The South China Sea's Gathering Storm
No access': Rex Tillerson sets collision course with Beijing in South China Sea
Snippet from an article in the Guardian
Bluster or setting out a position?
Rex Tillerson, Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of state, has set the stage for a potential clash with China, saying it should be barred from artificial islands it has built in the South China Sea.
Tillerson said China’s control and construction of artificial islands in waters claimed by neighbouring countries was “akin to Russia’s taking of Crimea”.
Tillerson said China’s control and construction of artificial islands in waters claimed by neighbouring countries was “akin to Russia’s taking of Crimea”.
Ecce Homo! Loquitur...
Thread Starter
Has China Been Practicing Preemptive Missile Strikes Against U.S. Bases?
China upgrades military infrastructure on South China Sea islands
China upgrades military infrastructure on South China Sea islands
Last edited by ORAC; 9th Feb 2017 at 13:10.
It looks like President Xi and President Trump are friends.
Xi, Trump agree to boost win-win cooperation, develop constructive China-U.S. ties - Xinhua | English.news.cn
Xi, Trump agree to boost win-win cooperation, develop constructive China-U.S. ties - Xinhua | English.news.cn
BEIJING (AP) — A Chinese early warning aircraft and a U.S. Navy patrol plane had an "unsafe" encounter over the South China Sea this week, the U.S. Pacific Command said Friday, in the first such incident known to have taken place under President Donald Trump's administration.
The interaction between a Chinese KJ-200 and a U.S. Navy P-3C plane took place on Wednesday in international airspace, Pacific Command spokesman Robert Shuford said. He did not say what was unsafe about the encounter, although the term usually implies planes flying too close to one another.
Shuford says the U.S. plane was on a routine mission and operating according to international law. The Department of Defense and the Pacific Command "are always concerned about unsafe interactions with Chinese military forces," he said.
The Chinese Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment.
However, the website of the Communist Party newspaper Global Times quoted an unidentified ministry official as saying that the Chinese pilot had responded in a "legal and professional manner."
The interaction between a Chinese KJ-200 and a U.S. Navy P-3C plane took place on Wednesday in international airspace, Pacific Command spokesman Robert Shuford said. He did not say what was unsafe about the encounter, although the term usually implies planes flying too close to one another.
Shuford says the U.S. plane was on a routine mission and operating according to international law. The Department of Defense and the Pacific Command "are always concerned about unsafe interactions with Chinese military forces," he said.
The Chinese Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment.
However, the website of the Communist Party newspaper Global Times quoted an unidentified ministry official as saying that the Chinese pilot had responded in a "legal and professional manner."
China has too many domestic problems of its own
China aims to relocate 3.4 mln people in 2017 to tackle poverty | Shanghai Daily
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They have a shortish (10-15 year) window to do anything serious - as the population ages they will have to spend more and more on health care etc (sound familiar?) and they don't have a load of immigrants ready to arrive
the current 1-5 and 6-10 year cohorts are around 75 million each - but the 45-50 group is about 145 million = in 10 years every young worker will be supporting two of the elderly
Less and less money will be available for the military
the current 1-5 and 6-10 year cohorts are around 75 million each - but the 45-50 group is about 145 million = in 10 years every young worker will be supporting two of the elderly
Less and less money will be available for the military
Administrator
Your demographic points are well offered, Harry ...
If you honestly believe that it is "the military that will get shorted" then I'll suggest that you do not understand the Chinese at all.
Less and less money will be available for the military
I'll second that. Whilst I worked in China, 1994-2009 the Chinese military was transformed from a Stalin era monolith to an advanced fighting machine. They still have some traditional organisational drawbacks to overcome but modern equipment; no problem.
With all this talk of the South China Sea and Spratly Islands, maybe we (the UK) could also claim some form of 'ownership'; a Shackleton of 205 Sqn crashed on/near Sin Cowe Island on December 9, 1958, and some of the crew were buried there. The island was quite deserted in those days. Until the pull out from FEAF we used to regularly patrol over and around them - I like to think keeping the status quo.
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Shackman. I was on 205 at the time of Stan Bouttell's crash near the island of Sin Cowe. At the time I was co-pilot to John Elias and after some days and intensive search by many aircraft we found the grave on the island with B205 marked out and a wooden cross( now in St Eval Church). A British Naval party also on the search, landed and recovered the body of the engineer , Flight Sergeant Dancy. He was the only one recovered and taken back to Singapore. There was also an arrow in coral pointing north so we thought that there were survivors so we asked to investigate north. We checked the Spratleys and Hainan and landed at Hong Kong. No trace of survivors but many months later a Formosan fisherman, who had been fishing near Sin Cowe, saw the Shackleton crash and recovered the only body which was taken to the island and buried. The fisherman was later rewarded with gold by a grateful government.
In today's Guardian:-
China close to finishing buildings on South China Sea islands that could house missiles, US says.
China, in an early test of US President Donald Trump, is nearly finished building almost two dozen structures on artificial islands in the South China Sea that appear designed to house long-range surface-to-air missiles, two US officials told Reuters.
The development is likely to raise questions about whether and how the United States will respond, given its vows to take a tough line on China in the South China Sea.
China, in an early test of US President Donald Trump, is nearly finished building almost two dozen structures on artificial islands in the South China Sea that appear designed to house long-range surface-to-air missiles, two US officials told Reuters.
The development is likely to raise questions about whether and how the United States will respond, given its vows to take a tough line on China in the South China Sea.
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"If you honestly believe that it is "the military that will get shorted" then I'll suggest that you do not understand the Chinese at all."
times change, even China is changing- I don't think they'll turn into a Western Style democracy but public pressures still exist - they're having to do something about air pollution for example........ when you have a herd of old people around what are they going to do with them? Let them starve? Shoot them??
times change, even China is changing- I don't think they'll turn into a Western Style democracy but public pressures still exist - they're having to do something about air pollution for example........ when you have a herd of old people around what are they going to do with them? Let them starve? Shoot them??