Taiwan & China - On the Brink?

[mattmatik]

U.S. Warns Taiwan, China

Since this is a real-world issue I thought I'd post this here, but I'm actually more curious to something else. Has anyone read Executive Orders by Tom Clancy? In a nutshell, the book is based on Jack Ryan and his becoming President of the United States after an airliner from China slams into the White House, killing the current President and many cabinet and other government officials (Ryan was V.P. at the time). There is also a few terrorist plots where a man from Iran successfully assassinates Saddam Hussein and unites Iran & Iraq; the same man also negotiates a plan to have 10 terrorists come to the United States and deploy a deadly virus in major cities across the U.S.; and there's even a situation where China and Taiwan get involved in a game of cat and mouse when a Taiwanese commuter airliner is blown up in the sky by a Chinese fighter pilot.

I just find it extremely weird and disturbing that Clancy can almost pin-point these events...and the book was written well before 9/11. When reading the book and reading about the plane hitting the White House, I thought "hey, just coincidence", but once I came to the China-Taiwan episode, I began to think there's more to this. Well, I'm just wondering for those who read it, what your thoughts are. And to those who haven't, what is your thoughts/opinions on the China-Taiwan tensions?

[123_kid]

Are you sure it was "Executive Orders"? I read "Debt of Honor" and in that book, a Japanese 747 crashes into the Senate during a State of the Union address. I've read that chapter many times and it still gives me goosebumps.

[aemon]

123_kid,

It was Executive orders that had the terroist piloted 747 crash into the capitol starting a chain of events leading to an Iranian plan to release an airborne variant of ebola.

Debt of Honor started with the gasoline tank explosion and the subsequent economic squeeze on Japan and how that played into a power struggle internal to the Japanese govenment.

[EzeWong]

I haven't read the Tom Clancy books, But I don't think much of a suprise that he would be able to pinpoint those events. Since it's pretty obvious which countries have tension with each other, he just writes a senario of what might happened. The fact that they DO happen, isn't just coincidence. There are only a certain number of effective ways these countries can harm each other, and he just writes about them.

Anywyas, The US is sucking up to China now that it is gaining economic power. They are sucking up so that the qouta's the US places on Chinese textiles won't bother them.

total BS if you ask me. Considering that not too long ago the US was ushering independence

[wzoo1]

Ah I gotta read Executive Orders then. I'm currently reading The Sum of All Fears (yea I've seen the movie but haven't read the book yet) and it's so far pretty good. I always like Clancys books.

[123_kid]

123_kid,

It was Executive orders that had the terroist piloted 747 crash into the capitol starting a chain of events leading to an Iranian plan to release an airborne variant of ebola. 

Debt of Honor started with the gasoline tank explosion and the subsequent economic squeeze on Japan and how that played into a power struggle internal to the Japanese govenment.

I hate to bring it to this but I'll quote exactly from "Debt of Honor", page 985.

The aircraft dipped and yawed slightly to the left. Sato [Japanese pilot who saw his brother die when the Americans attacked his ship a day previous]compensated for it without a thought, adjusting trim and nosing down for the south side of the American house of government. They would all be there. The President, the parliamentarians, all of them.

"Executive Orders" starts roughly 15 minutes after this event with Jack Ryan staring at the carnage that event caused, but the 747 crashing into the Capital takes place in "Debt of Honor".