Editor’s note for Wednesday, October 13, 2021

My thoughts today:

Have you got a jet for sale? Amazon.com “is in the market for refurbished cargo versions” of large twin-engine passenger jets made by Boeing and Airbus, according to Bloomberg.

The planes would “let Amazon directly import products from China and other countries…stepping up the company’s rivalry with United Parcel Service Inc. and FedEx Corp.”

“Salami tactics” or “salami slicing” is a phrase often used to describe China’s actions in the South China Sea to assert domination gradually and piece by piece rather than by any one action that could provoke a military response. In Chinese, this is sometimes called “the art of nibbling like a silkworm.” Eventually, the leaf will be fully consumed.

But now Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Lè Yùchéng 乐玉成 says that “some people in the United States [are breaching] the one-China commitment and keep stepping on the red line, using salami tactics and playing the ‘Taiwan card.’”

He made the accusation in an interview with state broadcaster CGTN (transcript in English, Chinese) when asked about “noises on the issue of Taiwan.”

There are indeed a lot of noises about Taiwan at the moment. But the noises are not only coming from “some people in the United States,” as Le suggests. Nationalist newspaper Global Times — which represents the id, if not the official voice, of the Party — published an English-language article today titled “Taiwan secessionists stage ‘doomsday madness’ in seeking foreign support.” (There does not seem to be a Chinese language version.)

The article is illustrated with images that I would describe as war porn (by an internet artist who calls himself JeffHoly), and includes this description of how China might take over Taiwan:

In a possible scenario widely predicted by many analysts, the PLA could start with electronic warfare, deafening and blinding the Taiwan military, then rain down long-range rockets and missiles, destroying most of Taiwan’s weapons and equipment as well as command centers.

This will be followed by air strikes led by stealth aircraft, which will seize air superiority, and at the same time, warships, including aircraft carriers, will secure sea lanes for an amphibious assault and block the island from foreign intervention, according to military analysts.

Heavily armed troops will cross the Strait on landing ships, and eventually secure the island, they noted.

For more noises in Taiwan, see the overflowing collection of links in today’s Politics section.

Our word of the day is salami tactics (切香肠 qiē xiāngcháng or 切香肠战术 qiē xiāngcháng zhànshù), also known as the art of nibbling like a silkworm (蚕食法 cánshí fǎ).

—Jeremy Goldkorn, Editor-in-Chief