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There was a crucial presidential election in Taiwan today as the fairly young democracy elected Vice President Lai Ching-te of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party to stand up to China’s threats. (Check our show notes: The Guardian has a colorful overview of the most consequential election since Taiwan’s first in 1996). No matter who won, China will continue to seek to annex Taiwan, dictator Xi having told Biden in their meeting in September that China and Taiwan will unify.

A troubling sign backs up his threat: Xi discovered that his military is as comically corrupt as Russia’s, with reports of missiles in China full of water instead of fuel. Xi is clearly learning from Putin's mistakes in Ukraine. China may be preparing to take advantage of a West stretched thin by conflicts in Ukraine, Israel, and with Iran-backed Houthis. Olga Lautman, a Russian mafia researcher and co-host of the Kremlin Files podcast, joins Andrea to discuss whether China is about to invade Taiwan.

The conversation includes the grievance politics of authoritarian movements, featuring a look at MAGA lapdog Elise Stefanik's dangerous appearance on Meet the Press. In that clip, featured in our show notes, Stefanik refers to the violent white supremacist terrorists who attempted to overthrow our democracy on January 6th as "hostages." Andrea and Olga discuss the dangers of this and the history of a Nazi camp on Stefanik’s Long Island. If Trump regains power, expect over 1,000 violent traitors to be pardoned on day one as he launches Project 2025 (his carefully planned mass purge of our government), making the world, not just our country, even more dangerous.

This week’s bonus show includes Andrea answering questions from our listeners at the Democracy Defender level and higher. That discussion includes novels to read right now, how art by school children can help Ukraine, and more! If you didn’t hear your question answered this week, look out for it next week, as our Q&A continues. Thank you to everyone who supports the show – we could not make Gaslit Nation without you!

Hate social media? Miss the old Twitter? Want to raise your voice for 2024 for those who don’t have one? Join our social media workshop this Thursday, January 18th, at 8 pm ET! This virtual event will feature the tenacious Rachel Brody, an organizer working on social media strategy for various campaigns, from Congressional to Latino voter outreach. Rachel also spearheads the diverse grassroots movement in New York to replace disastrous party chair Jay Jaycobs and will provide a quick update on that important effort to prevent New York from losing us the House again!

To sign up for our bonus episodes, attend our virtual events, submit questions for our regular Q&As, and more, support Gaslit Nation on Patreon.com/Gaslit

Show Notes:

Clip: Elise Stefanik refers to the "January 6 hostages" on Meet the Press: https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1744014556416905223

Nazis on Long Island: The Story of Camp Siegfried https://mjhnyc.org/events/nazis-on-long-island-the-story-of-camp-siegfried/

The Guardian: Inflatables, hip-hop rallies, and a missile alarm: Taiwan to vote in election that’s too close to call https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/12/taiwan-general-presidential-election-2024-voting-polls-results-dpp-kmt-tpp

In a Setback for Beijing, Taiwan Elects Lai Ching-te as President Taiwan’s vice president, whose party has emphasized the island’s sovereignty, defeated an opposition party that favors reviving engagement with China. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/13/world/asia/taiwan-election-china-us.html?campaign_id=60&emc=edit_na_20240113&instance_id=0&nl=breaking-news&ref=cta&regi_id=48614702&segment_id=155235&user_id=097a378032011d6e8be1570cdce0a176

Xi told Biden at summit that China plans to reunify with Taiwan https://abcnews.go.com/International/xi-warns-biden-china-plans-back-taiwan/story?id=105815520

Why Taiwan is 2024’s first big election to watch https://www.vox.com/world-politics/2024/1/6/24026992/taiwan-china-president-war-xi-jinping-asia-semiconductors-chips

US Intelligence Shows Flawed China Missiles Led Xi to Purge Army China missiles filled with water, not fuel: US intelligence Xi seeking to root out corruption, prepare military for combat https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-01-06/us-intelligence-shows-flawed-china-missiles-led-xi-jinping-to-purge-military?utm_source=website&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=twitter