Suggested Answers to the Second Short Quiz

[johnkarls]

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It is respectfully suggested that you make a list of your own questions that are provoked by “Why Taiwan Matters” – since all of us are unique and your questions are worth discussing also!!!


Question 1

Does Kerry Brown make the traditional mistake when applying the Biblical metaphor on p. 10 that Taiwan “…..figures in the West’s imagination like a democratic David defying a giant totalitarian Goliath.”???

Answer 1

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 2

After all, wasn’t King David at that time merely a shepherd whose every-day job was to kill lions and bears with his slingshot??? So why is it so remarkable that he killed a human “bear” with his slingshot???

Answer 2

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 3

Is Kerry Brown correct that “the West” even cares about “democratic” and “totalitarian” governments???

Answer 3

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 4

After all, aren’t many of our allies, particularly in the oil-rich Middle East - totalitarian???

Answer 4

Absolutely!!!

Question 5

If you are led down Kerry Brown’s “primrose path,” are you still able to excuse him for his “rose-colored glasses” view of China’s history???

Answer 5

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 6

Wouldn’t you expect even an honest English historian to mention the INFAMOUS OPIUM WARS???

Answer 6

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 7

After all, didn’t China’s famous “century of humiliation” begin with the First Opium War (1839–1842)???

Answer 7

Absolutely!!!

Question 8

Was the First Opium War fought on unequal terms (Rule, Britannia! Britannia not only ruled the waves but on land as well as demonstrated by its worldwide empire.)???

Answer 8

Absolutely!!!

Question 9

Was its purpose to force the Chinese government to surrender its campaign to enforce its prohibition of opium???

Answer 9

Yes.

Question 10

Did the Brits recruit the French as a junior partner for the Second Opium War (1856-1860)???

Answer 10

Yes.

Question 11

Did the Opium Wars force China to grant favorable tariffs, trade concessions, reparations, opening specified treaty ports including Shanghai, etc., etc.???

Answer 11

Yes.

Question 12

And perhaps most importantly, TO CEDE SOVEREIGNTY OVER HONG KONG TO THE BRITS???

Answer 12

Yes.

Question 13

After all, doesn’t Kerry Brown “make a dog’s dinner” out of Hong Kong’s fate 1997 et seq. and its impact on Taiwanese public opinion??? In support of his David & Goliath theory that democracy is the West’s idol???

Answer 13

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 14

BTW, does Chinese public opinion fail to distinguish between the British/French and the United States when it comes to resentment over The Opium Wars???

Answer 14

Unfortunately!!!

Question 15

Putting aside both Kerry Brown’s democracy idolatry and China’s “century of humiliation,” isn’t it easy to ascertain that from a legal viewpoint, the PRC has no claim to Taiwan –

• The Manchurians ruled China 1644-1912 (called the Qing Dynasty) and were defeated by the Nationalists under Sun Yat Sen in 1912.

• However, Taiwan had already been ceded to Japan in 1895 at the end of the first Sino-Japanese War.

• It remained under Japanese rule until the end of World War II – with BTW military-age Taiwanese males fighting in the Japanese Army against China!!!

• It then fell under control of the Nationalists since it was behind their lines during the Chinese Civil War 1945-1949.

• And following the defeat of the Nationalists by the Communists in 1949, the Nationalist government and military forces retreated to Taiwan – with (per Kerry Brown p. 44) a million mainlanders joining the pre-existing 7 million Taiwanese. [NB: per the CIA World Factbook, the current population of Taiwan is 23.57 million.]

Answer 15

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 16

From a legal viewpoint, is PRC’s claim to Taiwan any greater than its claim to Singapore (74.3% Chinese per the CIA World Factbook)???

Answer 16

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 17

Accordingly, shouldn’t we expect Singapore to be next on the PRC’s shopping list???

Answer 17

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 18

After all, isn’t Singapore at the other end of the South China Sea from Taiwan???

Answer 18

Apparently so.

And presumably the PRC thinks so, whether or not it is.

Question 19

But rather than Kerry Brown’s democracy idolatry, doesn’t REALPOLITIK focus on Taiwan’s semi-conductor industry??:?

Answer 19

Please read on.

Question 20

Didn’t The Economist on 3/6/2023 (https://www.economist.com/special-repor ... -important) report that computer chips (aka semiconductors) are required for everything from computers to mobile phones to automobiles -- and Taiwan produces over 60% of the world's semiconductors and over 90% of the most advanced ones???

Answer 20

Yes.

Question 21

And according to Intel (https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/c ... -a-fab.pdf) doesn’t building a semiconductor factory require about three years to complete???

Answer 21

Yes.

Question 22

Did The CHIPS and Science Act of 8/9/2022 provide roughly $280 billion in new funding to boost domestic research and manufacturing of semiconductors in the United States???

Answer 22

Yes.

Question 23

Accordingly, hasn’t the PRC been magnanimous in inkling that “D-Day” for invading Taiwan can wait until 2027 – well after 8/9/2025 (Intel’s “three years” following enactment)???

Answer 23

It has been widely reported that Xi Jinping has instructed the PRC military to be ready for an invasion of Taiwan in 2027.

Re magnanimity -- What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 24

Rather than “magnanimous,” isn’t the PRC’s time schedule “prudent” since anything undertaken by the U.S. Government bureaucracy (such As The CHIPS Act) is virtually guaranteed to be hopelessly behind schedule – unless it goes bankrupt first???

Answer 24

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 25

But hasn’t Taiwan’s fate been sealed by President Trump’s Build-It-In-America Campaign???

Answer 25

Please read on.

Question 26

Isn’t C.C. Wei the CEO of the world’s largest chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TMSC)???

Answer 26

Yes.

Question 27

Didn’t he visit the White House on 3/2/2025 when he and President Trump announced a fresh $100 billion investment in the United States that involves building five additional chip facilities – i.e., three new chip fabrication plants, two advanced packaging facilities and a major research and development center???

Answer 27

Yes.

Question 28

BTW producing 40,000 new construction jobs over 4 years???

Answer 28

Yes.

Question 29

For cynics, doesn’t this mean TMSC and its principal owners & key employees have deployed their “Golden Parachutes” to land them in the U.S. while the PRC takes over Taiwan???

Answer 29

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 30

And also for cynics, will the TMSC plants in Taiwan be destroyed by mysterious explosions which conspiracy theorists will opine were engineered by the CIA???

Answer 30

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 31

And what of the ordinary TMSC workers left in Taiwan without factories in which to work???

Answer 31

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!

Question 32

So are we back to our oft-referenced “Possible Topics for Future Meetings” (Sec. 3 of www.ReadingLiberally-SaltLake.org) entitled –

“Realpolitik - Has Taiwan Been Prudent Enough To Buy/Develop Sufficient Nuclear Weapons To Deter China?”???

[Please also see the exchange of e-mails on this topic posted by “Solutions” this month at viewtopic.php?f=851&t=2641&sid=f3ac3483 ... fecd70e2b4.]

Answer 32

What do you think??? Let’s discuss!!!