For those of us, unfortunately, in the imperial core, what steps should we take to stop a US war with China over Taiwan? I've honestly been pretty scared since the war in Ukraine started knowing that China is next. We must avoid this at all costs to save the thousands of Chinese lives that will be sacrificed by the west in their bid to reestablish a unipolar world.
While I'm not discounting the achievements of the anti-war movement in support of Vietnam, the war still waged on for years. The same with Iraq. What should be done differently?
Vietnam: the majority of the people of Vietnam didn't want the US there, the US was interfering in a civil war it shouldn't be meddling in.
Iraq: same thing, the US wasn't wanted and didn't have a reason to meddle.
Taiwan: the people of Taiwan don't want China there and China shouldn't invade. No one should invade.
People have a right to self determination. If China doesn't control Taiwan and the people of Taiwan want to keep the same government they have, then they should be allowed to. China invading Taiwan would be an unjustified imperialist act. Taiwan has a right to call upon its allies and friends for help if invaded and the alliances and friendships should be honored by those allies.
Taiwan: the people of Taiwan don't want China there and China shouldn't invade.
Not to link dump below, but I think the history of the civil war and specifically the White Terror give necessary context. China (as the ROC) already invaded Taiwan.
"The KMT lost the Chinese Civil War and retreated to Taiwan in 1949. However, Chiang Kai-shek intended to eventually return to mainland China and retake control of it. In order to do this, the KMT attempted to "sinicize" the Taiwanese people.[19][20][21][22] KMT's Taiwan Garrison Commander Chen Yi stated that after 50 years of Japanese rule, "Taiwanese customs, thought, and language would have to gradually return to that of the Chinese people".[23] The KMT believed that a centrally controlled curriculum would forge a unified national sentiment in Taiwan. They also believed education would help build a martial spirit and stimulate enough military, economic, political, and cultural strength not only to survive, but also to recover the mainland.[24]".
40 years of martial law and something like 20,000 executions were enacted in order to build the public opinion they have now.
Please note that I agree with your main point (China should not militarily invade Taiwan), but I do support China's stated goal of peaceful reunification
The only people in Taiwan with the right to self determination are the Taiwanese Indigenous peoples and Taiwan's proletariat. And because of the constant state of western interference and propaganda upon the populace in Taiwan, much like South Korea, the are more barriers to understanding that being apart of the PRC, like Hong Kong and Macau, is a good thing in the long run.
While The White Terror did end, we must recognize that the ROC itself is still a western backed colonially dominated capitalist regime, and is therefore illegitimate.
While the lives lost are nothing to quibble about. Let's be real. China has the population demographics. They just simply have more people. It takes the combined populations of all of Europe plus the United States to come close to the population of China.
If it ever comes to armed conflict, they will likely win due to sheer numbers. You should be more concerned about pointless Western deaths, of which there would be countless.
I'm pretty sure the US is aware of this and not trying to start a war with them due to this. They're also still a massive trade partner to the US. US doesn't want to lose access to cheap microchip fabrication.
The US has been desperately trying to bring some chip fabs back to the US. I'd very much prefer to see Taiwan remain independent, but as soon as the US feels it is in a good position with chip fabrication they may suddenly change their stance on protecting Taiwan. Perhaps Xi will not live that long and mainland China can give up on Taiwan after that. He is only 70 years old so he likely won't die of natural causes before then.
The US has been desperately trying to bring some chip fabs back to the US.
For sure, but the thing is, they can't fabricate them in the US for the price they can in China. They just literally can't because US citizens with the credentials to work in such an environment expect way higher pay than the workers in China do.
Phones have already become obscenely priced, but that price could double if we had to rely exclusively on US fabricated chips. While the US is trying I think you'd see an outright consumer revolt over the price increase.
What's the point of their recent visits then? Just a fuck you to China? The US is stupid, but I also believe they believe China is a real threat, especially militarily, so why do this if it's no provocation?
You must organize with like-minded people, which is to say, anti-imperialists, to undermine the war machine. You will not find these people among the major political parties, both of which are imperialist.
Once you are with a group of people, you can strategize around what to do more specifically. Holding rallies, building your organization, creating or joining a like-minded coalition, direct actions, etc.