TAIWAN - Rumors of War
China is building its capacity to rapidly turn military drills into a full-out attack, a senior Taiwan security official said, providing the Taipei government’s assessment of the strategic intent behind Beijing’s war games around the island.
China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, staged large-scale drills that it said were a warning to “separatist acts” following [the] national day speech by Taiwan President Lai Ching-te.
Taiwan has for the past five years complained of almost daily Chinese military activities around the island, including at least four rounds of major war games and regular “joint combat readiness patrols.”
Taiwan reported a record 153 Chinese aircraft took part in the drills, and the official added an unprecedented 25 Chinese navy and coast guard boats also approached close to Taiwan’s 24-mile (39-km) contiguous zone.
China’s defense ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It vowed to take further action as needed against Taiwan, while China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said Beijing will never commit to renouncing the use of force over Taiwan.
Taiwan has lived with the threat of invasion by China’s People’s Liberation Army since the defeated Republic of China government fled to the island in 1949 after losing a civil war to Mao Zedong’s communists.
-www.reuters.com, 16 October 2024
Arno's Commentary
On 1 January 1979, the USA severed diplomatic recognition of Taiwan (Republic of China) and instead established diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China.
Economically, Taiwan depends heavily on China; 22% of their exports go to China, and 19% of imports originate there. China is Taiwan’s largest economic trading partner.
Taiwan has about double China’s per capita GDP of $22,100. China insists on territorial sovereignty over the island. Will there be war? Only time will tell.
What we do know is that China is destined to be the world’s preeminent superpower just by virtue of its economy. When it comes to manufacturing, China’s share is 31.6% of the global total; at a distant second lies the USA, with 19.9%. Why is communist China so successful, while in communist North Korea, poverty abounds? Some experts believe it is China’s willingness to allow a degree of capitalism and European socialism to function; in other words, they have adapted to change.
When will war ever cease? The late Billy Graham answered, “We should encourage every effort to bring peace to our world, and the Bible certainly urges us to pray for peace and support those who work for peace. One reason the Bible commands us to pray for our leaders is so ‘we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness’ (1 Timothy 2:2).” Christians have a duty to pray for their respective government, which is for our own good: peaceful, quiet, godliness, holiness.
Of course, real peace arrived at the birth of Jesus: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14). Those who believe in Jesus already experience “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding” (Philippians 4:7a). But for the world, Psalm 46:9-10 is yet to be fulfilled: “He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; he breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; he burneth the chariot in the fire. Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.”
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
