Abe’s landslide re-election in Japan, a US shield deployment in South Korea, and $2B USD pumping into Taiwan’s navy won’t exactly be sweet music to countries on the other side of the line. China isn’t in a position to make demands. Though, Beijing has denounced Hague’s coming trial often and loudly.
Beijing doesn’t know what and who they are dealing with. What is Washington’s motive for allowing China to continue to build islands? Why doesn’t Washington intervene if Washington objects? Bejing doesn’t seem to have considered the trend: America is outsourcing once again. These islands, “Made in China”, are the perfect place for the US to expand its naval presence.
Consider the scenario: Keep monitoring the construction under the guise of “intel gathering”. Once the islands are useful to the US, make the perfect “mistake” to provoke the bull. The bullfighter wins slowly, one cut at a time, three years later, all China’s man-made islands belong to the US at the “Chinese surrender”.
It’s not necessarily going to happen, but it could. And, for all arguments and responses coming from China, Beijing doesn’t seem to have considered that particular psychology of Washington, clearly available in the headlines of history.
China is angry. It’s always easy to tell when someone makes lightly veiled threats in the forms of “advice” or “caution”. These comments came from a Chinese diplomat, that pressure in the South China Sea could “rebound” like a “coiled spring”, depending on where it is “aimed” by the US.
In his analogy, he didn’t seem to elaborate on how an engineering culture explains US “aiming” (intention) having a direct effect on spring-coil physics. Usually, one aims with a sling, not a spring; and their is no pressure, only tension and sudden impact.
Chinese easily make grand contradictions in their implications when they don’t say most of what they think. This is part of the East-Asian “implication-driven” culture. The problem is that they rarely see the implications of making contradictory implications—the problem being that it is incredibly obvious to Westerners skilled in recognizing things at face-value.
Putting his conflicting analogy on the couch, this likely indicates he feels more frustration than his Asian culture tells him is appropriate to express. According to Reuters:
China has been particularly angered by what it sees as interference by the United States, whose military has carried out “freedom of navigation” patrols through the sea.
It is evermore clear what is happening: The US is patrolling the same waters, with sling in hand as always. Beijing feels “pressure” from the continuance of peaceful patrols. China behaves as if it knows something the US does not.
Between the fighter and the bull, we know who is in control. And we know who is angry and who is indifferent in the arena of Southeast Asia.
Kim Jong-Un just became Chairman of his political party, in addition to being the Great Successor of the DPRK. The party held a rare meeting, the first in 36 years, where he observed, or properly, “chaired”. There appear to be no reports of whether the meeting was a great success.
Taiwan’s soon-to-be-ousted, lame duck Education minister says that the controversial national high school curriculum—opposed for rewriting history as to murder and slaughter under the direction of KMT-Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-Sheck—says that the curriculum has no problems. He considers the curriculum to be part of his legacy. So it is.
Interesting things are happening in London. Events of the Atlantic will echo in the Pacific.
Last was definitely a week of over-reaching. Asian Communist leaders, like American second-place primary candidates, clearly don’t know when they are losing. They just keep going, no matter the dangers, no matter the doom.
China’s hardline is beyond hardline. This came out so clearly as an ambassador explained that there is no negotiation with China. Beijing truly sees itself as entitled to everything; any discussion serves to inform China of how to get it and to help others discover that the world is as much wrong as it is China’s birthright. So, when the US plans another sail-by, the US isn’t just wrong, it’s ignorant and needs to learn. Right.
North Korean sabre rattling is normal each spring, as are the US and UN responses. It always has a different flavor, year by year. The difference this particular time was that the same “beyond hardline” stance of Bejing also became annoyingly glaringly apparent from Pyongyang.
On Saturday, a North Korean patrol boat crossed into South Korea’s side of the “NLL” (Northern Limit Line), which North Korea rejects. The South fired warning shots and the “Nork” ship went home. The DPRK will not have the same cakewalk as Hitler had in France… at least not on the water.
Protesters from China didn’t exactly welcome Xi Jinping to the UK. A Tienanmen Square survivor’s UK home was searched and two computers seized by UK police. They even took his iPad and a USB stick!
Apple took 256 Chinese apps from their App Store for “secretly gathering personal info”. China’s Communist Party has taken away permission to join a golf club. China still wants to take Taiwan—it’s really important.
Speaking of Taiwan, the floundering KMT-Nationalist party found yet another different way to lose the upcoming election. If the party had realistic hopes of winning, they would take the hint from Southern voters, who support young Tainan Mayor Lai, whose greatest, and arguably only, achievement is to refuse bribe money. · · · →
Kim’s dismissal of top military leaders mirrors the downfalls of history. Top leaders are Kim’s strongest supporters. North Korea’s power could be imploding. “One Korea” could happen peacefully.
Japan prepares to make it’s military more deployable. The US gave the nod in recent months. Now, the Japanese government is ready to follow suit. Japan has maintained a “defense-only” military as a condition of the WWII surrender. Soon, Japan will be able to aid in regional conflict, such as with Korea or, say, Taiwan and Beijing.
China’s spotlight is more of a laser. Taiwanese officials take domestic flack over attending a Chinese V-Day celebration. The US isn’t happy about spying. China isn’t happy about reporting. Sanctions are on the way.
North Korea does it’s annual late summer saber-rattling while the US and South Korea run their annual pre-autumn laps on the peninsula. Everyone’s in an uproar and “this time” it could be dangerous—again. Back to school.
China’s market slows while it’s naval activity rises. Chinese business is no longer the talk of town, though banking is as Beijing goes liquid. 400 deep pockets lost $182B USD to China’s sinking tech.
Taiwan’s election season continues to heat up. In this week’s episode of old school v democracy, DPP Mayor William Lai threatened to close the KMT-Nationalist-controlled Taiwan Control Yuan if the Control Yuan tries to close him, but not Speaker Lee who was found guilty in a lower court of buying the votes that gave him his speakership. Apparently, the Control Yuan is not even a Constitutionally legal entity. China does is own gossip among Americans about the DPP. So, it’s clear how important the Taiwan 2016 election will be. · · · →
