'NOT A GOOD SITUATION': Chang warns of MASSIVE US disadvantage in strait [0:00-5:03]

We are on track to complete all of America's military objectives shortly, very shortly. We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We're going to bring them back to the Stone Ages where they belong. In the meantime, discussions are ongoing. If there is no deal, we are going to hit each and every one of their electric generating plants very hard and probably simultaneously. We have not hit their oil, even though that's the easiest target of all, because it would not give them even a small chance of survival or rebuilding. But we could hit it and it would be gone. And that's President Trump addressing the nation last night on Iran, assuring the American people, his goals on your completion. But keeping Iran on notice, China is now trying to play peacemaker, Beijing and Pakistan issuing a joint at five point initiative to restore peace and stability in the Middle East. It claims. Top diplomats are meeting in Beijing after Pakistan hosted talks on Sunday, which did not include the U.S.-Israel or Iran in those talks. Beijing also hosting, quote, unquote, peace talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan in China yesterday. Jeremy now is the Gatesuit Institute Senior Fellow, Gordon Chang. Gordon, good to see you. Thank you so much for being here. And I know it's trying to appear to be some kind of a peacemaker, is anyone buying it? Not really, because the ceasefire plan is not in the interests of the United States. So for instance, it would leave Iran in possession of its enriched uranium and its missile program. And those are the reasons that President Trump stated last night were the reasons for hitting Iran. So that would undercut President Trump's rationale for the war if he accepted the ceasefire. So I suspect that it will not go forward. Some people say that it will, but I don't think that it's in the interests of the United States or the international community, certainly in the interests of China, but not in ours. Yeah, great point. And of course, the president also commented on the straight, the straight of Hormuz last night. And he asked allies to get some courage. Watch this. The United States imports almost no oil through the Hormuz straight and won't be taking any in the future. We don't need it. The countries of the world that do receive oil through the Hormuz straight must take care of that passage. Iran has been essentially decimated. The hard part is done so it should be easy. And in any event, when this conflict is over, the straight will open up naturally. It will just open up naturally. Your thoughts? Well, right now, Iran is getting its ships through the strait. And it's charging the equivalent of $2 million US dollars in RMB, by the way, China's currency for allowing ships to go through. China actually ships are transiting the strait as we saw on Monday when three Chinese container ships made the southbound passage. You know, at this point, our ships aren't getting through, and this is not a good situation for the United States. Because among other things, we are allowing Iran to finance its attacks on us. And by the way, we're not giving China any incentive to help us because they're getting their ships through and other countries are not. So this is not a very good situation for the US. Well, we just showed the FT op-ed this morning where they write Beijing. We'll seek to replicate Tehran's playbook in the Taiwan Strait. And the global economic impact could be even worse, Xi Jinping inviting Taiwan's opposition leader to Beijing. The KMT party is said to seek reconciliation with Beijing. And they represent mainly ethnically Chinese voters in Taiwan, making up less than 5% of the electorate. Explain this one, Gordon. Well, Chen Liguan, the head of the Guangdong KMT, is going to China for a six day trip starting on the seventh. And what she's going to do is to play into Beijing's playbook, essentially amplifying their propaganda narratives. The KMT has blocked in the legislature because it's basically has a lock on the legislature, though not the presidency. The KMT has blocked funding for enhanced defense programs. And that, I think, makes war more likely, although the KMT says that it's in favor of peace and reconciliation. You can only have that if Taiwan is strong, and they're preventing Taiwan from defending itself. So this is not a good situation for the island. Yeah. Meanwhile, China is building another massive base in the South China Sea, which could provide more room for missiles facilities, Gordon. They act like the South China Sea is Chinese territory.