Xi Jinping decides to abolish presidential term limits

Post by bgee » Tue, Mar 06, 2018, 8:22 PM UTC

drraid0 wrote: post #87

bgee wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you elaborate more on why China's increasing military budget is a disturbing sign to you? China spends a mere 1.9% of its GDP in 2016 and that number is smaller than from Vietnam, Korea, India even Singapore [0]. To me China is only trying catching up its neighbors. BTW Japan's PM has just submitted his 2018 Military Budget and if approved would be the 6th "straight annual increase" [1]. [0]: https://data.worldba…

It is disturbing because China did not hesitate to kill 10000 of their own people in 1989 on a shoestring budget, and faced no consequence. Who knows what they would do to Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, etc.

Post by gaius » Tue, Mar 06, 2018, 8:23 PM UTC

tomc1985 wrote: post #94

gaius wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

China has been getting aggressive with India India is a nuclear power. Then again so is the UK and Argentina still invaded, so maybe that's not so much of a deterrent.

Would the UK really nuke Argentina over the Falklands? That's just absurd.

Post by Slansitartop » Tue, Mar 06, 2018, 8:23 PM UTC

Dolores12 wrote: post #96

olympus wrote: post #59

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This is a sign that Xi Jinping wants to become a dictator, and it concerns other countries if a giant country like China with a massive military is controlled by a dictator with unlimited power. China has every right to have a large military to defend itself, but a dictator might use the military to be aggressive to other countries. China's GDP is several times bigger[1] than Vietnam, Korea, India, and Singapore, so…

Go check https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynasties_in_Chinese_history China has always been ruled by dynasties. I don't see any specific reason why it should change under Xi. It is a wet dream of USA to bring instability to China to weaken rising dragon.

Post by jotm » Tue, Mar 06, 2018, 8:24 PM UTC

bgee wrote: post #64

adventured wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The 1.9% figure you're quoting, is almost universally regarded to be an undercount, aka a lie. At best their actual military spending figures are very fuzzy. "The Chinese, for example, do not count their research-and-development expenditures, the considerable amount they pay for foreign military purchases, the huge subsidies for their defense industry (which is composed mostly of enterprises owned by the state), or t…

In the Foreign Policy article you are quoting: "Although China’s official 2012 defense budget is $106 billion, ...the Pentagon places China’s total military spending at somewhere between $120 and $180 billion." So we take the number in the middle ($150 billion) and assume it's always a 50% undercut (extremely inaccurate estimate), this will put China's 2016 budget to 1.92%*1.5=2.88%, still lower than Singapore's.

Post by FridgeSeal » Tue, Mar 06, 2018, 8:25 PM UTC

Isamu wrote: post #37

Slansitartop wrote: post #27

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> After all, one imagines that if they really put their mind to it, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea could all go nuclear in a period measured in small single-digit months https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_nuclear_weapon_progra... : > While there are currently no known plans in Japan to produce nuclear weapons, it has been argued Japan has the technology, raw materials, and the capital to produce nuclear weapons w…

I would definitely expect Japan to have completely developed plans for a nuclear weapons program, with contingencies for getting it online in the shortest amount of time possible. I would not expect them to have actually created a device, unless they are keeping deep under the stadium somewhere below the Akira project.