Well, that didn’t take long. After the US pulled out of Afghanistan in a most humiliating way, China stepped up its game by threatening Taiwan. On Tuesday, the Peoples’ Liberation Army held assault drills off Taiwan’s coast. The PLA claimed the drills were a response to “external interference” and “provocations.”

It’s not the first time that China has buzzed Taiwan, but coming on the heels of the Afghanistan disaster, Beijing sees fragility. And in classic Chinese “wolf warrior” mode, they’re on the hunt for weaker prey.

James Woods noticed:

Taiwan is next. Biden’s cowardice in Afghanistan is like blood in the water to the sharks running communist China. They’ll devour him and spit out his dentures. #CowardBiden

— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) August 17, 2021

State-run Global Times issued warnings to Taiwan, telling the stubbornly independent nation not to count on US help should the PLA invade her. After all, they said, look at what just happened in Afghanistan.

#环球时报Editorial: From what happened in Afghanistan, those in Taiwan should perceive that once a war breaks out in the Straits, the island’s defense will collapse in hours and US military won’t come to help. As a result, the DPP will quickly surrender. https://t.co/ZUrZmcsSWf pic.twitter.com/wFG4vrHbTo

— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) August 16, 2021

The Global Times went on to advise the Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan not to rely on the US for help:

“From what happened in Afghanistan, they should perceive that once a war breaks out in the Straits, the island’s defense will collapse in hours and the US military won’t come to help.”

While commenting on the collapse in Afghanistan, the Times also questioned:

“Is this some kind of omen of Taiwan’s future fate?”

Not only that, China also threatened US troops in Taiwan.

Now, the US and the Taiwan authorities must explain. If it is true that the US has 30,000, or less than that number, soldiers stationed on the Taiwan island, Chinese military forces will immediately launch a war to eliminate and expel the US soldiers. pic.twitter.com/sZMrmIweM6

— Hu Xijin 胡锡进 (@HuXijin_GT) August 17, 2021

But Taiwan has no intention of backing down from the threat of China, whether Joe Biden is there for them or not.

As I wrote earlier in the week, China has celebrated the fall of Afghanistan. They’ve been building ties with the Taliban all along so their massive Belt-and-Road infrastructure can continue through Pakistan into Kabul. They’re also eyeing the enormous rare earth deposits that Afghanistan holds, of which China already holds a monopoly.

And if you think the Taliban won’t play with China because of the persecution of the Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang, think again. Last month the Taliban assured China that it would not host Uyghur militants from Xinjiang. Instead, the Taliban sees China as a “friend” to Afghanistan. What happens in Xinjiang, stays in Xinjiang.

Uyghur East Turkistan/flickr/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

The Taliban may be Islamic fanatics, but they do crave money and power. And China holds it for them, happy to make the Taliban dependent upon them.

But while the US remained preoccupied with Afghanistan, China used the opportunity to gain power and influence. So writes Helen Raleigh, who left her Communist Chinese homeland, became an American citizen, and now warns of China’s growing threat. She notes that in addition to the massive Belt-and-Road Initiative, the CCP has been growing its military while the US dithered in Afghanistan.

For example, in 2000, the PLA had only 110 battle force ships. But now, it has grown to 360, and US Naval Intelligence estimates that China may have 400 by 2025. And the United States? Right now the Navy has 297 ships. And while the Pentagon plans to increase that number to 350, they haven’t set a date to achieve such a goal.

And then there are all those artificial islands that China built in the South Sea between 2013 and 2015, which the Obama administration ignored. They hold runways, ports, aircraft hangars, radars, sensor equipment, and military buildings. The islands also provide China the means to block our Navy should the PLA attack Taiwan.

As far as our allies go — all they hear is talk from the Biden administration. And now, after the Afghanistan disaster, they know that the US under Joe Biden is a paper tiger.

No, there was no easy way to extract our forces from Afghanistan, although the time was long overdue. But if we had a competent President, it would not have become such a catastrophe. While the US will be losing its credibility for the rest of Biden’s term, little Taiwan may be paying the biggest cost of all.

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Featured image: School girl from Taiwan. CABloem/flickr/cropped/CC BY 2.0.