Lai Ching Te - Pa, Ma, see, I can go for a holiday... but only in the Pacific Ocean

Lai, on his first trip abroad since taking office in May, will stop over in Hawaii and the US territory of Guam as he visits Taiwan's allies Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau.

They are the only Pacific island nations among the 12 remaining allies that recognise Taiwan, after China poached others with promises of aid and investment.

In a speech shortly before take-off, Lai said the trip "ushered in a new era of values-based democracy" and he thanked the US government for "helping to make this trip a smooth one".  CNA

Lai Ching Te is happy like a child being locked in his house and now can be free to leave Taiwan, to visit a few islands in the South Pacific Ocean. To this poor child, it is like freedom to see the world. And all his friends, added together, will be less than half the population of Hong Kong. The population of the three islands he is visiting is about 70,000, about the size of a single ward constituency in Singapore. 

Very likely Lai would want to visit all the 12 allies. But the cost is too high. He said it, it is an era of values based democracy. The islanders are not stupid. They know their values and Taiwan would pay. Maybe they have worked out a formula for the visit. Every citizen cost US$1,000 to be paid to the govt of the respective islands. This visit to three islands would cost Taiwan US$7m just for red packets alone. To visit the rest of the islands would be too costly. So this time, just 3 islands.

Taiwan's friends are governed by the term, values based democracy. Even the visits of every American or European clown politicians must be paid handsomely. Taiwan must have a big budget to pay for visitors and to pay to visit its friends.

The delusion that Taiwan is a nation state continues to be touted by the Democratic Progressive Party of Taiwan, a breakaway island province of China, that once claimed to be the govt of China, taking the seat of China in the UN. The Americans, their most important supporter, finally gave up on the island and recognised PRC as the legitimate govt of Greater China, inclusive of Taiwan, and accepted China's place in the UN, by kicking out Taiwan, ROC.

Since then, Taiwan has been trying to declare independence from China and calling itself an independent state but not recognised by the rest of the world, not recognised  by the UN, not recognised by the US, not recognised by Europe, except for a few island nations in the Pacific Ocean and Paraguay. And every time the Taiwanese President makes a trip to his little playground in the South Pacific, he claims like he is travelling all over the world. That is the make believe of the world of Taiwan's pro independent separatists. No country would allow him to land his plane except for the mischievous and forked tongue snake, the USA. But this support is weakening by the day.

The Americans, used to be the unchallenged number one military power in the world, was able to blockade China, to keep Chinese ships to stay within 2km of China's coast at the peak of the Korean War and in the early days when the KMT fled to Taiwan. China then was too weak militarily, without an Air Force or Navy to challenge the American military supremacy.

Time has changed and China over the years has been building up a military force that can now challenge the military might of the Americans. The last show of force by the Americans was in 1996 when the Americans sailed two aircraft carriers to the Straits of Taiwan to threaten China. Today, such a reckless show of force would only put the American aircraft carriers at risk of being sunk right where they are, if they dare to play with fire.

China has developed an Area Denial and Anti Access Strategy, ADAA, to keep the American war planes and warships out of the Chinese coasts, now as far as 5,000 km out, further than the island of Guam. China's specially developed anti aircraft carrier missiles are hypersonic, extremely accurate and indefensible, and have been called aircraft carrier killers. The Americans have taken note of this and only the most reckless and foolish American Navy Commanders would dare to put 5,000 to 7,000 airmen and sailors for target practice by the PLA and be buried in the Pacific Ocean.

China has successfully neutralised the American strategic plans of the first island chain and the second island chain. No American warship or war plane is safe within 5,000 km from the Chinese coast. The third island chain at Hawaii is also indefensible.

Taiwan is still living in fantasy that the Americans can protect them and even independence from China. The Americans are not even able to defend themselves against China. The American's plan for Taiwan is actually to bomb the daylight out of Taiwan should China start to unify Taiwan by military means. The Americans' plan is to protect their Empire and to prevent Taiwan returning to China, by destroying Taiwan.

The daft Taiwanese leaders know about this plan but pretending not to know, not to tell the Taiwanese populace, and the DPP continues the make belief and lie that the Americans are there to protect them. See how happy is Lai Ching Te that he can leave Taiwan to go for a holiday in the South Pacific and with the Americans allowing him only to fly by Guam and Hawaii, not the usual stop over in LA, USA. Other than the South Pacific Islands and perhaps Paraguay, he cannot visit any other country in his little bubble tea world of make belief.