"So, anything that avoids a conflict that could draw in, unhappily again, outside powers such as the United States or revisit, for example, Japan's interests in the Taiwan area would be the last thing that anyone would want"
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Diplomacy by throat-clearing: the sentence is engineered to sound like a neutral safety warning while quietly staking out a map of anxieties and red lines. Kirby’s “anything that avoids a conflict” looks like a bland plea for peace, but the phrasing does real work. “Unhappily again” implies precedent and grievance, smuggling history into the present as a cautionary tale. It frames “outside powers such as the United States” not as stabilizers but as repeat offenders - actors whose involvement is, by definition, unfortunate. That’s not description; it’s pre-emptive delegitimization.
The line also performs a careful, almost bureaucratic triangulation. By saying “for example, Japan’s interests in the Taiwan area,” Kirby avoids naming Taiwan’s status directly (a political tripwire), yet still evokes it as the flashpoint everyone is expected to recognize. “Interests” is the key euphemism: it can mean trade routes, security doctrine, historical claims, domestic politics. Its vagueness is useful because it invites agreement without forcing anyone to endorse a specific interpretation.
Most revealing is the ending: “the last thing that anyone would want.” That’s consensus theater. It claims a universal desire to avoid escalation, then uses that presumed unanimity to pressure the audience into a particular posture: don’t internationalize this, don’t widen the cast, don’t give external powers an opening. The intent isn’t just to prevent conflict; it’s to define which participants are legitimate before the argument even starts.
The line also performs a careful, almost bureaucratic triangulation. By saying “for example, Japan’s interests in the Taiwan area,” Kirby avoids naming Taiwan’s status directly (a political tripwire), yet still evokes it as the flashpoint everyone is expected to recognize. “Interests” is the key euphemism: it can mean trade routes, security doctrine, historical claims, domestic politics. Its vagueness is useful because it invites agreement without forcing anyone to endorse a specific interpretation.
Most revealing is the ending: “the last thing that anyone would want.” That’s consensus theater. It claims a universal desire to avoid escalation, then uses that presumed unanimity to pressure the audience into a particular posture: don’t internationalize this, don’t widen the cast, don’t give external powers an opening. The intent isn’t just to prevent conflict; it’s to define which participants are legitimate before the argument even starts.
Quote Details
| Topic | Peace |
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