On Tuesday, actor James Woods, a vociferous critic of President Joe Biden and his administration, saw the writing on the wall after the display of American weakness during the fall of Kabul to the Taliban in Afghanistan.
“Taiwan is next. Biden’s cowardice in Afghanistan is like blood in the water to the sharks running communist China. They’ll devour him and spit out his dentures,” Woods tweeted.
Taiwan is next. Biden’s cowardice in Afghanistan is like blood in the water to the sharks running communist China. They’ll devour him and spit out his dentures. #CowardBiden
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) August 17, 2021
China is seemingly already making plans to target Taiwan. On Monday, seizing the opportunity presented by the Biden administration’s abandonment of Afghanistan to the Taliban, the Global Times, a daily tabloid newspaper under the auspices of the Chinese Communist Party’s flagship People’s Daily newspaper, warned Taiwan that in the event of a confrontation with mainland Communist China, the U.S. would abandon its long-time ally.
The Global Times began its polemic by asserting, “The U.S. troops’ withdrawal from Afghanistan has led to the rapid demise of the Kabul government. The world has witnessed how the US evacuated its diplomats by helicopter while Taliban soldiers crowded into the presidential palace in Kabul. This has dealt a heavy blow to the credibility and reliability of the US.”
The paper segued to the U.S. pullout from Vietnam: “Many people cannot help but recall how the Vietnam War ended in 1975: The U.S. abandoned its allies in South Vietnam; Saigon was taken over; then the U.S. evacuated almost all its citizens in Saigon.”
Then the paper turned to Taiwan: “How Washington abandoned the Kabul regime particularly shocked some in Asia, including the island of Taiwan. Taiwan is the region that relies on the protection of the US the most in Asia, and the island’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities have made Taiwan go further and further down this abnormal path. The situation in Afghanistan suddenly saw a radical change after the country was abandoned by the U.S. And Washington just left despite the worsening situation in Kabul. Is this some kind of omen of Taiwan’s future fate?”
The paper said of the Taiwanese leadership: “They must have been nervous and feel an ominous presentiment. They must have known better in secret that the U.S. is not reliable.”
Woods has targeted China before. In August 2020, reports surfaced that the Los Angeles Lakers, led by LeBron James, were going to boycott the rest of the NBA playoffs to protest racial inequality and police brutality, but on Thursday, a sudden change occurred, as reports indicated James and co. had decided to keep playing instead.
The quick reversal of plans triggered Woods to offer one possible reason for James’ apparent shift, as he tweeted, “His China handlers didn’t like the optics?”
Woods’ reference to China and James revolved around the fact that James’ initial comments after Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey supporting pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong were highly critical.
“We all talk about this freedom of speech — yes, we all do have freedom of speech, but at times there are ramifications for the negative that can happen when you’re not thinking about others and only thinking about yourself,” said James. “I don’t want to get into a word or sentence feud with Daryl Morey, but I believe he wasn’t educated on the situation at hand,” adding later, “So many people could have been harmed not only financially, but physically, emotionally, spiritually.”