RandomGuy
01-22-2014, 01:54 PM
Read an interesting article entitled:
"China to start regular patrols from island in South China Sea"
http://news.yahoo.com/china-start-regular-patrols-island-south-china-sea-101705672--finance.html
This sounds innocuous at first, until one gets into the underlying context. The islands sit atop a vast store of oil and gas deposits, and have been a the center of a very long running dispute between China and Japan, with nationalists on both sides pushing their governments to claim them. There have been fairly minor, if noisy, military confrontations. This will likely further escalate an already tense situation.
As the above linked article noted, there is the additional factor of a newly declared zone of interest in the same area, wherein China expects notification to its military of any aircraft moving through, which has rankled several other countries in the region.
The Obama administration's "Asia pivot" is, in my opinion, very apt and a very adroit policy move for our country.
You should care because this does entail some effort and risk on our part. China is growing increasingly assertive, as these two examples show. There are others, such as China's spats with S. Korea, Vietnam, Myanmar, India, etc., generally over similar issues, i.e. energy and territory. China's military spending is ramping up hugely, as they, rightfully, modernize their own military. We have to be taking some care and effort into heading off these spats, as we risk getting drawn into a regional conflict.
Many of these countries come to view the US in a much different light than in the past. We have gone from imperialist pigs to a welcome counterbalance to a newly assertive China, and this is obvious in explicit and implicit actions and words on the part of many countries.
I think as uncertainties mount, as volatility grows, I think people do value a strong American presence
http://news.yahoo.com/39-perplexed-39-india-says-u-probably-still-234559921--sector.html
China is an old country, but its current role is new to its people alive today and its leaders. I think some of their recent missteps belie this.
All this said, we need to be mindful that China is not an enemy, and has the potential to be a very valuable partner in many undertakings that provide a very positive mutual benefit. We need to walk a fine line, therefore, in counterbalancing the worse tendendcies of China to throw its weight around, and an acknoledgement of their very legitimate interests and concerns.
Given the global nature of our countries business interests and the scale of involvement of China in affecting those interests, we should be putting even more effort into this relationship, for a host of reasons, stated here and beyond the scope of a short essay on a basketball message board to capture. Those that bother, even passingly with the politics section are at least mildly interested in goings on in the world, so I thought I might put this out there in your considerations.
Regards,
RG
"China to start regular patrols from island in South China Sea"
http://news.yahoo.com/china-start-regular-patrols-island-south-china-sea-101705672--finance.html
This sounds innocuous at first, until one gets into the underlying context. The islands sit atop a vast store of oil and gas deposits, and have been a the center of a very long running dispute between China and Japan, with nationalists on both sides pushing their governments to claim them. There have been fairly minor, if noisy, military confrontations. This will likely further escalate an already tense situation.
As the above linked article noted, there is the additional factor of a newly declared zone of interest in the same area, wherein China expects notification to its military of any aircraft moving through, which has rankled several other countries in the region.
The Obama administration's "Asia pivot" is, in my opinion, very apt and a very adroit policy move for our country.
You should care because this does entail some effort and risk on our part. China is growing increasingly assertive, as these two examples show. There are others, such as China's spats with S. Korea, Vietnam, Myanmar, India, etc., generally over similar issues, i.e. energy and territory. China's military spending is ramping up hugely, as they, rightfully, modernize their own military. We have to be taking some care and effort into heading off these spats, as we risk getting drawn into a regional conflict.
Many of these countries come to view the US in a much different light than in the past. We have gone from imperialist pigs to a welcome counterbalance to a newly assertive China, and this is obvious in explicit and implicit actions and words on the part of many countries.
I think as uncertainties mount, as volatility grows, I think people do value a strong American presence
http://news.yahoo.com/39-perplexed-39-india-says-u-probably-still-234559921--sector.html
China is an old country, but its current role is new to its people alive today and its leaders. I think some of their recent missteps belie this.
All this said, we need to be mindful that China is not an enemy, and has the potential to be a very valuable partner in many undertakings that provide a very positive mutual benefit. We need to walk a fine line, therefore, in counterbalancing the worse tendendcies of China to throw its weight around, and an acknoledgement of their very legitimate interests and concerns.
Given the global nature of our countries business interests and the scale of involvement of China in affecting those interests, we should be putting even more effort into this relationship, for a host of reasons, stated here and beyond the scope of a short essay on a basketball message board to capture. Those that bother, even passingly with the politics section are at least mildly interested in goings on in the world, so I thought I might put this out there in your considerations.
Regards,
RG