Special to WorldTribune.com
By Wendell Minnick, China in Arms, March 10, 2023
TAIPEI — Though months away, I thought we would start Halloween early.
I say that because the Wolf Warrior is coming to Taiwan soon and plans to rape and pillage (my emphasis and not the dear Wolf’s).
Zhou Xiaoping (周小平), the “Wolf Warrior”, sponsored a resolution to create a Black List” (黑名单) that would target Taiwan “separatists” for execution by China’s special operation units.
If captured, imagine what special operations units would do to President Tsai Ing-wen? Selfies? Souvenirs — an ear, a finger or two?
A trophy is part of the hunt when you bag big game. And after all, doesn’t Tsai’s progressive agenda demand that everyone get a trophy?
The resolution was allegedly made at the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) over the weekend.
Zhou’s blog on Weibo (新浪微博) posted the alleged resolution and as of today it remains. Weibo is one of the biggest micro blogs in China. Similar to Twitter, Weibou has over 500 million netizens across China.
The fact that Weibo is censored by the Chinese government provides a glimpse into what Taiwan should expect just before, during, and after an invasion.
That is, if Zhou is signaling for the CCP?
Twitter author Han Yang (杨涵) translated Zhou’s post on his Twitter account:
“First, it is recommended that the state issue a clear “blacklist of separatist figures in Taiwan” disciplinary order. They will link up for a long time with foreign hostile forces to disrupt the great cause of the reunification of the motherland, create division, sell secrets, and hollow out industries. The real control core figures involved in the production of materials and publications related to independence and the real control figures involved in sole proprietorship, the source of independence ideology, the real power politicians involved in independence, and the head of Taiwan Island’s electricity fraud industry collated and produced the “Taiwan Province Separatist Forces Blacklist” and made it public. The blacklist figures were ordered to stop all acts of Taiwan independence within a time limit and confess their crimes through open channels or voluntarily surrender. If these people persist in their wrong and continue to create division and cause cross-strait conflict, then during our special operations against Taiwan, anyone can arrest or kill them, not only without any responsibility, but also receive the Medal of Honor for Promoting Unification.”
Death Lists are not new. The fall of Saigon is a good example and the rumors created more panic.
Zhou should be put on a U.S. Terrorist Watch List for advocating such a stupid resolution, whether it passed or not. Though I do not expect the U.S. State Department under Biden to do anything but dismiss the idea. State is all about policy; the perfect example of hope over experience.
Via Zhou’s thinking, we might look at Active Measures. A term used to describe the use of assassination, sabotage, etc.
Expect special operations forces to infiltrate Taiwan before an invasion, perhaps weeks before, to begin Active Measures. There is also the possibility that “sleeper agents” will be activated and begin selective assassinations and sabotage. And do not forget “Fifth Column” elements in Taiwan that support unification, such as members of the KMT Party (Chinese Nationalist Party/Kuomintang).
Despite Washington’s fantasy that everyone in Taiwan wants to die on that hill for democracy, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is still an active and assertive political party in Taiwan.
Under the Ma Ying-jeou presidency (2008–2016), talks with China were at the highest in history.
It really seemed that unification was around the corner.
China insisted that talks would be party-to-party and not state-to-state. China’s policy was not to recognize Taiwan as a country. This also froze out the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) from wielding any power over the talks.
The CCP and KMT were talking openly to one another, but kept “unification” from being mentioned in public. In November 2015, Ma met with CCP General Secretary Xi Jinping in Singapore.
Since 2013, Xi also served as the President of China and since this was not a state-to-state venture, he had to go to Singapore as head of the CCP.
Oddly enough, Ma had resigned as the KMT Chairman in December 2014.
Actually, Xi is the head of everything now and with term limits abolished do not expect Xi to leave until his promise of “reunification” with Taiwan is complete.
The U.S. has not seen many deliberate men in a while, they have all been cancelled in America. That is what Xi is precisely.
The meeting was over-the-top. It was the first face-to-face since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949.
During Ma’s presidency I met mainland Chinese on a regular basis as a journalist in Taipei. Some I knew from the Shangri-La Dialogue and others from Airshow China (Zhuhai Airshow). Others were just reaching out to meet me, which made me a little cautious. Excuse the cliché, but they did seem to be coming out of the woodwork.
These were normally alcohol related, but it was clear the mainlanders were in total love with Taiwan. The streets were clean, no crime, beautiful mountains, and the women!
But still…mainlanders in Taiwan? It felt weird and the general feeling was one of doom for Taiwan’s future.
Then the unexpected happened…the DPP won the 2016 election for both the presidency and the legislature.
Tsai Ing-wen was more than just the first woman president. She was also the first of her kind in the Presidential Building.
Things were changing and Beijing was not happy about it.
If you want to steal candy from a baby, make sure it is not the baby of a gorilla.
And with the Wolf Warrior, you have to assume there are a lot of savage thoughts about Taiwan in China.
Wendell Minnick is a veteran correspondent in Asia (Janes’s Defense Weekly and Defense News), focused on military and strategic issues related to China. He publishes a column on Substack, China in Arms