January 19, 2021

"The State Department declared on Tuesday that the Chinese government is committing genocide and crimes against humanity through its wide-scale repression of Uighurs..."

"... and other mostly Muslim ethnic minorities in its northwestern region of Xinjiang, including in its use of internment camps and forced sterilization. The move is expected to be the Trump administration’s final action on China, made on its last full day, and is the culmination of a yearslong debate over how to punish what many consider Beijing’s worst human rights abuses in decades.... The determination of atrocities is a rare action on the part of the State Department, and could lead the United States to impose more sanctions against China under the new administration of President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., who said last year through a spokesman that the policies by Beijing amounted to 'genocide.'"

98 comments:

PB said...

This should be interesting. Biden can't easily rescind, but will likely move to delay it pending review that will never happen.

Ann Althouse said...

@PB

The article says "Joseph R. Biden Jr.... said last year through a spokesman that the policies by Beijing amounted to 'genocide.'"

There should be no disagreement.

Mark said...

other mostly Muslim ethnic minorities

But Biden says Trump is anti-Muslim!?!

TheOne Who Is Not Obeyed said...

Such lovely naivete. Apparently not everyone believes #notmypresident is as corrupt as he has been shown to be.

China speaks softly and carries a big wad of cash, and Joe has probably already sent Hunter overseas to close some more deals.

Iman said...

What would Thomas Friedman say!?!?

Drago said...

Althouse: "There should be no disagreement."

That level of naivete and innocent "want to believe-ism" is adorable.

A year ago Dementia Joe was portraying himself as a moderate and not a bought and paid for ChiCom suckup.

We now have 1 party control of govt, including the deep staters and media and Big Tech.

Joe isn't going to do a single thing against the ChiComs because the ChiComs were the ones kicking $1.5 Billion to the Biden Corruption Crew and the ChiComs have hours of video footage of crackhead Hunter smoking crack while cavorting with underage age ChiCom provided girls.

Iman said...

There should be no disagreement.

Yes, but there will be.

Yancey Ward said...

The Chinese have paid the Biden family millions of dollars- Demented Joe's staff will find a work-around, you can be certain.

Lucid-Ideas said...

Allow me to shed some light on this issue from my extensive experience with the Chinese. Rhetoric will have no effect on this. None. And having no effect (and also knowing it will have no effect), the rhetoric will have had the appropriate effect it was designed for, which is to say something about something while keeping things humming right along and Apple continuing to purchase chips from Foxcon.

It will have the same effect as resolutions of solidarity for Tiananmen protestors while chinese spies drive Ms. Feinstein and swallow Mr. Swalwell.

Yancey Ward said...

The key words there are "through a spokesman". Now, I don't for a second really believe Joe Biden has a fucking clue what is going on around him, but his staff was smart enough to not have him say it.

Michael K said...

The hostess has high hopes but will be quietly disappointed.

Nonapod said...

Regarding Biden being tough on China, I'll believe it when I see it. Given the amount of money he and his family have made from China, and given the vast sums that our big tech oligarchs reap from Chinese sources and (sometimes slave) labor who have financed Biden and the Democrats, I'm somewhat skeptical to say the least.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Chic Com Joe will get right on it.

rhhardin said...

Biden is planning to ship Canadian oil to China.

gilbar said...

Yancey Ward said...
Now, I don't for a second really believe Joe Biden has a fucking clue what is going on around him


Serious Question
What's going to happen to State Dinners? Will they just NOT schedule any?
Will they tell the Premier of Wheresthatastan, that there will be a 8 o'clock Lid on dinner?
What will the Premier do, when he finds out the Lid is for 8 AM?

Don't things Happen at State Dinners? isn't that WHY we had them?
Will Commie Law Harris just go in his place?

n.n said...

From the Great Leap to one-child to selective-child and social justification of concentration/reeducation camps for their deplorables. In retrospect, selective-girl was a poorly conceived choice that left China with excess males.

YoungHegelian said...

I'll believe the Biden administration will step on China's dick after I see Hollywood do it.

That means "it ain't happening" for those still on the fence.

Temujin said...

Even money that Joe Biden sees nothing on this.
Parlay bet is to take Biden doing nothing, and the NBA doubling down and not only doing nothing about it, but ponying up to schedule more exhibitions in China. Bonus bucks for those who guess who LeBron James goes after for slamming China.

Money talks. National security walks.

Yancey Ward said...

"Serious Question

What's going to happen to State Dinners? Will they just NOT schedule any?"

Oh, this one is easy. You will see endless stories in the media about how Joe Biden has wisely changed the all the normal Presidential activities by staying out of the spotlight so that his brilliantly chosen staff can run the country- it will be said to be a breath of fresh air to not have a President seen at all.

And for those times when Biden does make an appearance and tries to piss in potted plant in the dining room, or confuses Angela Merkel with Michelle Obama, the stories will all be about Biden's wicked sense of humor in the dark days post-Trump.

n.n said...

China speaks softly and carries a big wad of case

Collusion, spies, technology transfers, underage escorts with "benefits", and billions of dollars in investments to influence the democratic processes of our republic. Then there is the other leg: labor and environmental arbitrage that are valued at billions, perhaps trillions annually.

Nonapod said...

What's going to happen to State Dinners? Will they just NOT schedule any?
Will they tell the Premier of Wheresthatastan, that there will be a 8 o'clock Lid on dinner?
What will the Premier do, when he finds out the Lid is for 8 AM?


Given Biden's advanced years and the risk of sundowning, state dinners will need to be held from 2-4pm (Golden Corral early bird special hours).

Yancey Ward said...

No, not Golden Corral- Denny's or Waffle House.

Tommy Duncan said...

Comrade Xiden will agree with this statement and then ignore it. He knows that inaction speaks louder than diplomatic statements. This is why they pay him the big Yuan's.

mandrewa said...

"Biden is planning to ship Canadian oil to China."

Yes! There's the first objective piece of evidence, happening as we speak, as to what the Biden administration's China policy will amount to.

I'm expecting a lot of public criticism of China while quietly giving them almost everything they want.

Shutting down the Keystone XL pipeline, which the Biden administration has announced as one of their first executive actions, will transfer all of that natural gas to China rather than the United States.

Environmentalists will claim this as a victory at the same time managing not to see that shipping the natural gas across the Pacific carries are far greater environmental risk than sending it through a pipeline across the Dakotas.

Nonapod said...

Prices at the pump are already climbing. We're all in for a ride.

mandrewa said...

Sorry. I should have said 'oil' not natural gas. Keystone XL is an oil pipeline.

I'm Not Sure said...

Oil, gas, whatever. You know- the thing.

Gahrie said...

The determination of atrocities is a rare action on the part of the State Department, and could lead the United States to impose more sanctions against China under the new administration of President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Wanna bet?

Jeff Weimer said...

Ficta said...
I think the current Social Media moment can be compared to the difficult adaptation of humanity to the urban environment of the Industrial Revolution. We're still in the "people are so discombobulated by the new experience that a large fraction of them just spend their entire lives hammered out of their skulls on gin" phase.


You might be on to something here....

Greg The Class Traitor said...

"The State Department declared on Tuesday that the Chinese government is committing genocide and crimes against humanity through its wide-scale repression of Uighurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic minorities in its northwestern region of Xinjiang"

Wow! Get good old Joe into the White House, and all of a sudden America cares about Muslims again! Yay human rights!

Oh, wait. What do you mean, Trump did this? What do you mean, Joe's Administration will hate this?

I thought the Democrats loved Muslims? What? you say they love Chinese money more? Really?

Greg The Class Traitor said...

Althouse said:
PB
The article says "Joseph R. Biden Jr.... said last year through a spokesman that the policies by Beijing amounted to 'genocide.'"
There should be no disagreement.


Joe says all sorts of things. What Joe DOES, OTOH, is whatever is best for his bottom line.

And taht means lots of Chinese bribes going to his family, and other Establishment members' families.

So no, Joe is not in favor of this, and you should expect that his Adminsitration will downplay this any way they can.

Ken B said...

Good.
Let Biden reverse it.
Inga, what's your prediction?

Narr said...

I can only hope that the Reds and the Muzzies will come to hate each other as much as they pretend to, and I see no advantage to our great secular republic involving itself in their squalid feuds.

Very few Trumpists and Bideneers give a fraction of a fart about Uighers, but they have to pretend also, and pretending can be dangerous.

Narr
Assange and Snowden are more important than Uighers




JaimeRoberto said...

Yeah, but is it genocide-genocide? Anyway, I hear the sex is really great.

gspencer said...

". . . could lead the United States to impose more sanctions against China under the new administration of President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr."

Yeah, right. Biting the hand that fed you the US presidency? Doesn't seem likely to me.

A PRC-versus-Islam thing is more of an Alien-versus-Predator things. You want both of them to lose.

Clyde said...

Zhou Bai-Den won't bite the hand. Other than Doctor Jill's, of course.

Gahrie said...

including in its use of internment camps

Why would the Democrats care about this? Some of them are seriously talking about setting up "re-education" or "deprogramming" camps for us.

n.n said...

Very few Trumpists and Bideneers give a fraction of a fart about Uighers

Probably, but it is a sign of progress to come. From the Great Leap to one-child to selective-child and concentration/reeducation camps for their deplorables. The CCP is matching the semantic games, conceptual corruption, social policies, and conflation of logical domains of their Western counterparts.

Jim Gust said...

The abuse by China has been going on for years, what took the State Department so long to get around to this condemnation?

Inga said...

Biden will double down on the sanctions already in place, that’s what I expect him to do.

Francisco D said...

Michael K said...The hostess has high hopes but will be quietly disappointed.

I very much doubt that she will be disappointed in the Biden/DNC administration.

mandrewa said...

The Canadian government meanwhile is helping China to cover up the origin of Covid-19, see Keean Bexte reveals some explosive information provided to him by a high-ranking member of the Canadian Armed Forces regarding the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic.

And in Europe, Angela Merkel has just pushed through a new treaty that significantly lowers the barriers to trade between the EU and China -- and is more favorable to China in some senses than the new trade deal that the EU has just signed with Britain.

There are lots and lots of individuals around the world that see China as a threat, but very few western leaders have acted. Australia and Japan have supported the US with concrete action in the last few years, as has India, but without Trump how long will this continue?

Drago said...

Russia Conspiracy Dead Ender Truther Inga: "Biden will double down on the sanctions already in place, that’s what I expect him to do."

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!

Delusional.

By the way, Putins/Merkel's NordStream II project in danger thanks to Trumps sanctions.

You know what would be fun?

Having Inga explain how Putin controls Trump when its Trump punching Putin in the economic gut for 4 years straight.

It ought to be as much fun as Inga explain how she is against unrestricted abortion while passionately defending the democraticals pushing those policies!

Sebastian said...

We'll see how much influence the Chinese get for their $1B+ bribe to Hunter.

chickelit said...

Ann Althouse said...The article says "Joseph R. Biden Jr.... said last year through a spokesman that the policies by Beijing amounted to 'genocide.'"

There should be no disagreement.


But you understand the skepticism that people have. Plus the timing is suspicious.
Trust and verify Biden's previous commitment.

Rabel said...

There is no Keystone XL pipeline. It hasn't been built.

Amadeus 48 said...

Biden is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. For fifty years words have flowed from this man unconnected to his deeds.

Some think that Biden will establish foreign policy.

I believe it will be established by the technology giants, the entertainment companies, and the Wall Street banks. What are the Uighurs to them?

mandrewa said...

The Trump administration opposed the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, but it was unlikely that his opposition was going to be successful.

But in case now that Trump has been defeated, Nord Stream 2 will definitely be going full ahead.

Alexander Mercercouris knows a lot more about the subject than I do. See Merkel Backs Down to Putin on Navalny, Nord Stream 2

Lurker21 said...

Pro forma diplomatic protests have little to do with what's actually going on economically.

Didn't we learn that in the 1930s?

Ken B said...

Blogger Inga said...
Biden will double down on the sanctions already in place, that’s what I expect him to do.
—————-

Noted. I think otherwise, I think he will downplay this as much as possible. He might not be brazen enough to rescind it, but you will hear less about it than you do about Tara Reade.

How long before the usual suspects start running stories about how awful Uighurs are anyway?

Ken B said...

“ What are the Uighurs to them?”

Shoemakers.

mandrewa said...

"There is no Keystone XL pipeline. It hasn't been built."

Yes -- shutting down the building of the Keystone XL pipeline. There would have been a Keystone pipeline right now, except the Obama administration blocked it. The Trump administration eventually reversed that decision except that didn't leave enough time to actually build it.

Meanwhile the oil that would have flowed through the pipeline will be shipped to China.

Rabel said...

"The Trump administration eventually reversed that decision except that didn't leave enough time to actually build it."

A federal judge blocked construction allowed by Trump's permit and the SC upheld the block pending further judicial action. Biden is proposing rescinding the Trump permit.

An actual pipeline is years away even if these obstacles are overcome.

That's the current status.

mandrewa said...

And it's not just the Uighurs, it's also the Tibetans. Both ethnicities are vanishing fast under the CCP's rule.

YoungHegelian said...

My guess is that Xi JinPing is thinking that, just as Mao got away the atrocities of the Great Leap Forward & the Cultural Revolution, he can bulldog his way forward with a combination of information control and threats to his trading partners.

For "information control", it means that while we know it's awful for the Uighurs, we don't really know just how awful it is, and Xi will keep it that way. As for trade threats, just how much are Uighur lives worth to the West? Are Western corporations prepared to lose billions in order to save the Uighurs? I wish I could say the answer to that question is "yes", but I'm afraid the answer is "No".

I'm afraid that China sees issues like this as a massive affront to their sovereignty, and they will go to the mat to defend it, including sawing off the trade limb they're sitting on.

mandrewa said...

We, or at least I, rarely see Uighurs being interviewed or explaining what is happening to their country.

Here's an interview by a Norwegian, Bjorn Andreas Bull-Hansen, of a young Uighur woman. Since they are doing it around a campfire, and it's obviously very cold, the interview gets interrupted every time the smoke shifts.

But see The Persecution of the Uyghurs in China - a window into our future?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

LOL - Inga will buy what MSNBC sells her.
Biden is already a saint. When do we hand him his shiny glossy golden statue?

Ken B said...

The question Old Hegelian did not ask: Are Western corporations prepared to lose billions in order to punish the Trumpkins?

Yes.

Lucien said...

Ann: It’s like officially saying that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel — it’s OK to say it, but that deplorable Trump bastard actually does something about it. Definitely not boring.

Michael K said...

Having Inga explain how Putin controls Trump when its Trump punching Putin in the economic gut for 4 years straight.

Inga is an idiot but Hillary and Nancy P are planning a new American Stasi to crack down on conservative speech. I hope it is just speech or we will truly be in a Civil War.

.@SpeakerPelosi and I agree:

Congress needs to establish an investigative body like the 9/11 Commission to determine Trump's ties to Putin so we can repair the damage to our national security and prevent a puppet from occupying the presidency ever again. pic.twitter.com/yR7LQmXm5Z

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) January 18, 2021


Of course "the puppet" is slow Joe.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...


Cash Flowed to Clinton Foundation Amid Russian Uranium Deal


Hillary - Putin's puppet.

zipity said...


If Biden keeps this designation for China, you can be sure that the check to him from China has already cleared.

Owen said...

It may be genocide, but is it genocide-genocide?

C’mon, man! You know: the thing!

BUMBLE BEE said...

Been goin on for years. "Ancient Chinese Secret", you know, a way of life. Wanna buy a kidney?

Jupiter said...

Ann Althouse said...

"There should be no disagreement."

Oh, you are so right. The Biden-Harris administration is going to be exactly the warm, fuzzy mint-freshened open-hearted joyousness that you have been hoping for all through the last year of Trump-inspired rioting and disease. Yes, indeed, Althouse. Happy Days are here again!

walter said...

"the new administration of President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr."
If we're including the Jr now, let's spell out the Robinette.
Isn't Joementia the guy that called them "good folks"?

Mikey NTH said...

"The Chicoms have jours of footage of Hunter..."

So? Who is going to publish, who is going to prosecute?

walter said...

Has Jack Ma turned up anywhere? Stripped for parts?

Achilles said...

Drago said...

Joe isn't going to do a single thing against the ChiComs because the ChiComs were the ones kicking $1.5 Billion to the Biden Corruption Crew and the ChiComs have hours of video footage of crackhead Hunter smoking crack while cavorting with underage age ChiCom provided girls.

I disagree.

I think Joe will start a war with China. Not head on but a double proxy war.

And he will make sure we lose it.

China will declare that they have defeated the US in their media. Our media will replay Vietnam.

And China will reward his family handsomely as they have been for a decade.

Paul Kramer said...

kinda late to the party, no?

rcocean said...

BTW, Trump gave a farewell address that was magnificent. Hopefully, soon, Trump will call in to Rush Limbaugh or Mark Levin and talk about it.

Bob Smith said...

Yancey Ward said

“ The Chinese have paid the Biden family millions of dollars- Demented Joe's staff will find a work-around, you can be certain.”

And I’m sure we can count on *BM to report honestly and objectively on the work around.
*Big Media. Not that other BM. I think.

SteveSc said...

Trump should recognize Taiwan as independent on the way out.

BUMBLE BEE said...

John Solomon says Russia Gate Docs will be out tomorrow. "The definitive historical record". Extra butter on mine, thanks.

Drago said...

Mikey NTH: "So? Who is going to publish, who is going to prosecute?"

Publish? Whomever the ChiComs prefer as they now direct multiple US media outlets and have Big Tech by the juevos.

Prosecution? Not necessary. The rise of Kamala is the payoff.

Dementia Joe would simply wake up in a bed back in his basement and be told it was all a dream.

Cut It said...

Sorry- why wasn't this announcement made awhile back and the additional sanctions already placed?

Mikey NTH said...

Drago, I can't see Joe resigning to save Hunter. Nor do I see the Democrats impeaching him or the Democrats and Republicans convicting Joe. And the 25th Amendment is even tougher to use. Joe's been running for president for over 30 years, short of death taking him I do not see him leaving.

walter said...

Save Hunter?
He needs an appointment.
He's the smartest guy Joementia knows.

tim maguire said...

For all the talk about Trump in disarray, unable to accept his loss, he’s actually doing a fairly good job of locking down some of his most important successes before Biden can come in and sell out us and our allies.

mandrewa said...

"Sorry- why wasn't this announcement made awhile back and the additional sanctions already placed?"

Because it's a big deal opposing an emerging superpower and the Trump administration has been pursuing it for some years now and a large part of that opposition is getting the support of other nations and other things better done less publicly. Since China has made many enemies, the Trump administration has had far more success at this than some might have ever imagined possible.

If Biden hadn't 'won' this announcement wouldn't have been made on this day. But there was no doubt that Trump was putting the screws to China to anyone that was paying attention.

The fact is that this announcement by the State Department doesn't mean much if there isn't a government to back up these hostile words with more concrete actions. It's more of a symbolic statement than anything else -- a statement of where the United States was under Donald Trump. The reality is that the United States was already making it's disapproval of China clear with actions that many people may have missed.

If you confuse words with doing something, this action by the State Department probably seems like a big deal, but it probably signals something more like the suspension of the policy against China, since this is what the Trump administration expects the Biden administration to do.

The silent policies, or relatively silent, against China that the Trump administration has pursued were far more important and substantive than this declaration today.

tim maguire said...

Narr said...Very few Trumpists and Bideneers give a fraction of a fart about Uighers, but they have to pretend also, and pretending can be dangerous.

On the one hand, it pleases me to see Biden voters get the same treatment as Trump voters. On the other hand, I despise the childish name calling.

stevew said...

"The determination of atrocities is a rare action on the part of the State Department, and could lead the United States to impose more sanctions against China"

So it's rather like a yellow card caution issued to a player in a soccer match. We are oh so disturbed and annoyed by this behavior. Keep it up and we shall taunt you, mercilessly.

Drago said...

Mikey NTH: "Drago, I can't see Joe resigning to save Hunter."

I never said he would resign to save Hunter. But Joe will go when Team Dem tells him to..with probably a little behind the scenes complaining by Not-A-Real-Doctor Jill.

n.n said...

For all the talk about Trump in disarray, unable to accept his loss, he’s actually doing a fairly good job of locking down some of his most important successes

That was my thought as well. Biden will not easily be able to revive his China first policies, nor restore the JCPOA in light of peace in the Middle East, and, domestically, people, from urban to suburban to rural spaces now know their potential and will not welcome a return to the status quo. Also, the diversity, chauvinism, affirmative discrimination, etc. policies and offices of forward-looking thinkers will not so smoothly be normalized. Progressive prices in medical and pharmaceutical sectors and shared/shifted responsibility of Obamacares. Immigration reform in lieu of emigration reform and civil rights. The Green blight and environmental arbitrage. Human rights abuses and labor arbitrage. Trump was notably, unapologetically all-American: Pro-Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. Forward, indeed.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

No way Dementia Joe punishes one of the biggest contributors to Biden Family Inc.

I expect some incoherent bluster followed by... nothing.

n.n said...

Because it's a big deal opposing an emerging superpower and the Trump administration has been pursuing it for some years now and a large part of that opposition is getting the support of other nations and other things better done less publicly. Since China has made many enemies, the Trump administration has had far more success at this than some might have ever imagined possible.

If Biden hadn't 'won' this announcement wouldn't have been made on this day. But there was no doubt that Trump was putting the screws to China to anyone that was paying attention.


Yes, the 17 trimesters of Democrat-lead witch hunts, warlock trials, JournoListic cover-ups, and protests undermined a united states necessary to effectively stand up to China, and yet he did, with some success. North Korea, too. And Iran was blocked from backing their regional conflicts.

The Crack Emcee said...

After what you guys let these crazy NewAge bastards get away with, if you think I'm gonna get upset about any religious or spiritual persecution, you're trippin'.

n.n said...

China will declare that they have defeated the US in their media. Our media will replay Vietnam.

That's a real possibility. There are precedents. There is a diverse assortment of anti-American, anti-Indian, anti-Russian, anti-Israeli, etc. interests arrayed with just that in mind to force Americans to kneel.

n.n said...

"could lead the United States to impose more sanctions against China"

So it's rather like a yellow card caution issued to a player in a soccer match.


What do you suggest? China has superseded the position of the Soviet Union. There are more people heavily invested in their economic and political leverage. There will be no quick resolution. On the other hand, their aggressive expansion policies have normalized a diverse set of allies, if we can keep them, that will mitigate their progress. This is not Germany. This isn't even Iraq. Even Iran poses an unwieldy risk.

Iman said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Breezy said...

As whoever counts the vote determines the winner, whoever controls Joe’s teleprompter controls the policy. He’s quite out of it, based on recent video. It’s actually very shocking and I wonder who will feel like the rubes from here.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

tim maguire said...

For all the talk about Trump in disarray, unable to accept his loss...

That's rich considering ol' vinegar twat Hillary is running around claiming that the Russians had a hand in the 1/6 Riot!

narciso said...



Very curious

https://mobile.twitter.com/EmeraldRobinson/status/1351615564767244290

Lurker21 said...

I guess this means Uighur/Whigger jokes are finally verboten.

I was getting tired of them anyway.

madAsHell said...

All the problems on the table in front of me, and someone wants to say oh-my-Gawd over there!!

Terry Ott said...

Considering that an anonymous old fart like me has known about this for a long time, and joined a movement (an organization actually)to expose and oppose and get world opinion turned against this ongoing atrocity … why is it “news” that the State Department recognizes what is going on. Maybe it’s news that a formal declaration was made, but then why didn’t that happen way back in the day?

I know, I know, it’s complicated to act, or even to criticize and push for change, but …. Now, I’m a very peace-loving guy, haven’t fired a weapon since Army basic training at For Dix in the late ‘60s, so there are precious few entries on my list of “Things tha COULD justify risking WWIII.” This would be one of those items, in my opinion.

wendybar said...

Joe will help them....Why would he do anything to upset the apple cart that is enriching his family??

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

I was really half-hoping that Trump would recognize Taiwan as an independent nation on his way out the door. Would love to see Biden weasel his way out of that.

He could either uphold the announcement -- which would make the ChiComms seriously pissed off -- or he could rescind it, which would placate them but get the Taiwanese seriously pissed off instead.

The thing is, we -- and the whole world apart from the ChiComms and those thoroughly bought and paid for by them -- already recognize Taiwan de facto as an independent nation, and have for decades. But no one may say so, because Xi would be displeased. That situation can't be permanent, and sooner or later a war will be fought over it, guaranteed. Why not now?