Strategy Essay: Zelensky’s Unmet Requests are Xi Jinping’s Political Capital for Invasion of Taiwan
Chinese leader Xi Jinping uses China’s manufacturing power to help Russia’s aggression against Ukraine not out of friendship for President Vladimir Putin, but because a Putin victory in Ukraine can help him ram through his imperial military agenda for Taiwan and the region.
The U.S. and free allies, by their munitions and weapons supply to Ukraine have challenged President Xi’s use of Putin’s war in Ukraine as a pillar in his case for a military conquest of Taiwan at home. If Moscow fails, it will hurt Xi’s case, and help reduce the chances he will use war against Taiwan in the short and midterm when diplomacy could keep the status quo without undue waste.
In view of China’s immense military buildup, the United States, E.U., U.K., Japan, Australia, and allies across the globe must find the combined power to rapidly build-up their respective and collective military strength to deter aggression and defend free nation sovereignty at such scale and pace that supplying and allowing Ukraine to make full use of that conventional supply should be a small matter. Washington must admit to itself: China, and dependently, Russia, have both already invoked their own stealth versions of the U.S. Defense Production Act in their military programs. By comparison, Congress has dithered and in part, Russian and Chinese information operations have caused some of that fog of mind.
The U.S. has a real, yet waning chance to shorten Putin’s war and Ukraine’s bleeding by enabling parity of strike range between Ukrainian and Russian forces. As Russia does not restrain its range of conventional weapon bombardment of Ukraine, there is no reason for Kyiv to do so. Also, Russia uses Chinese, Iranian, and North Korean war supplies at unrestrained ranges against Ukrainian civilian and mil targets, so the United States must not allow Russia to dictate to the United States at what ranges Ukraine can use its free nation military supplies.
Put another way, if Ukraine continuously loses ground to Moscow’s forces, Xi Jinping will shore-up more political capital at home for a Taiwan annexation and or invasion entangling the United States and free nation allies in a foolishly wasteful conflagration that could more likely escalate than what has settled into fixed lines in Ukraine, leaving both China and the United States worse off than their respective leaders are willing to reveal publicly. For what gain?
By stopping and slowing Russian manufacturing and supply lines to Russia’s occupying forces Ukraine will buy a breather to effectively build-up its own defense industrial sector and reduce its dependence on arms and munitions from abroad.
By being bold in these important free world steps the world will see much needed power balancing to prevent more invasions and wider war across the Eastern Hemisphere, and perhaps the Western Hemisphere.
