On May 23, 2022, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) mouthpiece Global Times Commentator Hu Xijin published an article titled "If The U.S. Forces Would Dare To Come To The Taiwan Strait For Combat, The People's Liberation Army (PLA) Will Beat The Sh*t Out Of Them," commenting on U.S. President Joe Biden's recent remarks during a May 23 joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo.[1] During the press conference, Biden stressed his willingness to use force to defend Taiwan against China. However, the White House downplayed Biden's comments immediately after.
Hu Xijin wrote that China must not "be fooled" by "the good cop and bad cop game" played by Biden and his administration. He then warned that the United States and Taiwan are collaborating "hand in glove," and that the risk of a war breaking out has "seriously increased." "If the United States firmly commits itself to help defend Taiwan militarily, it means that it must face the real risk of a direct military confrontation with the PLA," Hi Xijin wrote.
According to Hu Xijin, the PLA's navy and air force can "overwhelm" the firepower of the U.S. and Taiwan's navies and air forces combined in the Taiwan Strait. In addition, Hu Xijin stressed that the PLA has an "absolute superiority" in conventional land-based missiles. "That is to say, if the U.S. forces comes to the Taiwan Strait for combat at the doorsteps of China, the PLA has enough capacity to 'beat the shit out of' the U.S. troops and wipe them out as many as they come," Hu Xijin stated.
Two fighter jets attached to an aviation brigade of the air force under the PLA Eastern Theater Command take off for the designated airspace during a flight training exercise on May 14, 2022. (Source: Eng.chinamil.com.cn; Photo by Xing Zhitao)
Following is the article:
"China Must Not Be Fooled By The Good Cop And Bad Cop Game Played By Biden And His Officials"
"Visiting U.S. President Joe Biden said in Japan... that the United States would get involved 'militarily to defend Taiwan' if China retook Taiwan by force. 'We agree with the one-China policy. We signed on to it... but the idea that it can be taken by force, just taken by force, is just not appropriate,' Biden then added. Numerous international media outlets reported Biden's comment as 'breaking news' and said that this could be a breakaway from the policy of 'strategic ambiguity' in the Taiwan Strait that the United States has long pursued.
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"White House officials, however, quickly came out to clarify it, saying that the America's Taiwan policy 'remained unchanged' and believing that Biden was reiterating the U.S. commitment under the 'Taiwan Relations Act' to provide Taiwan with the military means to defend itself.
"This was not the first time that Biden 'misspoke' on the Taiwan issue. When the U.S. forces withdrew from Afghanistan in an embarrassing way, he stated that the Article 5 of NATO would apply to Taiwan. But Taiwan is not a member of the NATO. And the White House immediately clarified that its policy towards Taiwan had not changed. In October last year, Biden also said at a townhall hosted by CNN that the United States had a commitment to defend Taiwan against the 'aggression' from the Mainland China. Again, the White House officials walked back the statement urgently.
"I think that Biden was somewhat deliberately selling his 'old mix-ups' on the Taiwan issue. He would say something over the top and then White House officials would clarify that the U.S. policy toward Taiwan 'remained unchanged.' This has become a pattern that the Biden administration provokes China.
"But what Lao Hu[2] wants to say is that the Mainland China must not be fooled by the good cop and bad cop game played by Biden and his officials. Biden's casual talk is not enough to determine whether the United States will defend Taiwan militarily. It is determined by the interests of the United States and the risk of a military intervention in the Taiwan issue.
"The Total Firepower Of Our Navy And Air Force Can Completely Overwhelm The Firepower Of The U.S. And Taiwan"
"The United States engaged in the strategic ambiguity on the issue of whether to help defend Taiwan in the past because it wanted to deter the Mainland China from using force against Taiwan on one hand and to prevent the Taiwan authorities from getting fearless due to the protection by the U.S. and going too far down the road of 'Taiwan independence' on the other. In the past, the United States enjoyed a decisive military superiority in the Western Pacific and was able to dominate the military situation in the region of the Taiwan Strait.
"But the situation nowadays is completely different. The two sides of the Taiwan Strait go toe to toe in their confrontations. The United States and Taiwan are almost collaborating hand in glove. The risk of a war breaking out has seriously increased. But the PLA has gained increasingly a clear upper-hand in a fighting in China's coastal waters. If the United States firmly commits itself to help defend Taiwan militarily, it means that it must face the real risk of a direct military confrontation with the People's Liberation Army.
"And what about the People's Liberation Army of today? The total firepower of our navy and air force can completely overwhelm the firepower of the U.S. and Taiwan's navies and air forces combined in the Taiwan Strait. In addition, the People's Liberation Army has an absolute superiority in conventional land-based missiles. Taiwan in the era of Chen Shui-bian believed that the mainland had deployed over 1,000 missiles aimed at Taiwan. With the military production capacity of the Mainland, it is entirely possible for the PLA to launch more than 5,000 missiles against the targets in the Taiwan Strait and its vicinity in the first 24 hours if the war breaks out."
"China Is A Major Nuclear Power As Well"
"That is to say, if the U.S. forces comes to the Taiwan Strait for combat at the doorsteps of China, the PLA has enough capacity to 'beat the shit out of' the U.S. troops and wipe them out as many as they come. The arrogant U.S. military has always been very clear about this. They will for sure lose the war in the Taiwan Strait and pay a hefty price with their lives unless they use nuclear weapons. But China is a major nuclear power as well. The top U.S. military leadership has repeatedly said that China's development of nuclear weapons in recent years has made Washington feel 'suffocated.' This is the reality concerning the balance of power between China and the U.S. in the region of the Taiwan Strait.
"Therefore, although Biden stirs things up from time to time, people in the world, including the Taiwan authorities and the Taiwanese people, have lower and lower expectations that the United States will send troops for combat when the People's Liberation Army takes Taiwan by force. The percentage of people in Taiwan especially, who believe that the U.S. forces would come to defend Taiwan has dropped dramatically by 30.5% after seeing that the U.S. military would not send troops to Ukraine. And the number of the Taiwanese who do not believe that the U.S. military will come to fight in the war has increased by 27.4%. The Tsai Ing-wen authorities are particularly emphasizing that Taiwan must 'defend itself' while the United States is actually applying its concept of 'defending Taiwan' to providing weapons to Taiwan and increasing Taiwan's defense capability.
"Finally, I want to say that once the Mainland attacks Taiwan, tens of thousands of bombs will be dropped as soon as possible, aimed at quickly destroying Taiwan's entire defense system. And the main leaders of the Taiwan authorities will also be 'beheaded' immediately. The People's Liberation Army will not be as weak as the Russian forces as demonstrated in their war against Ukraine. So I want to warn the Tsai Ing-wen authorities one last time not to think that they have an amulet because of Biden's casual comments. And their regime, including their personal lives, is already in the hands of the Mainland. They better behave themselves."
