How do you 'piss off' a vassal state that would instantly collapse (and never would have existed in the first place) without US imperial intervention? What are the consequences of 'pissing off' someone completely under your control?
Taiwan's current government is incredibly pro-US. Trump understands that the DPP's days are numbered given the rise of the KMT/TPP (which only lost the election because of a last second collapse of coalition). Taiwan's government is pro-US in spite of the public's interest, not because of it.
After all, Taiwan's trade with the mainland and Hong Kong make up almost 50% of all exports. The bulk of this is in basic goods across the Taiwanese economy, not the product of one company.
In the past, Taiwan's frigid relations with the mainland were due to sour memories (losing the civil war, getting kicked out, etc.) Today? Young people just want a prosperous life, and China is absurdly prosperous - especially for young engineers in tech. The US can either recognize that fact, or drag another country into war.
It's pretty funny when foreigners care more about your own sovereignty.
“They took almost 100 per cent of our chip industry, I give them credit . . . Now we’re giving them billions of dollars to build new chips in our country, and then they’re going to . . . bring it back to their country,” Trump said.
Capitalism is fine when USA can benefit from it, but bad when it hurts them, eh? Fucking hypocrit.
Unfortunately this is an empty campaign promise. We saw from his first term that he's going to toe the NATSEC line when it comes to encroachment on China.
Hong Kong was always going to happen because that was an agreed upon conclusion. China violated promises that it made (one country, two systems my ass), but Hong Kong was a part China. Taiwan has never been under the control of the current government of mainland China. At this point Taiwan would likely be a separate country if it didn't have China's dagger at its throat telling it that even a breath of declaring independence will result in immediate invasion.
Why is Russia so good at this? They have so much less money, so many fewer people, they were completely demolished 30 years ago, and they are shot through with corruption. How could they be so effective at controlling USA politicians and the USA electoral system and the USA Congress and the USA media when the USA spends far more on propaganda, far more on espionage, far more on media, far more on their military, far more on international relations, and has more people and has much longer unbroken period of prosperity and has more control over the world's resources and has more influence over the world governments?
It just doesn't make sense. How is Russia this good?
How could they be so effective at controlling USA politicians and the USA electoral system and the USA Congress and the USA media
It just doesn’t make sense.
Maybe because they don't control it, and it is propaganda from people within the USA, telling you that you should vote for their party instead of the other party? :)