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Why China Is Warning Trump of War; South China Sea: Beijing Mobilizes Invasion Craft Along Coast as Taiwan Tensions Escalate

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By Washington Examiner. Having failed to establish a detente that would keep relations calm through the November elections, China is warning that the Trump administration’s policy toward Beijing might lead to war.

Take what Hu Xijin, editor-in-chief of China’s preeminent western-focus propaganda outlet, had to say on Friday. Writing in the Global Times, Hu observed that “the US should be reminded to distance itself from China’s core interests. Don’t play with fire off China’s coast, don’t really stir up conflict over Taiwan question, and don’t overdo it in the South China Sea. If the Trump administration just wants to create China-U.S. tensions to help his re-election campaign, and is not really ready for a military showdown, then be careful for the next few months, and don’t go too far.”

A loyal servant of the government Central Foreign Affairs Commission, Hu’s words are closely reflective of Beijing’s thinking. Hu went further. “My suggestion,” he said, “is that under no circumstances should the Chinese military fire the first shot. But I am confident that China will be well prepared to fire a second shot as a response to the first shot. On core interests, China will not back off. China’s stance is clear to all.”

On paper, this push not to fire the first shot looks relatively moderate. But that perception is misguided. China has learned from the Russian example of so-called grey zone warfare, involving actions that threaten U.S. personnel in ways that fall short of lethal attacks. In the South China Sea, this Chinese activity centers on tactics such as shining laser beams into the cockpits of U.S. aircraft and conducting dangerous fighter jet interceptions of those aircraft. This allows China to threaten American interests without explicitly firing the first shot. But as tensions ratchet upward, it is eminently feasible that the U.S. military might take proactive defensive action. Consider the risk, for example, of a Chinese anti-air missile system locking onto a transiting U.S. aircraft. Does the aircraft defend itself by launching weapons against that Chinese system, or does it wait in the hope that China is bluffing? This is just one example, but it speaks to the thin and time-sensitive line between defensive and offensive action. (Read more from “Why China Is Warning Trump of War” HERE)

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South China Sea: Beijing Mobilizes Invasion Craft Along Coast as Taiwan Tensions Escalate

By NZ Herald. As tensions between Taiwan and China continue to escalate, satellite images reportedly show amphibious armoured vehicles and mobile missile launchers massing at military bases near the island nation.

Though Taiwan, a country of 25 million people, is happy as an independent democracy, Beijing insists it is a “breakaway province” and “inviolate” Chinese territory, repeatedly stating it will use force to bring the island back under China’s control.

Now the images have shown the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) moving the military vehicles into the Eastern Theatre Command on China’s coastal cities across the strait from Taiwan, with missile launchers well within range to hit any targets in Taiwan.

“We make no promise to abandon the use of force, and retain the option of taking all necessary measures,” Chinese leader Xi Jinping said in a recent speech.

Under its ‘one country, two systems’ policy, Beijing insists Taiwan is part of its sovereign mandate. Which is why its so-called ‘wolf warrior’ diplomats have reacted with outrage at news this week that the US Health Secretary will visit the island to discuss its success in combating the COVID-19 pandemic. (Read more from “South China Sea: Beijing Mobilizes Invasion Craft Along Coast as Taiwan Tensions Escalate” HERE)

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Taiwan Releases December Email to WHO Showing Unheeded Warning About Coronavirus; Trump Calls for Halt to U.S. Funding for World Health Organization

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By Fox News. The World Health Organization is under fire after Taiwan released the contents of a December email inquiring about the person-to-person spread of COVID-19, which it says was ignored by the organization and further denied to provide adequate information about how to fight the virus.

Taiwan is accusing WHO of downplaying the severity and spread of the coronavirus in an attempt to pander to China, even after Taiwan sounded the alarm about at least seven cases of atypical pneumonia that they were aware of in Wuhan, where the virus originated.

When asked about the cases by the media, Taiwan said China’s health authorities said, “The cases were believed not SARS; however samples are still under examination, and cases have been isolated for treatment,” according to the contents of an email sent by Taiwan’s Center for Disease Control and Prevention to WHO on Dec. 31.

“I would greatly appreciate it if you have relevant information to share with us,” the email said.

(Read more from “Taiwan Releases December Email to WHO Showing Unheeded Warning About Coronavirus” HERE)

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Trump Calls for Halt to U.S. Funding for World Health Organization Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

By CNBC. The U.S. will suspend funding to the World Health Organization while it reviews the agency’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, President Donald Trump announced Tuesday, saying the international health agency made mistakes that “caused so much death” as the coronavirus spread across the globe.

“Today I’m instructing my administration to halt funding of the World Health Organization while a review is conducted to assess the World Health Organization’s role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus,” Trump said at a White House press conference.

Trump criticized the international agency’s response to the outbreak, saying “one of the most dangerous and costly decisions from the WHO was its disastrous decision to oppose travel restrictions from China and other nations” that Trump imposed early on in the outbreak.

“Fortunately, I was not convinced and suspended travel from China saving untold numbers of lives,” he said. (Read more from “Trump Calls for Halt to U.S. Funding for World Health Organization Amid Coronavirus Outbreak” HERE)

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Taiwan Becomes First Asian Country to Mandate Same-Sex ‘Marriage’

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Taiwan declared today that disallowing same-sex “marriage” is discriminatory. It will therefore amend its Constitution to allow gmarriage. Gmarriage is government-defined marriage, as opposed to actual marriage.

Taiwan’s Judicial Yuan announced that the current Constitution did not protect gmarriage, which they called “a major falsehood.” They said it will take two years to amend the Constitution and change civil laws. The Stream predicted this move last December.

The Judicial Yuan said that Taiwan’s Civil Code does not now “allow two persons of the same sex to create a permanent union of intimate and exclusive nature for the committed purpose of managing a life together.” The government did not say why they choose “two persons” and not some other number. Divorce is legal in Taiwan, so the “permanent” nature of marriage is also flexible.

The press release claimed that gmarriage will not “alter the social order.” This goes against the experience of all nations that have thus far instituted gmarriage. Forced participation has instead been the rule.

Taiwan’s Justification

Taiwan’s government justified the move with ideology. “Sexual orientation is an immutable characteristic that is resistant to change,” it said. “Major medical associations have stated that homosexuality is not a disease.” They also say that “homosexuals … have been a discrete and insular minority in the society,” a fact which is unlikely to change even under legal gmarriage.

The Judicial Yuan anticipated criticisms by those who hold to the actual definition of marriage. It said the Civil Code’s “Marriage Chapter does not set forth the capability to procreate as a requirement for concluding an opposite-sex marriage. Nor does it provide that a marriage is void or voidable, or a divorce decree may be issued, if either party is unable or unwilling to procreate after marriage.”

Marriage as means to creating and nurturing families in support of society is not accepted as a valid point.

As in other countries, gmarriage in Taiwan becomes what the government says it is: two people coming together for whatever length of time suits their purpose. There’s no hint in the government’s announcement what penalties people who do not agree with gmarriage will face.

How Did Taiwan Get Here?

How did this Asian and once deeply conservative country become like any other Western nation? One clue comes from the makeup of the Taiwanese Government, which is a democracy. The country’s President Tsai Ing-wen has a Masters from America and a PhD from England. She has long expressed public support of “gay rights.” The Vice President Chen Chien-jen was schooled in Taiwan, and is Catholic. But he said he supported gay “rights,” though he waffled on his beliefs on gmarriage. He said publicly last year that it needed “further debate.” The official Catholic position is, of course, that gmarriage does not exist.

Closer to the point, the Chief Justice of the Judicial Yuan had his graduate education in Germany. Seven other Justices have graduate degrees from Western universities. Every foreign-trained Justice except one voted for gmarriage.

A minority of six Justices were educated in Taiwan. Four of these voted for gmarriage, with one other Justice dissenting. Reuters reports one additional Justice recused himself from the case because “he is married to a lawmaker who backs gay rights.”

Exposure to Western education is thus highly predictive of support for gmarriage.

The two dissenting Justices are Huang Horng-Shya and Wu Chen-Huan. (I could not discover the dissenting opinions on the official site.) In a 2015 interview with ET Today, Wu cautioned that “same-sex marriage has a great impact on society.” He has also been quoted warning about the expansion of powers and the “changing of tradition” by the government.

Justice Huang was quoted by China Times saying that families are derived from marriage, and that same-sex “marriage” does not consider the right of families. She also pointed out that same-sex “marriage” involves more than just the two people undergoing the ceremony. She echoed Justice Wu that gmarriage will influence all of society.

Taiwan’s move is similar to that of the United States Supreme Court, which in 2015 “discovered” a previously hidden “right” to gmarriage. The matter in both countries was not put to a vote. In March, polls indicated a healthy majority of Taiwanese were against gmarriage, with opposition rising further from the cosmopolitan capitol of Taipei. (For more from the author of “Taiwan Becomes First Asian Country to Mandate Same-Sex ‘Marriage'” please click HERE)

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Will Taiwan Be the First Asian Country to Adopt Same-Sex ‘Marriage?

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Taiwan might be the first Asian country to fall to the Great Gay Juggernaut. Its government might follow the same path as many post-Christian Western governments and force its citizens to declare or pretend two men (or two women) may marry each other.

On 26 December, a second large rally in as many weeks supporting government-defined “marriage,” or gmarriage, was held in the capital city of Taipei. The rally coincided with a meeting of the country’s Legislative Yuan which was considering legislation to further the cause of gmarriage. The China Post (an English-language Taiwan-based paper) reported:

An amendment to the Civil Code was approved by a legislative committee Monday in a major step toward the legalization of same-sex marriage, as thousands-strong dueling demonstrators took place outside the Legislative Yuan.

After three hours, the Judiciary and Organic Laws and Statutes Committee approved the amendment proposed by ruling party Legislator Yu Mei-nu, which replaces “male and female parties” in the Civil Code’s marriage chapter with “two parties.”

This is not considered enough to ensconce a full-blown retreat from actual marriage. But words matter, as is understood by members of the “anti campaign.”

More than 110 demonstrators from the anti campaign were taped by the wrist by police officers after they broke through the police line and barged into the Legislative Yuan, attempting to interrupt the committee meeting.

This is interesting because these active counter-demonstrations were not often seen in the Western countries which adopted gmarriage, which is a signal that hope is not yet lost for Taiwan. Also, polls only show about 37% of Taiwanese support gmarriage, a number which has been dropping.

There is not much to be sanguine about, however. Only two weeks before the latest rally, on December 11th, another huge pro-gmarriage event was also held in Taipei. One report is as many as between 75,000 to 250,000 came.

A site called Pride Watch Taiwan keeps detailed statistics on the 113 members of the Legislative Yuan. As of this writing, 57.5% (or 65) of that body’s members have expressed support in one way or another for gmarriage. The support may have only been in public settings and not (yet) made official. Only 10.6% (or 12) of the members are openly opposed, with the rest remaining mute or supporting a version of civil partnerships.

A majority of the country’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), 66.5% (or 46), are for gmarriage, while only 34.3% (or 12) of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) are for gmarriage. Historically, the KMT has been the more conservative party. It was also the first party after Chiang Kai-shek decamped to the island after being chased from the Chinese homeland by the murderous Mao Zedong. There is a rich and rough history of the KMT and Taiwan, so the usual left-right party breakdowns familiar in the USA don’t apply well in Taiwan.

Pride Watch also tracks which members of the Legislative Yuan call themselves Christian, of whom there are 12. Half of these are against gmarriage, and three are neutral or support civil partnerships. And three — curiously, since gmarriage is not justifiable or compatible with Christianity — are for it. All these three are in the DPP.

The country’s president since last January is Tsai Ing-wen, a DPP member and one-time college professor. Tsai is a confirmed bachelorette and cat fancier, and has said, “In the face of love, everyone is equal. Let everyone have the freedom to love and to pursue their happiness. I am Tsai Ing-wen, and I support marriage equality.” Speaking on the same day, but not at the 11 December rally, Tsai said, “Gay people also have the right to get married.”

It’s unclear whether Tsai has the charisma or the backing to carry the gmarriage policy forward. She was elected with a wide margin, but homosexual “rights” and gmarriage were not part of the platform she ran under. And though she was very popular immediately after her election, she ran into immediate troubles for failing to uphold her campaign promises, mostly involving vacation practices and treatment of cross-straight relations with China.

Because of her inconsistencies, she has come in for no small measure of teasing. Her family name “Tsai” mimics the sound of a popular, hollow-stalk vegetable, which has given rise to the nickname Kong Xin Tsai, or “empty-hearted vegetable” (proving insults are often culturally relative).

Correspondingly, her approval rating has been plummeting, and her mirror disapproval rating rising. This could mean she has to put her focus on more pressing matters and put homosexual matters on the side.

If Taiwan falls, it will be the first predominately Buddhist nation to embrace this denial of the nature of marriage . Thus far, only post-Christian countries have adopted gmarriage. Taiwan is largely Chinese in demographics and culture, with its corresponding history of Confucianism and its intense focus on family. That this is fading is important.

Maybe of most importance, is that Taiwan has crossed a secular threshold common in those Western nations that abandoned actual marriage, with some 18-20% of its adults saying they hold to no religion. These are similar percentages in those gmarriage nations which were once openly Christian. (For more from the author of “Will Taiwan Be the First Asian Country to Adopt Same-Sex ‘Marriage?” please click HERE)

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Pence Defends Trump’s Call with President of Taiwan, Says American People ‘Encouraged’ by Engagement

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In an interview Sunday on ABC’s This Week, host George Stephanopoulos pressed Vice President-elect Mike Pence on the topic of President-elect Donald Trump’s phone conversation Friday with Tsai Ing-wen, the leader of Taiwan.

Since 1979, the United States has recognized a “One China” policy and had no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, which China considers a renegade province.

“Let’s get right to China, that call with the leader of Taiwan,” began Stephanopoulos. “As far as we know, no president or president-elect has spoken with Taiwan’s leader in nearly four decades.”

“Why did Mr. Trump choose to break that precedent?” he asked.

“Well, I’ll tell you what,” Pence replied, “from the morning after the election we’ve seen the president-elect engaging the world. He’s spoken to more than 50 world leaders. I’ve spoken to several dozen myself. And he received a courtesy call from the democratically elected president of Taiwan to congratulate him.”

When asked about China’s unfavorable reaction to the call, Pence directed the focus back to what Trump’s outreach with foreign leaders says about his impending presidency.

“Did he intend to send the kind of signal it sent?” Stephanopoulos asked. “Because the Chinese government has already complained about this. How did you guys respond to that?”

“Well, I understand some of the controversy in the media about this, but I –” began Pence.

Stephanopoulos interrupted to say it wasn’t just an issue in the media, but that the Chinese government had registered its displeasure with the call.

“Well, yes, of course,” answered Pence. “But I would tell you that I think the American people find it very refreshing, the energy that our president-elect is bringing to this whole transition.”

The vice president-elect added, “He’s not only bringing together a Cabinet at a historic pace for the last 40 years, he’s not only assembling a legislative agenda to move forward this country at home and abroad, but he’s also been engaging the world.”

“I think the American people are encouraged … to see that President-elect Trump is taking calls from the world, speaking to the world. They know he’s going to be out there advancing America’s interests first with that broad-shouldered leadership that’s characterized his entire life,” he continued.

Stephanopoulos then inquired as to whether Trump’s call would have implications for the “One China” policy

“Well, we’ll deal with policy after Jan. 20,” Pence responded. “This was a courtesy call.”

Pence then drew a comparison with the current president and his talks with the late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.

“It’s a little mystifying to me that President Obama can reach out to a murdering dictator in Cuba in the last year and be hailed as a hero for doing it, and President-elect Donald Trump takes a courtesy call from the democratically elected leader in Taiwan and it’s become something of a controversy,” he said.

Some say Trump’s call was a calculated move designed to send a message to China.

Marc A. Thiessen, writing in The Washington Post, said it “wasn’t a blunder by an inexperienced president-elect unschooled in the niceties of cross-straits diplomacy. It was a deliberate move — and a brilliant one at that.”

“Trump knew precisely what he was doing in taking the call,” he wrote. “He was serving notice on Beijing that it is dealing with a different kind of president — an outsider who will not be encumbered by the same Lilliputian diplomatic threads that tied down previous administrations. The message, as John Bolton correctly put it, was that ‘the president of the United States [will] talk to whomever he wants if he thinks it’s in the interest of the United States, and nobody in Beijing gets to dictate who we talk to.’” (For more from the author of “Pence Defends Trump’s Call with President of Taiwan, Says American People ‘Encouraged’ by Engagement” please click HERE)

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Taiwanese Woman Gives Birth on Plane Diverted to Alaska – Here’s the Possible Reason Why

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A Taiwanese woman who gave birth on a flight to the U.S. in what may have been an attempt to give her baby American citizenship could face a hefty bill for forcing the plane to divert to Alaska.

The insurance firm of China Airlines will decide whether to ask the unnamed passenger to cover the cost of the stopover to ensure the health of her baby, airline media affairs staffer Weni Lee said Friday. The flight made an emergency landing en route from Taipei to Los Angeles on Oct. 8.

Taiwanese media have estimated the bill at $33,000, although the airline said its insurer is still calculating the cost.

The local media have widely reported that the woman evidently wanted to give the child American citizenship. Taiwan’s China Times newspaper’s website said that, before giving birth, she repeatedly asked the cabin crew, “Are we in U.S. air space?” . . .

Alaska state officials say the baby is eligible for U.S. citizenship. A baby born in flight has the right to be a U.S. citizen if that is where the child first arrives, even if born in international air space, said Susan Morgan, spokeswoman for the Alaska Department of Social Services. (Read more from “Taiwanese Woman Gives Birth on Plane Diverted to Alaska – Here’s the Possible Reason Why” HERE)

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Taiwan Pledges $1 Million Toward Construction of Eisenhower Memorial as Congress Withholds Funds

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Taiwan is pledging $1 million toward the construction of a monument honoring 34th U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower in Washington, D.C., though Congress continues to withhold funding from the project.

Roll Coll reported that Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), who chairs the House Appropriations Committee panel overseeing the project, announced the contribution from Taiwan Tuesday.

Despite the gift and the National Capital Planning Commission’s recent approval of “starchitect” Frank Gehry’s revised design for the memorial, Congress has not provided the project — estimated by the 11-member Eisenhower Memorial Commission to cost $144 million — with construction funding since 2012.

Funds have been withheld amid disputes in Congress and the Eisenhower family regarding the Gehry design, which the commission rejected in a vote last year. While the new design gained preliminary approval in October, Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), the commission’s vice chairman, continued to express doubt last month.

“There’s been some real conflict between the staff, the Eisenhower family and, to some degree, Congress,” Simpson explained in a June interview before federal planners approved Gehry’s design. “In the end, what you’ve got to have is a design that’s supported by the Eisenhower family. They don’t have to have veto power, but they can’t oppose it. So, I think it’s best that they start over.” (Read more from “Taiwan Pledges $1 Million Toward Construction of Eisenhower Memorial as Congress Withholds Funds” HERE)

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Gay Rights Activist Arrested, Banned From International Travel, Assets Seized After Death Stemming From ‘Rainbow Party’ Fireball That Injured 500

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Taiwan gay rights activist and “rainbow party” (Color Play) organizer Zhong Ji Lu was taken into custody by Taiwan police today for his role in the massive, deadly fireball that rained down upon 500 youth celebrating over the weekend. He was questioned and released on NT$1 million bail, with investigations pending.

Zhong Ji Lu is the key founder of Gay Rights Taiwan according to Storm Media Group in Taiwan. Mr. Lu is well known as a gay rights activist according to Liberty Times Net Taiwan. He’s also been the subject of top news on Pridewatch Taiwan as a gay rights activist. Since this link was first publicized, the Pridewatch Taiwan website has been down, likely due to the very large amount of traffic referred by Natural News.

The Color Play Creative Company and Rui Bo Marketing Agency are responsible for this tragedy, reports China Times. Both organizations are owned by Taiwan gay rights activist Zhong Ji Lu, who has been linked to numerous business scandals, according to the Times.

“…[P]rosecutors from New Taipei’s Bali District held event organizer Lu Chung-chi for questioning,” reports the English-language China Post. (The China Post uses a Taiwan spelling structure for Mandarin Chinese names, spelling his name as Chung-chi instead of the more conventional pin-ying spelling of “Zhong Ji.” The two spellings refer to the same person.) “He was later released after posting NT$1 million bail, though he must periodically report to police and is barred from leaving the country pending investigation. Police also released Chiu Po-ming, the technician at the company headed by Lu on NT$300,000 bail” . . .

The weekend catastrophe involved the spontaneous ignition of a multi-colored special effect which was launched into the air by event organizers using air cannons. The “special effect” turned out to be highly explosive particulate corn flour, the same substance frequently responsible for grain silo explosions in the grain belts of the world. The airborne corn flour ignited and burst into flames, raining down fire upon the heads of nearly 500 youth who were attending the event (Read more from “Gay Rights Activist Arrested, Banned From International Travel, Assets Seized After Death Stemming From ‘Rainbow Party’ Fireball That Injured 500” HERE)

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Magnitude 6.5 Earthquake Strikes Taiwan, Some Damage

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Photo Credit: /luca

A magnitude 6.5 earthquake struck the island of Taiwan on Sunday and caused some damage, Taiwan media reported.

The quake struck 24 miles southeast of the city of T’ai-chung at a depth of nine miles, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The agency initially said it was 6.6 magnitude but later downgraded it slightly.

Taiwan television said the quake triggered a gas explosion in the centre of the island but it gave no details. There were no reports of any casualties.

Read more from this story HERE.

Video: A View from Overseas – Here’s What the Taiwanese Thought of the Debate

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American politics are followed closely overseas, especially in countries with close relationships to the U.S.

Taiwan is no exception. In this animated clip, the Taiwanese show Obama taking a real beating. Unlike most US commentators, the creators of the video point out that Obama received more time than Romney and, contrary to a recent Democratic political ad, suggest that Obama was more of a bully to the moderator than his opponent.

Like other animations from Taiwan, this video is not designed for kids. There’s a pretty graphic portrayal of a Romney attack on Sesame Street’s Big Bird – due to his proposed cuts to PBS. Additionally, both candidates engage in animated combat, similar to the portrayal of Romney and his GOP competitors in the Moral Kombat video posted several days ago.

In short, the Taiwanese who created this video considered Romney the overwhelming victor in the first 2012 Presidential Debate: