Chinese Media Threaten Taiwan after Kabul Debacle: ‘The Island’s Defense Will Collapse in Hours’

Chinese media outlets carried threats to Taiwan and criticisms of the U.S. during the chaotic American withdrawal from Kabul.

An editorial by the Global Times, a Chinese state-run outlet, took aim at Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party and President Tsai Ing-wen.

“From what happened in Afghanistan, [the DPP] should perceive that once a war breaks out in the Straits, the island’s defense will collapse in hours and the US military won’t come to help,” the editorial states. “As a result, the DPP authorities will quickly surrender, while some high-level officials may flee by plane.”

The editorial called on the DPP to “keep cross-Straits [of Taiwan] peace with political means, rather than acting as strategic pawns of the US and bear the bitter fruits of a war.”

Global Times editor-in-chief Hu Xijin also commented on the Afghanistan withdrawal on Twitter.

“After the fall of the Kabul regime, the Taiwan authorities must be trembling,” Hu wrote. “Don’t look forward to the US to protect them. Taipei officials need to quietly mail-order a Five-Star Red Flag from the Chinese mainland. It will be useful one day when they surrender to the PLA.”

In a separate tweet, Hu wrote, “Chinese netizens joked that the power transition in Afghanistan is even more smooth than presidential transition in the US.”

The head of China Daily‘s E.U. bureau, Chen Weihua, encouraged CNN anchor Jim Sciutto to explain to his son that the U.S. clearly lost the Afghanistan War.

“My son asked me yesterday if the US won or lost the war in Afghanistan. As I responded, I realized how difficult the answer is,” Sciutto wrote on Twitter.

“Tell your son: The US lost. It was a no-brainer. No need for self-glorification or narcissist self-comfort,” Chen commented.

The comments come after the Taliban seized almost all areas of Afghanistan previously under central-government control, mostly without resistance. The U.S. evacuated embassy personnel to the Kabul airport, where crowds have attempted to board flights and at least seven people have died in the chaos.