The Mission Even Joe Biden Realized was Wrong

I am still stuck in the USA, and my wife is still stuck in Zambia. Almost every day, I turn on the PC and expand and update our knowledge of European tourist visa policies, and it feels like we are swimming in oatmeal.

The Czech embassy has asked her to come in for a sort of interview, so that gives us hope. I also learned something unexpected: Austria is an easy visa. I would have thought the Austrians would have been strict, with their high standard of living and their similarities to the Germans, but evidently, they are not. If the Czechs won’t listen, Austria will be even better, because Austria is higher on my list of potential destinations.

Right now, I wonder if our trip will be postponed by the fortunes of another tourist: Nancy Pelosi. As you probably know, she is in Taiwan. The whole thing sounds bizarre to me. I think of Taiwan as a country that really hates leftism, and it’s all about industrialism and abuse of the environment; in short, my kind of place. Why would the queen of the Birkenstocks-and-socks crowd want to go?

She represents San Francisco, and that city has a big Chinatown. Are the San Franciscan Chinese pro-CCP or pro-freedom? I suppose it depends on where most of them come from. If they generally hate the CCP, it would make sense for Pelosi to kiss up to them with a Taiwan visit.

I used to live in Miami, and there were two kinds of Cubans there. Hard-right capitalists who had been tormented and driven out by leftists, and useless, hostile leftists who supported Castro yet came to the US because they loved money. Maybe California is the same way.

Pelosi says her trip shows our commitment to democracy blah blah blah, so I guess she must have a lot of anti-oppression Chinese constituents. I can’t think of any other reason why a pillar of the party of dictator-lovers would say a thing like that.

I read that a Chinese mouthpiece said it would be “okay” to shoot down her plane. It’s an interesting story. China says Taiwan is part of China, and Pelosi was scheduled to be accompanied by American fighter jets. Whether you support the CCP’s claim or not, sending fighters into a place another country claims puts that country in an awkward position. Imagine how things would go if Jackie Chan, the CCP-loving hypocrite actor, visited Hawaii with two uninvited Chinese fighters.

My understanding is that Chinese fighters are completely hopeless and in no way capable of challenging our fighters, so it’s not surprising that Pelosi arrived safely. Asians hate looking bad, and having American fighters knock their inferior machinery out of the sky would look very bad indeed.

Nonetheless, it seems like the whole business adds fuel to China’s fires of resentment, and they will not forget the humiliation.

My friend Mike is working with a Chinese company to get a product shipped here. I won’t say what the product is. He talks to the same Chinese lady all the time. She must be brave, because she told him tanks are being loaded on ships in the port city where she works. She brought it up because a conflict could affect the deal.

I wasn’t too happy when I heard that. I think this lady is telling the truth, since she has no reason to make such a story up. She must be taking a risk, talking about such things.

Why would a country put tanks on ships? To invade Taiwan, perhaps. On the other hand, China sells tanks to lots of countries. Presumably with 20%-off coupons and short warranties. Maybe the lady Mike talked to saw tanks on their way to Nigeria, and she sees tanks being loaded all the time. But if that’s the case, why did she think this instance was so extraordinary she had to discuss it with him?

I don’t know how China is going to get Taiwan back. Its economic relationship with the US is critical to its welfare. Losing Walmart would probably hurt more than losing Taiwan.

I don’t see how they can afford to start anything.