Biden and China
Offline So, what do all of you make with these latest developments over that fly zone that Japan and China are grappling over ?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25196907
Biden: US 'deeply concerned' by China's air zone
he US remains "deeply concerned" about China's new air defence identification zone (ADIZ), Vice-President Joe Biden has told Japanese PM Shinzo Abe.
Following their meeting in Tokyo, Mr Biden said the zone increased the risk of accidents and miscalculations.
He called on China and Japan to improve communications to reduce the risk of escalations.
Mr Biden met Mr Abe on the first day of a six-day tour of East Asia, also taking in Beijing and Seoul.
The air zone row is likely to dominate the week of talks.
“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.”
― Giordano Bruno
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And here is more news on the matter this morning :
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25211032
Biden in China amid Asia tensions over air zone
Joe Biden should not repeat "erroneous remarks" on China's new air zone, Chinese state media warned, as the US vice-president arrived in Beijing.
Mr Biden is in Beijing for meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang.
His visit to Asia has been dominated by a row over China's newly-declared air zone, which covers islands controlled by Japan.
Mr Biden arrived from Tokyo, where he reaffirmed the US alliance with Japan.
Mr Biden attended an official welcome ceremony in Beijing's Great Hall of the People where he met China's Vice-President Li Yuanchao, and said China and the US should expand practical co-operation and deliver results.
“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.”
― Giordano Bruno
westerners have been putting their feet in their mouths when it comes to china pretty much since marco polo. chinese and chinese-influenced cultures are basically the polar opposites of ours in just about everything: language, writing system, worldview, thought life, family dynamics, social dynamics, religion...everything.
the only europeans who ever "got it" were francis xavier's jesuit missionaries who decided the best way to convince the imperial court of the truth of christianity was to learn mandarin, dress like mandarins, study the confucian classics, and learn the methods of confucian discourse and argument. a few of them were even appointed bona fide confucian scholars by the emperor.
yeah, once the vatican got wind of that, they shut that shit down real quick (remarkably quick for the middle ages), and sent new missionaries in to apply the good ol' methods that had worked so well in central and south america. the problem was, they weren't encountering a primitive people this time. you can imagine how things went: christianity was outlawed, a few people got boiled in soy sauce, the usual. and we've been swimming upstream ever since.
"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson
Japan is going to get stepped on.
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.
I was pondering your statement about Japan's vulnerability to China and I just briefly Googled the topic. To make a long story short, Japan is officially free of weaponized nukes. It does possess sufficient quantities of weapons grade uranium and of course has the technology to produce an ICBM. The article I scanned referred to it as "a screwdriver's turn" from manufacturing a weapon and that they could have it developed and ready to deliver within twelve months.
According to what I have read the saber rattling by China has already lowered political resistance within Japan regarding creating a nuclear response. Necessity is the mother of invention, so to speak.
Yes, there are 2 countries I know of who don't possess nukes yet could build them in a month or less. Japan is one and Canada is the other. But I don't think Japan could do it secretly. I think China would find out, and since China already has nukes, that wouldn't go very well for Japan. There's also significant political and economic struggles plaguing Japan, while China is surging forward in all ways, on all fronts, and nothing holding them back. It's not impossible that Japan could do something, but even with the US helping I would put all my money on China.
Enlightened Atheist, Gaming God.