. So stop rowing the boat will serve no purpose, whereas rocking it will remind the US that both parties are stuck in the same boat and should get on amicably.