You don't read my mind well if you think that I am against China defending itself. Most nations have an army for that purpose.
I am against China performing threatening exercises near Taiwan and against China claiming the majority of the South China Sea for themselves when hundreds of millions of other people live on its shores.
Clearly Taiwan does not want to be "defended" by China, but is rather desperately asking for defence against China. Also, the international court ruled against China's claim to control everything behind the 9-dash line. It's not true that China needs that line to defend itself - it has done so perfectly well since 1947 without it.
Does India need to control the Indian Ocean in order to defend itself?
What about Mexico, should it control the Gulf of Mexico? Ireland, the Irish Sea? Etc.
And, by the way, as of 2024, you don't really need to control the entire sea (or even half of it) to prevent the enemy from landing on your shores. Any military worth its cost has a large assortment of missiles for that purpose.
Case in point: Ukraine has unambigously denied the Russians (the Russians!) control of the Black Sea while literally having no navy to speak of. By shooting at them from land. That is how it goes.
Taiwan also doesn't rely on its control of the seas to defend itself. Even the Israeli Navy is comparatively weak. Etc.
Taiwan is literally an independent country, although they promote a policy of strategic vagueness about this in hopes that it will discourage China from launching an invasion. The arguments China makes for its ownership of Taiwan are no more defensible, and arguably less, than Portugal's justifications for maintaining ownership of Goa.
It's not a country according to the UN because China is a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
Does Taiwan have its own military? Yes.
Does it issue its own passports? Yes.
Do you have to have their visa to land there? Yes.
That's a country.
And you, sir, on this thread, sound more like a propagandist than someone trying to have an actual conversation. You're not here to converse, to listen, but only to trumpet your talking points. That's not what HN is for, and you've been here long enough to know it.
I am against China performing threatening exercises near Taiwan and against China claiming the majority of the South China Sea for themselves when hundreds of millions of other people live on its shores.
Ever heard of "the Nine Dashes"?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine-dash_line
That has zilch to do with defense. That is expansionism, every bit as bad as its Western equivalents.