"Ma's China narrative puts Taiwan at risk"

I don't think it's any coincidence that former Taiwan president Ma Ying-jeou trip to China coincided with Tsai Ing-wen's trip to the United States to meet with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other US lawmakers.

- Furthermore I'd argue that Taiwans flirtations with the West instead put Taiwan at risk of becoming the next Ukraine.

If you think this trip is an alarming development for Australia affecting our 'strategic environment', I'd argue that our nation being dragged into a war by the US against China, (our largest trading partner) is a far more alarming, affecting our 'strategic environment' in far worse ways.

- We might as well just nuke ourselves instead rather than end up in a war with the US against China for the damage it will do to our country.

Cuban missile crisis revisited.

I have never heard the theory that one country invades another because the country invaded is "is unable to defend its own sovereignty".

Weird. Highly unlikely.

Russia invaded Ukraine to protect its borders - rightly or wrongly; it doesn't care about Ukraine's "sovereignty".

In the meantime, like 99.9% of Australians, I have never heard of former president Ma, and couldn't care less about him.

Many of these opinion pieces, coming from people wanting to get something off their chests, are too arcane for the average person struggling with their own problems: like Australia's increasingly Marxist government; the same government's attempt to divide us by race via the Voice; bizarre climate hysteria; cost of living; absurdly high and unnecessary immigration, and the loss of industry and investment because of unaffordable, unreliable energy.

Its always problematic to think that the words and deeds of past leaders somehow represents the views of the current leadership or the populace. Ma was always more pro-China than any of his predecessors or successors.

His views most certainly don't represent the views of the current Taiwanese people who know they would bear the brunt of the tender mercies of the CCP in the event of unification, peaceful or otherwise. Leaders like Ma are much more sanguine about joining China since they would (or at least imagine they would) slide seamlessly into the luxuries of CCP leadership.

Ma's visit is meaningless in terms of current international politics although the CCP will lay it for all the propaganda value they can. Imagine Keating ducking off to Malaysia to tell them how bad our pro-USA policy is. Although it'd garner the usual swooning coverage from our anti-Great Satan warriors, it'd be meaningless in terms of understanding the current thinking of Australian leadership or the electorate. Think of Ma's visit in those terms.

Agree!
Alan B.

To be fair I haven't finished reading the article... but

Ma sounds like a traitor to Taiwan and perhaps should be tried and gaoled/ jailed.

The relationship between Taiwan/ China and Austria/ Germany were/ are different. Yes in both situations common ethnicity/ race exist but the primary issue with Taiwan/ China is Communist Maoism/ Dengism/ Xi-ism.