Earlier quoted context omitted.
I’ll take that bet.
You should move to Nantucket island then, lots of prime real-estate there
The real estate in Nantucket is extremely expensive, how does this comment make sense?
UK will give sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius
71–80 of 296 posts
Re: UK will give sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius
#72I imagine whoever got the 99 year lease is feeling pretty pleased about it - that's basically forever as far as they can tell. On the other hand, I bet the UK in 1997 would have hoped for a longer lease on Hong Kong.
Sea level rise may mean that a 99 year lease is longer than the island will be habitable.
Erm, even if the coast is flooded, Mauritius is a big island with plenty of land well above sea level.
Re: UK will give sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius
#73Worth reading Kevin Murphy’s piece here:
https://domainincite.com/30395-future-of-io-domains-uncertai...
He’s a long time commentator on the domain industry and very inciteful. But also quite insightful.
Re: UK will give sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius
#74I'm a citizen of the Republic of Mauritius and, when this news was announced today, there was a general sense of relief. Mauritius has been fighting for its sovereignty over the Chagos Archipelago (with Diego Garcia being the largest island) for 56 years. Today, the Chagos Archipelago is part of Mauritius again and a treaty will (hopefully) soon be signed between the UK and Mauritius. From there, Mauritius will sign…
> From there, Mauritius will sign a lease agreement of 99 years with the USA so that the military base there can continue to operate. Seems to be a lease with the UK (which then 'sub-leases' to the US?): * https://www.reuters.com/world/britain-agrees-chagos-island-s... Curious to know if there will be extension provisions: people think 99 years is a long time (which isn't wrong), but Hong Kong went back to China afte…
Yeah, but Mauritius isn't China. If the UK had reneged on the Hong Kong lease, there were economic and military options for China to potentially enforce it.
A lot can happen in 99 years, but even assuming a serious decline in US economic/military might I don't see a scenario where Mauritius could successfully enforce the lease on its own.
Re: UK will give sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius
#75Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's easier to move a single military base at the end of a lease than an entire country
AFAIK, the US and UK value Diego Garcia because currently there aren't geographical alternatives for that base. Where else could they put it that would have the same benefits?
There are multiple islands and archipelagos in the region.
Close to Africa/ME: Maldives, Seychelles, Comoros, Mayotte
Close to SE Asia: Cocos and Christmas Island
Diego Garcia just happened to be forcibly depopulated by the British, so was a convenient choice.
Re: UK will give sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius
#76I imagine whoever got the 99 year lease is feeling pretty pleased about it - that's basically forever as far as they can tell. On the other hand, I bet the UK in 1997 would have hoped for a longer lease on Hong Kong.
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Re: UK will give sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius
#77Re: UK will give sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius
#78Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm assuming all this is contingent on a treaty vote in Parliament? I'm not familiar with how it works in the UK
Yes, of course Parliament will need to vote on this, but the Prime Minister of the UK has approved it and unlike in the US., in the UK votes are predominantly along party lines so it will pass.
Can I visit the world you're in, where votes in US Congress aren't predominantly along party lines?
Re: UK will give sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius
#79I imagine whoever got the 99 year lease is feeling pretty pleased about it - that's basically forever as far as they can tell. On the other hand, I bet the UK in 1997 would have hoped for a longer lease on Hong Kong.
Sea level rise may mean that a 99 year lease is longer than the island will be habitable.
Also decreased oil consumption as a result of renewable energy sources (decreasing the Middle East's importance) and climate change opening up northern shipping routes (decreasing the SE Asia - Suez Canal importance).
In 99 years, being able to exert influence in the region will likely be less important to global trade.
Re: UK will give sovereignty of Chagos Islands to Mauritius
#80Earlier quoted context omitted.
Probably not. In 1997 they were happy to court the $$ associated with opening up this huge new market of 1b+ "middle class" consumers. Id argue they still aren't sufficiently butthurt about it. The UK has sufficient grounds to reclaim HK since china has very much failed to uphold its agreement to keep hong kong democratic for at least 50 years. I guess that's why the CPC goes on gaslighting rants about "whole process…
I think China is increasingly driven by the ego of Xi Jinping and not the internal machinations of party politics.
He is 71 and getting older.
A lot of crazy things look more reasonable when you've had absolute power for a decade and aren't overly concerned about consequences in 20 years.