Did I get your attention? Let's look at what is happening in the world today. We know China is supporting Russia in their efforts to conquer Ukraine. We as a nation and all of Europe have been focused on the effects of this invasion on food and fuel availability and prices. Meanwhile China has become more and more aggressive in Asia. China has long claimed Taiwan and islands around Japan and Philippines as their own. Last week Chinese fighters fired on an Australian surveillance plane releasing chaff, small pieces of metal. This was sucked into one of the engines shutting it down and threatening the safety of the crew. This is not the first time. The Chinese threatened a Canadian plane flying directly in its path forcing it to change course. Both of these events happened in international air space.
We have seen the Chinese response to Nancy Pelosi's trip to Taiwan. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) held live ammo military drills in the waters off Pingtan Island, in the narrowest parts of the Strait less than 80 miles from mainland Taiwan. Chinese planes also invaded Taiwan's airspace several times. China revealed drills to run from Thursday to Sunday in waters and airspace across six zones that collectively surround the democratically self-ruled island, Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own. Today, Thursday, China launched 5 live missiles over Taiwan effectively blockading their ports. They also exploded 5 missiles over Japan. China has not ruled Taiwan for over 127 years.
Taiwan is America's eighth-largest trading partner. This may seem manageable but 90% of advanced chips needed for cars, appliances, computers and phones are sourced from Taiwan. As we look at the areas China is laying claim to it becomes clear we must be concerned. Japan is our 4th largest trading partner and China has its sights set there as well.
With Russian aggression and now Chinese aggression stepping up we must consider and plan for the worst and pray for the best. We understand leaders of both nations feel they are entitled and believe they should rule the world. Nations and people ignored the warning signs before World War II and it resulted in millions of deaths and decades of misery. It is not the time to panic or fear. It is time to reexamine our preparations and make adjustments as needed. Whatever the future holds we will never regret preparing, if we do it well, but we will regret ignoring the warnings and failing to prepare.