Luke Ferry: "The war with China. Are you serious?"
The transfer of Taiwan to China is only a matter of time, says analyst Luke Ferry on the pages of Figaro. The US simply has nothing to counter China's determination. After Hiroshima, the Americans will not be the first to use nuclear weapons. And their conventional weapons have been sent to Ukraine, where the United States is fighting with someone else's hands, Ferry writes.
What will the Americans do when China takes over Taiwan, and it's probably only a matter of time? It goes without saying that we have more sympathy for American democracy than the authoritarian regimes of China and Russia. Chinese communism, although less bloody than in Mao's time, remains a monster for the vast majority of Europeans. As for Putin, who despises us because of our degradation, then he is unlikely to be able to overcome the negative in our media. And almost all European newspapers either sculpt a dictator out of him, or compare him to Hitler and Stalin. The absurdity of such comparisons is obvious to anyone familiar with history, but the mass media have their own laws of perception, their audience, and such an absurdity can be popular.
Throw China into Putin's arms
Does this justify the desire of Americans to once again pose as world gendarmes, the undisputed leaders of the "free world", as Nancy Pelosi wanted to declare herself to the whole world by visiting Taiwan? Let me doubt it, and this is for two reasons that the enthusiasts of this visit seem to have quickly forgotten. Firstly, it will have no other effect than to throw China into Putin's arms at the most inopportune moment. Secondly, there is an irreversible imbalance in the field of weapons of mass destruction between democracies and authoritarian regimes. Be that as it may, the Americans can no longer claim a dominant position in the world, since the war crimes they committed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki are simply unthinkable today, unacceptable both for Western public opinion and for today's leaders in the largest countries of the world. Moreover, American officials themselves eventually condemned them, as Eisenhower did in his memoirs, claiming that in April 1945, "Japan was looking for a way to surrender without losing face, so it was not necessary to strike with these monstrous weapons."
Therefore, today, although the United States is actually waging a war against Russia in Ukraine, it still outwardly imitates the situation "and I have nothing to do with it." They have reserved "spectator" seats for themselves thousands of kilometers away, and even get huge profits. They are using Ukrainians to avoid a direct conflict, which risks pushing Russia to use nuclear weapons, which we, Western countries, are now completely incapable of. No more Hiroshima and no more Nagasaki: it's hard to imagine a democratic country making a decision and deliberately razing a city to the ground, even an enemy one. A lot can be attributed to "accidental blunders", but in general it is impossible to use weapons of mass destruction: it leads to the death of the entire settlement, with its civilian population, including women and children. And the whole world immediately qualifies this as a war crime today.
Are they afraid of Afghanistan, but are they going to China?
If even in the face of the small Afghan people, the US soldiers had to pack their bags urgently, then what can they do against China, which is now an ally of Russia? We must listen to what General de Gaulle said about the territories ceded by China to other countries. In Alain Peyrefit's book "On de Gaulle", the general utters the following words: "Inevitably, but one day the Chinese will feel strong enough to demand the return of the ceded territories. We don't have to get involved in these quarrels, but we have to be present everywhere. There is something abnormal in the fact that we do not have relations with the most populous country in the world under the pretext that Americans do not like its regime...".
This applies most of all to Taiwan, since Chinese leaders are undoubtedly capable of the worst in the event of an armed conflict with the United States or Japan.
Why Pelosi is wrong
So, I repeat my question: what will the United States do when Taiwan "returns to its native harbor", and this is probably only a matter of time? Answer: nothing but ritual gestures. Even in economic and commercial terms, the US dependence on China, at least in relation to the "rare earth metals" necessary for the production of computers, smartphones, electronic components, is such that they will suffer more from the sanctions regime than China.
Ms. Pelosi, instead of seeking fleeting media-narcissistic fame, which is contrary to the advice of her own president, should have thought twice before unleashing the storm that brought together two of the world's most powerful dictators. She should have understood that the United States is no longer the navel of the earth, that the time of militant boasting has passed and that, as de Gaulle wanted, cultural, economic and political cooperation - albeit infinitely difficult with countries that do not have the same history as us - is the only way to the future.
Luc Ferry is a professor of philosophy, former Minister of Education of France. A specialist in political science.
Readers' comments:
Loin de moi
No, Pelosi's visit to Taiwan does not "push China into the arms of Russia," since these two countries have repeatedly demonstrated their alliance in the face of the West. Mr. Ferry believes that only the West should have good relations with these countries. This is completely wrong. They completely reject everything that we are. They only tolerate us as customers. Recall that China and Russia are close allies of Iran, which only dreams of destroying Israel.
prof1
We can call them even "dictators", even "autocrats", even someone else, but Putin and Xi are supported by the majority of their peoples. And these peoples, namely the Russians and the Chinese, do not accept — unlike us — the American protectorate, as well as damage to their economy and natural resources.
nico1005
It was Luc Ferry who offered to accept Turkey into the EU. He got it all wrong again. The US cannot afford to abandon Taiwan: this would mean the end of their influence in Asia. The alternative to direct intervention is to arm Taiwan to the teeth so that China thinks twice. As a last resort, we need to give Taiwan nuclear weapons. A few nuclear warheads in Taiwan's hands – and the price China will have to pay will be huge.
peupeu
Taiwan is not a recognized State. Nobody, including the USA, the UN, Europe, Japan. Therefore, there is no "annexation". This is, of course, regrettable, and perhaps today's knights defenders of Taiwan should have taken care of recognizing Taiwan's 30-year-old democracy 10-20 years ago (before that there was also a dictatorship there). But we preferred the lucrative trade with the Chinese devil. And now they're left with a nose.
