Not even a week in power

[Wyrt]

To be fair, the Chinese island building is bullshit. The US should a) give every country, whose already established sea borders are being invaded by Chinese claims political and military backing b) work on international agreements that the world will sanction the Chinese if they try to block access to trade routes with their Realpolitik.

You can always escalate it if the Chinese try to block international trade routes. They are not there (yet).

The UN already made a ruling on them and that the islands can't be used to claim Chinese waters.

[Cyberowl]

The UN already made a ruling on them and that the islands can't be used to claim Chinese waters.

And everyone knows nobody cares about what the UN says unless countries put their money where their mouth is.

[Wyrt]

And everyone knows nobody cares about what the UN says unless countries put their money where their mouth is.

Then why do people care so much about international waters? It's the UN that declared them as such.

[Draco-Onis]

China is a bully that need to be taught a lesson from someone powerful. I can't stand China and it's politicians. I fear that country way more then some IS cockroach group.
When has China done something good?

Lift billions from poverty

Invested in Africa when no one would turning a lot of their countries around

Lifted the world's economy when the US was tanking

I am just baffled by conservatives who hate China but think Russia is somehow better, China's not perfect but it is an economic machine that we can get a lot from, Russia is a fading power. If we want to think strategically we should focus on being friendnemies with the people who have money not the one who is broke.

[Cyberowl]

Then why do people care so much about international waters? It's the UN that declared them as such.

If they block trade routes it is like the grown up version of the "Give me your money or I take your sandwich" middle school bully.

[Wyrt]

Lift billions from poverty

Invested in Africa when no one would turning a lot of their countries around

Lifted the world's economy when the US was tanking

I am just baffled by conservatives who hate China but think Russia is somehow better, China's not perfect but it is an economic machine that we can get a lot from, Russia is a fading power. If we want to think strategically we should focus on being friendnemies with the people who have money not the one who is broke.

They're also investing in Nicaragua and building another pacific/atlantic canal there.

China has very, very questionable policies regarding their prisoners though.

- - - Updated - - -

If they block trade routes it is like the grown up version of the "Give me your money or I take your sandwich" middle school bully.

They aren't blocking trade routes.

[Azadina]

They're also investing in Nicaragua and building another pacific/atlantic canal there.

China has very, very questionable policies regarding human rights though.

Fixed it for you There's not a whole lot one can do about it however. Russia is big on those too, and same thing; not much anyone can do.

[Cyberowl]

They aren't blocking trade routes.

IF, dude, IF. Do you think the Chinese love shipping sand to the middle of nowhere for the sake of it? They have a long term plan, probably involving territorial disputes with neighboring countries for resources and Realpolitik.

[kamuimac]

And trump is hard at work trying to start a war over those artificial islands China made.



Wee mention of economic measures to stop them building islands, but lets be honest , trump has already said he will hurt them economically so it's hardly a deterrent

Source: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/u-says-pre...213213672.html

ye and i bet all those who voted for him will be delighted when prices in stores suddenly jump by 50-100% and the will realise that they are much poorer then before they voted for him

karma is a bitch

[Deleted]

Funny considering China isn't the one that invaded Iraq on false pretenses and massively destabilized the region.

If Palestine is anti-peace then so is Israel.

I said Trump is pro-peace, I NEVER said that the previous presidents were.

Also, please don't play Jew-hater. Israel always wanted only peace; it is not our fault we keep being attacked and have to defend ourself.

[Mayhem]

I said Trump is pro-peace

Is that why he´s hinting at another iraq invasion?

[Draco-Onis]

I said Trump is pro-peace.

Wants war with China
Wants a nuclear arms race
Wants a trade war with Mexico
Wants war with the middle east again
At war with the press

if you call that pro-peace, what do you call pro-war?

[Fojos]

who even gives a shit about a few spites of land? god damn what a bunch of dick waggling.

What do you mean who gives a shit? Everyone should give a shit when a nation completely ignores international laws..

[Caifas]

This is literally what the Navy is built for. An intimidating, all powerful global force that forces everywhere to play nice/follow the law. We cannot allow China to militarize and take over a trade zone with millions of dollars.

China is not going to go to war with the United States over this. Why? Because the Chinese navy would get obliterated by our Navy. The navy is determent to this kind of shit. If we don't use it, we are simply appeasing the Chinese. And if we do that, one day, they're going to cross a red line and we will most certainly go to war. The difference is China would be much more powerful in that war if we allowed them to get away with this shit.



Inaction is the absolute worst thing to do in this situation.

The only thing I find really interesting about this mindset, as a non-American, is that you believe that China is wrong for spreading their area of influence on neutral waters when you believe your country's navy has the right to enforce whatever you call "playing nice" and "following the law" on foreign, sovereing nations.

China is wrong, but it aint doing anything that the US hasn't been doing for a long time. It is not the US's place to fix this situation. For me, it looks less like the US is worried about China's wrongdoings, and more like it is worried that China is taking a bite out of its cake.

[Allybeboba]

More fake news and sabre rattling...

Hard to believe you people actually really fall for this fake news.

>"United States should stick to its own and not be involved in the conflicts of other countries like Russia or the EU"
>"We need to stick it to China as hard and fast as possible, even if it means war!"

Oh Trump supporters. How will they mentally rectify this one?

OH! the Snowflake tears must flow...

[Draco-Onis]

Aside from the principles at play, including violations of international law, the South China Sea is a remarkably important stretch of sea. It's a vital shipping lane which hosts 10% of the worlds supply of fish. A significant Chinese militarisation of the stretch provides China with greater hard and soft power, both regionally and globally. The region could serve as a spring board for Chinese aggression.

The race is on to contain Chinese ambitions in the region. Indonesia along with Japan are seen as key players in this race, as are the British. The British will be deploying one of it's two new aircraft carriers to the region within the next couple of years, with a full escort group, to assist with the American suppression of Chinese power.

That Russia is cosying-up to Indonesia is also concerning news.

The UK will be too engulfed by Brexit to concern itself with international affairs, China's version of TPP will force the entire region to play nice with them. The US is staying out of all this and just gave the middle finger to Indonesia and Japan by pulling out of TPP and now wants to renegotiate NAFTA (who wants to make trade deals with people who can't keep their word). I think this is what we call check mate, the Trump presidency is Christmas, birthday and new year all rolled into one for the Chinese.

[Sanguiris]

Yet nothing is being done with israel and the illegal settlements or russian taking over parts of ukraine! Interresting.

[schwarzkopf]

They aren't,

They are ... that's what the treaty means.... jeez. Be rational.

[Deleted]

who even gives a shit about a few spites of land? god damn what a bunch of dick waggling.

Some people said the same thing about the Sudetenland.

[Macaquerie]

Wrong on several counts: Brexit, while resource consuming, is unlikely to have a negative impact on British military capability, either regionally or globally. Indeed in the long run one could see a strengthening of hard power. Moreover, it's because the UK will leave the EU that it will have to look further abroad that it may have to return to a more active role in helping to guarantee international security. It will, after all, be more dependent on trade from further abroad.

Secondly, China's hard and soft power, while considerable, does not match American power. While it's true Trump has signaled the end for all or nearly all multilateral trade deals, his team has spoken in favour of bilateral deals. These could be used as sweetheart deals to keep certain strategically important players onside.

Not to mention that there's more to international diplomacy than mere trade.

The problem with bilateral treaties is that they aren't worth the paper they're printed on, since either side could simply breach the agreement at any time and there wouldn't be anything the other country could do about it because there isn't a third party they could appeal to enforce compliance. In fact, this is sort of the point, and this was exploited time and time again by European powers to swindle natives out of land and resources in return for promises they had no intention of ever keeping. This exploitation is largely the reason we have done away with the great power diplomacy of years past and moved toward a more rules based international order.