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China Deploys Missiles on Disputed Island in South China Sea
61–70 of 78 posts
Re: China Deploys Missiles on Disputed Island in South China Sea
#62Chinese thug of a government needs to be put out of its misery.
Maybe by the US thug of a government?
Yes, a thug that has to spend all of its military money defending other countries..so they can throw it back in their face that they don't spend as much on the military.
Without the US, the world would be fucked.
Re: China Deploys Missiles on Disputed Island in South China Sea
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is one of the least informed posts I've ever seen on HN about cross strait issues. Unlike HK or Macau, Taiwan is a fully democratic state and has been for decades. Also unlike people in HK or Macau, Taiwanese don't consider themselves Chinese. http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/02/12/we-are-no-compatriots-of... The only way China could annex the island would entering a war. That would be extremely ill-advised conside…
:-) I was mostly referring to the what I believe be the strategic thinking of the Chinese communists. "Also unlike people in HK or Macau, Taiwanese don't consider themselves Chinese." That is not my impression. But it is hard to gage for me.
Polls on that very topic are a regular part of election cycles in Taiwan. Back in the late 80s there was a sizable minority of Taiwanese people identified themselves as Chinese and many others identified as Chinese and Taiwanese.
Now about 2/3 of the population identifies as Taiwanese, about 1/3 identifies as Taiwanese and Chinese and the percentage identifying as Chinese is less than the standard error of the surveys. The long term trend shows no sign of slowing down or reversing either.
If you're interested in the topic, Zhengda (aka NCCU) has an election study center and publishes their findings.
Re: China Deploys Missiles on Disputed Island in South China Sea
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
Doubtful. Our little wars cost us too much. China already has the second most powerful economy in the world, and they've greatly increased military spending. http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/05/asia/china-military-spending/
Comparing nominal dollars spent on the world's militaries is a totally flawed analysis of their capabilities with respect to each other.
No where did I provide an analysis of their capabilities. I simply stated that they are the second largest economy in the world and they are greatly expanding their military. This would indicate that any military conflict would be costly, thus best avoided.
Re: China Deploys Missiles on Disputed Island in South China Sea
#65Nice to see that the WSJ has confirmed us to subscription service just to read what I can get on Ruetz
Re: China Deploys Missiles on Disputed Island in South China Sea
#66Nice to see that the WSJ has confirmed us to subscription service just to read what I can get on Ruetz
Re: China Deploys Missiles on Disputed Island in South China Sea
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
>> That would be extremely ill-advised considering the US committed to defending Taiwan. Maybe ten years ago, I would say it would never happen. However, fighting several wars in the middle east, the Russian annexation of Crimea and the US not doing anything, let alone NATO not doing anything, leads me to hesitate to say anything would be done to stop it. Maybe this changes over the next decade, but if it were to hap…
It certainly doesn't help that Europe, particularly France, has spent the past two decades selling China the weapons and tech to do the invasion. That said, Taiwan is a country of roughly similar population and economic clout as Australia. Standing by and ignoring an act of war on that scale would be devastating to international stability (and US security interests).
I would imagine that the precedent the US would set with not honoring is defense agreement would have enormous repercussions for its relationship and bargaining power with both South Korea and Japan.
That would tip the balance towards US intervention.
Re: China Deploys Missiles on Disputed Island in South China Sea
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
The two thugs are not equivalent. And yes. I would have US govt. over Chinese govt. any day.
Right, US treats their own citizens marginally better, but they're pretty much equally thugish with their foreign affairs.
China has started detaining foreign citizens and making them give forced confessions on national TV:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/20/swedish-activis...
Can you imagine the United States doing this to a Swedish citizen?
Chinese lawyers specializing in human rights risk life in prison:
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/jan/14/chinas-pursuit-...
Can you imagine the United States prosecuting ACLU lawyers like this?
Re: China Deploys Missiles on Disputed Island in South China Sea
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm sorry, but isn't this just bigotry? Why is China a thug of a government?
non-elected dictatorship.
The members are elected from factions within the CPC. It's like having parties within a main party.
Also the CPC is open to anyone who wants to join (provided they are Chinese).
Not exactly western 'democracy' (multiple parties elected into power using republican means), but it is similar.
Not that the US is a true democracy either (more republic). The Swiss are the closest thing out there to a true democracy.
Its like a mix of democratic meritocracy.
I can appreciate readers seeing scorn in this, but I would advise studying the Chinese system in more detail before jumping to rash conclusions on what it is.
Re: China Deploys Missiles on Disputed Island in South China Sea
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
> corruption is everywhere, not just in China If the famous US corruption cases, like Flint, have taught me anything, it's that corruption in US is on much lower level than in countries like Russia or China, and people and media are much, much less tolerant to it. Basically, Flint scandal could never happen in Russia because no one would ever give a fuck.
Corruption in Russia and China are a matter of policy. They are bold-faced and completely open about it. Corruption certainly exists in the US, but it is much less overt and much less common. There is significant precedence in the US of politicians being caught in the act and prosecuted as a manner of policy, rather than the sacrificial examples in RU and CH where it is more about politics and/or making an example of…
> Corruption in Russia and China are a matter of policy. They are bold-faced and completely open about it.
From my personal experience, you're mistaken: the corruption is not a matter of policy. Rather, the policy is a matter of corruption.