WG -> RE: Re: Naval and Defence News (10/21/2021 1:57:19 AM)
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Daniel Larison has written an interesting column about the incursion. I am not an expert, so I am interested to hear what other people say: quote:
Kevin Baron makes some wild and irresponsible claims in response to news that China has flown dozens of military aircraft through one corner of Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ): quote:
China sends 52 warplanes over Taiwan. Xi is seriously poking at Biden and testing the United States response. Putin walked into Ukraine because the West wasn’t going to fight for it. Will Xi be allowed to do the same? Baron either misunderstands or mischaracterizes what is happening, and then he makes an even more ridiculous leap by comparing these flights to Russian military intervention in Ukraine. That would be bad enough if he were just some rando on Twitter, but he is the executive editor of Defense One, a fairly important news site on military matters and national security. If someone in his position is out there making this kind of mistake, it doesn’t bode well for having a sane debate over anything related to Taiwan. To be clear, Chinese forces have not entered Taiwanese airspace, much less flown “over” Taiwan. If the PLAAF started flying over Taiwan, that would indeed be provocative and dangerous, but nothing like this has happened. Some China hawks seem so eager to sound the alarm over the smallest thing that one can’t help but think that they are itching for an excuse for conflict. Mike Black tells everyone to calm down: quote:
"The PLA conducts routine training in international airspace a few hundred miles off its coast" doesn't have the same breathless ring to it but is a more accurate description of what's actually happening. To put all this in perspective, we need to remember that China has its own ADIZ, and the U.S. sends bombers into that area and has been doing so for years. When U.S. planes enter this zone, they are not entering Chinese airspace, and they certainly aren’t flying over China. These flights are obviously not welcomed by the Chinese government, and they are meant to send a message to Beijing, but they are not actually threatening anything. So when Chinese planes travel through one corner of Taiwan’s ADIZ, we should not panic and declare that China is “seriously poking at Biden.” The Biden administration criticized the flights this week, and that is all that they needed to do.
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