Showing all posts tagged South Sea

In Cadence

Cadence of Conflict: Asia, September 13, 2021

Author SymphonyPosted on

The easiest solution to China’s escalating situation in the South Sea is to enforce China’s own formal statements at face value. China says they respect other countries and do not want to militarize the South Sea. Leave it at that. Any disrespect toward other countries is not at the behest of Xijinping. Any militarization of the South Sea is not at the behest of Xijinping. Therefore, it must be true that Xijinping would not oppose anyone who stops, prevents, and reverses disrespect toward a country or militarization in the South Sea.

The West spends too much time arguing “what people really think”. It is as if Western governments want to read China’s mind to determine China’s intentions, but not entirely say so. The current result is an monitored, yet unchecked, escalation of military tension. “China can’t do this,” the West says. “We don’t do this,” China responds.

China’s response is golden. The West looks like the aggressor, especially in the minds of the Chinese people who live, “under the spell of the system,” as the missing Whitney Duan’s husband says. The West would do best to agree, “then China didn’t do this.” And then, take immediate policing action. After all, China has categorically implied that the man-made islands and battle cruisers are not operating within China’s purview. But, the West just keeps trying to read minds to solve problems. Since reading minds never happens, problems just keep growing.

Now, the Olympics will see a massive China boycott. If the Chinese knew a thing or two, they’d see that without the China Olympics, there would be one less way to boycott China. But, that’s a little complicated for some minds. And, the West prides itself on reading minds, after all.

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In Cadence

Cadence of Conflict: Asia, May 3, 2021

Author SymphonyPosted on

Navies from across the globe are holding a slumber party in the East Pacific, namely the South Sea. British and other Europeans join the US, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, and of course China. Everyone says they want things to be calm and normal. But, the elephant in the slumber party living room is Taiwan. China maintains a policy of planning to take control either by hostile takeover or hostile invasion.

North Koreans aren’t happy with Biden. He says he will use the American-despised method called ‘diplomacy’. But, what diplomacy compares to the first president to meet with the Great Successor—twice? Biden and his team of wonderfuls are thrilled to be rid of divisive riff-raff like the first president to achieve diplomacy talks with North Korea head-to-head. Now that things are improving in America, we can get back to hostility as usual with the Korean peninsula.

If the other members of the East Pacific navy slumber party were serious about peace, they would freeze all Chinese assets until China renounced its Taiwan invasion policy and gave half of its navy to Taiwan as evidence. That won’t happen, but it just goes to prove that no one wants peace in the Pacific—they just want a navy slumber party. And, that’s what they’ve got. And, weapons manufacturers are thrilled.

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In Cadence

Cadence of Conflict: Asia, February 22, 2021

Author SymphonyPosted on

China is mixing its civilian population with military front lines. This new Sansha “City” probably should be called a province and not a “city”. Leave it to the Chinese and Taiwanese governments to garble province-level translation. It’s not anything the West considers a city. But, it was planted in the middle of international waters, is used as a basis for applying Chinese law in more places, is highly contested by neighbors like Vietnam, and has civilians.

At what point does a civilian population bear responsibility for the action of its government? Is it in supporting that government’s action? Is it in turning a blind eye to that government’s action, providing passive support? Is it in accepting one-sided gossip about other people they never met nor heard from? If so, all people across the world are guilty of every war.

China grew its power when Western consumers sent their jobs overseas to save pennies at the store. Western civilians built Sansha as much as Chinese civilians. When Sansha becomes a war zone, will there be such a thing as an “innocent civilian” anywhere in the world? All of us involve civilians in military matters; at least China is upfront about it.

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In Tempo

Cadence of Conflict: Asia, January 1, 2021

Author SymphonyPosted on

It’s happening. Biden is battening down on China. The Chinese still think they can push their diktat in the South Sea and the East Sea and the Taiwan Strait and the Indian Ocean. Rumors spread in America of China helping Biden steal the election. That won’t help China get the support of the American public. Quite opposite, as Americans turn on Biden, accusing him of his own diktat, he will feel the push to prove that he’s not afraid to hit China where it counts. So you see, China may have helped install the very president most likely to create the most trouble for China.

Evidence points that he’s already going there. While weapons deals halted toward the Saudis and the UAE, they are right on schedule for cute, adorable, cuddly, lovable Taiwan.

But, America is not Taiwan’s only friend. Nor, is Taiwan the only territory that doesn’t like China’s diktat. Vietnam, the Philippines, India, and Japan won’t ignore any Chinese aggression in their back yards. And, with the British all ready with their HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier group, they could sweep into a Chinese sea contest after everyone else is bloodied and give their own diktat.

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In Cadence

Cadence of Conflict: Asia, October 26, 2020

Author SymphonyPosted on

The flashpoint of Taiwan has become a pregnant possibility. Reportedly, a US military jet flew across Taiwan, and no one is fully certain over who claimed what and why. Taiwan’s government said something after the US government said something about the mission. Then the US government said that they weren’t saying what the mission was. So, the Taiwan government said that they weren’t saying what the US government wasn’t saying about what the US government said about why what happened happened. And, we’re not even sure what happened because the identifier tags could have been spoofed.

In the end, China fell for the bait as if on cue. The Chinese State-run Global Times then published a story sometimes written in the first-person stating that the US isn’t allowed to fly military operations over Taiwan and that China would send its military planes over Taiwan if the US did. The story went on to speculate that Taiwan didn’t have the unction—more or less—to fire the first shot at a Chinese plane in Taiwan sovereign airspace. That proves what China is really thinking about: pushing and pushing, trying to call Taiwan’s bluff, wondering who will fire the first shot—because China is hoping someone will fire the first shot.

After all the information China gave away about its intentions—after what seemed like a fluke between Washington and Taipei—don’t think for a second that said fluke was not a well-calculated fluke. The bigger takeaway is that China keeps falling for the bait while Washington learns to anticipate China enough to lead the Chinese Communist military right into its own defeat—and China shows the learning curve of a cat chasing a laser dot.

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In Cadence

Cadence of Conflict: Asia, October 19, 2020

Author SymphonyPosted on

The new global trend is hit pieces against China; even a Taiwanese rapper is on the bandwagon. China’s solution to lack of technology is to take over countries that have enough freedom to create technology, then deprive those countries of their freedom in order to get their technology. It’s clear China thinks innovation is a commodity rather than an indication of an already liberated people.

Taiwan doesn’t need liberated by China; it already has been liberated from China. While the Chinese think that intimidation has driven the Taiwanese into fear, it hasn’t. As Taiwanese carry on with life as usual, the word on the street has nothing to do with fear of invasion; the Taiwanese are simply waiting for the Chinese to ask to get their ass handed to them.

The Philippine government wants to drill for oil in the South Sea. China was supposed to do that in cooperation, an old promise that still hasn’t materialized. From Xinjiang, we learn that children of detained Uyghurs are being orphaned, and China is now sending them to Confucian brainwashing school. Perhaps that was China’s goal in detaining their parents; it certainly worked out that way.

The US is pursuing charges against Chinese espionage in America. China threatens to detain Americans in retaliation. But, that misses the whole point. If China knows about American spies in China, then China should have already taken action anyway. It makes a country look weak to not stop crime except in retaliation. Does China want to send the message that American spies can spy unchecked in China as long as America’s government doesn’t prosecute Chinese spies caught in America? The world wonders what China wants. Maybe China wants the world.

But, the world doesn’t want China’s low-tech industry, repulsive actions, controlling conduct, retaliatory justice, Confucian indoctrination, nor forced language. Nations and peoples of the world will use their ability to invent to overcome China’s low-tech weapons and easily-offended, easily-intimidated culture. Of course, the Chinese don’t know when they are out-teched, out-matched, out-willed, undesired, and surrounded. They already are, but they don’t know. The only ones who know are everyone else.

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