This is a shitty remake of a NYTimes article: http://www.nytimes.com/newsgraphics/2013/10/27/south-china-s...
It can't be a remake, this was written by the BBC's own Tokyo correspondent who was in the boat.
China's Island Factory – New islands being made in disputed China Sea
111–120 of 147 posts
Re: China's Island Factory – New islands being made in disputed China Sea
#112Earlier quoted context omitted.
Then how about "wealth" or "stuff"? I wouldn't call a tank "treasure".
> Then how about "wealth" I explicitly stated that as an alternative, so I'm not sure why you would ask that in response. > I wouldn't call a tank "treasure". Since treasure refers to a collection of valuable objects, and a tank, as such, is generally a valuable object, that's true -- one wouldn't usually refer to a tank (or a gold coin, etc.) as "treasure", though one might validly refer to a collection of things th…
I asked the question because you proposed "wealth" as equivalent to "treasure", while I'm proposing it exclusive to "treasure".
The historical uses linked in a sibling comment seem to be pretty clear that it's used as a synonym for "money".
Re: China's Island Factory – New islands being made in disputed China Sea
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
Japan's self-defense force is better-equipped, I will grant, but there are a few reasons. One is that there is always a higher level China could escalate to. I mean, in the end game they have nukes and Japan doesn't. But even if it didn't get to that level, China is a totalitarian regime with a history of brutally suppressing dissent, and I also assume that China would be willing to lose a lot more lives to make gain…
> But they haven't committed any military aggression toward any country in more than 65 years. Well, yeah. It's in their constitution. > It is my personal opinion that there is almost no way that the people of Japan (where I live, though I am American) would support a war against China. Even if China just up and landed an occupying force on Japan's Senkaku islands. Perhaps not over the Senkaku Islands, but I think th…
Funny, the Argentines felt that the British wouldn't respond to invading the Falklands. Most wars are a result of one government failing to understand how another government will respond.
Re: China's Island Factory – New islands being made in disputed China Sea
#114Earlier quoted context omitted.
In a straight up military conflict the world ends. People are idiots though, so I guess that will happen at some point.
Not necessarily true. Not even probably true. The nuclear-armed USA has invaded a number of smaller and weaker countries over the past decades. China has also attacked several neighbors, though in a less balls-out manner. Armageddon did not ensue. The scariest scenario in Asia right now is: China attacks Japan (e.g. invades the Senkakus, or even accidentally kills some Japanese soldier in one of China's frequent reck…
> China didn't have them yet iirc
Correct. They didn't have them until the 1960's (first A-bomb test in 1964, first H-bomb test in 1967):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_and_weapons_of_mass_destr...
Re: China's Island Factory – New islands being made in disputed China Sea
#115Earlier quoted context omitted.
In a straight up military conflict the world ends. People are idiots though, so I guess that will happen at some point.
not necessary. A modern conflict can happen in the disputed area without anybody bombing cities of the opponent. iPhones will continue to be shipped to US from China while J-20 will be playing hide-and-seek with F-22/35 over, say, the South China Sea. A very related example - Great Britain didn't bomb Buenos Aires 32 years ago nor did Argentina strike at anything Britain's outside of the war zone.
Argentina didn't have the military capability to attack anything outside of the war zone. Great Britain simply exercised restraint in their attacks on the mainland.
Re: China's Island Factory – New islands being made in disputed China Sea
#116Earlier quoted context omitted.
I for one disagree completely. I think this is great and I really liked the videos, they added depth to the article.
Same, though I think perhaps the ideal solution is somewhere in the middle. If built with it in mind, the page should gracefully degrade to something more basic, where the videos are all optional. I can see how this would put strain on mobile devices(as another comment responding to the parent pointed out)
None of the videos even loaded for me, so I guess that's graceful degradation right there.
Re: China's Island Factory – New islands being made in disputed China Sea
#117This is a shitty remake of a NYTimes article: http://www.nytimes.com/newsgraphics/2013/10/27/south-china-s...
This one renders much better than BBC's as well. Although I'm still undecided on this newsgraphic trend.
Re: China's Island Factory – New islands being made in disputed China Sea
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
Does the US claim all the ocean between the west coast and Hawaii? No, because it's too far from land.
I am not sure where you are going here. China didn't claim all the ocean either, they want the islands.
No. They want the islands as a means to claim the surrounding waters, which which have a lot of real and potential value in fisheries, sea lanes, and offshore oil. The islands themselves are not very valuable.
Re: China's Island Factory – New islands being made in disputed China Sea
#119Earlier quoted context omitted.
Japan may not officially have nuclear weapons, but they do not lack the capability - if they decided to weaponize (which would never happen short of a Chinese existential threat), they could do so in a matters of days, not months - the nuclear knowhow is clearly there. The rest of your point is fair - for Japan to go to war would take a fundamental shift in the country, and its questionable whether the Senkaku Island…
I think you're underestimating how long it takes to separate U238 from U235 or breed plutonium.
Japan has one of the worlds largest stockpiles of plutonium. Nine tons stored at home, and thiry five tons stored in Europe waiting to be reprocessed into MOX fuel.
Re: China's Island Factory – New islands being made in disputed China Sea
#120Earlier quoted context omitted.
I meant it more as a summary of China's strategic philosophy, which seems to be that the weak must inevitably give way to the strong. I don't know about a major military conflict, but China certainly seems to to be adopting a more...experimental posture.
Weak is a relative term, right? Vietnam is "weak". How about the other countries in the region? Japan? Russia? I don't think it's called experimental when you flex your military muscle.
Other countries in the South China sea are mostly weak too, other than Japan. The big factor is the United States, due to its treaty relations with other countries in the area like Philippines, Japan and Taiwan. But you know that.
I'm calling it experimental because they seem to be exploring their options rather than seeking head-on confrontation in the manner of Putin - I get the sense that China is not sure of its strategic position and is probing to see whether it could establish a 'new normal' without actual conflict. But that's just a hunch on my part, I have no special insight.