“This Would Cross Our Red Line” – Chinese Military Considering Measures To “Cripple” Taiwan

While Donald Trump is tweeting his new year’s greetings to his friends, and especially enemies, China is thinking three weeks ahead to the day the president-elect is officially inaugurated, and is worried what that could mean for a suddenly empowered Taiwan, whose outreach to Trump now means that the long-standing “One China” policy is now a topic of negotiation. As a result, Reuters reports that China’s military, alarmed by Trump’s support of Taiwan, is considering strong measures to prevent the island from moving toward independence.
With China’s only aircraft carrier demonstratively passing in close proximity to Taiwan last week, and currently in the contested area inside the South China Sea, it is not surprising that according to Reuters’ sources, one measure being contemplated is conducting war games near the self-ruled island. More troubling is that as Reuters’ sources add, another measure “was a series of economic measures to cripple Taiwan.”
And since Taiwan is among the main sources of global high-tech, semiconductor fabrication and production, an economically “crippled” Taiwan suddenly becomes a potential gray swan for a world reliant on instant access to technological components to grow.
Adding to concerns of a potential “hot” conflict between China and Taiwan, while Reuters sources admitted that it was not clear if any decisions had yet been taken, the Taiwan issue had become a hot topic within the upper echelons of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in recent weeks.
“If Trump challenges ‘one China’ after becoming president, this would cross our red line,” said another source, who has ties to China’s leadership.

This post was published at Zero Hedge on Dec 31, 2016.