PRC acting like a dick to Vietnam, Philippines

[dead0man]

Meanwhile, the Filipino Air Force is getting new jets (granted, they have been planning this for some time and still won't have much of an air force anyway).  There have been anti-PRC protests in Vietnam for over a month.  And most recently, Filipino officials ban Chinese diplomat over dickish behaviour.

The map

[The Ex-Factor]

I have been living in Ho Chi Minh City for a month and the entire downtown area has been closed down on Sunday mornings due to the protests.

Anti-Chinese sentiment is quite strong and I have been treated to a few diatribes about the history of Vietnamese control over the Spratlys and Paracels before Chinese imperial conquest and historical revisionism. Lot of questions about why America hasn't gotten more involved in the dispute.

[Хahar 🤔]

Anything but whitey!

White people are so oppressed

[The Mikado]

Lot of questions about why America hasn't gotten more involved in the dispute.

Surely the Vietnamese know that if the US was to get involved in the Spratlys dispute (which it won't), it would favor the Filipino claim, not theirs?

[dead0man]

Lot of questions about why America hasn't gotten more involved in the dispute.

Surely the Vietnamese know that if the US was to get involved in the Spratlys dispute (which it won't), it would favor the Filipino claim, not theirs?

I'm pretty sure those two parties can get together and figure something out since neither of them is acting the dick to the other.  And the US certainly will get involved if the PRC crosses a certain level of dickishness.

[Beet]

Edward Said would have a heart attack at the way this thread's gone.  Everything's there: the "essential unchanging" Chinese

The Chinese see themselves as essential and unchanging in many respects.

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The Chinese themselves use premodern history to think about strategy and politics.

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The Chinese see China as a single, continuous entity, and it is more true than it is for most other nations.

Right now the Indian and Chinese economies are somewhat complementary but as India moves into manufacturing and China moves into services that may become less so in the future. There will be more trade and growth, however. And economic competition won't necessarily translate into political confrontation. Both sides know there is too much to lose from a confrontation.

The one complicating factor is Pakistan. Everyone is worried about Pakistan becoming a failed state. I wonder if China would ever allow itself to get dragged into a conflict over Pakistan.

[2952-0-0]

I have been living in Ho Chi Minh City for a month and the entire downtown area has been closed down on Sunday mornings due to the protests.

Anti-Chinese sentiment is quite strong and I have been treated to a few diatribes about the history of Vietnamese control over the Spratlys and Paracels before Chinese imperial conquest and historical revisionism. Lot of questions about why America hasn't gotten more involved in the dispute.

Vietnam, and to a lesser and different extent China, are experiencing various economic and social problems. In those circumstances dictatorships are bound to engage in cynical flag-waving to distract the population. But many dictatorships have been overthrown after such flag-waving goes wrong and the political elite obviously have to think of this as well.

[Frodo]

I hope they keep it up -we just might get our bases back on Luzon. 

[2952-0-0]

I hope they keep it up -we just might get our bases back on Luzon. 

...if Uncle Sam has not already experienced a Greek-style crisis where decades of bloated spending come home to roost.

[Hotblack Desiato]

Lot of questions about why America hasn't gotten more involved in the dispute.

The chinese own half our national debt.

[dead0man]

Lot of questions about why America hasn't gotten more involved in the dispute.

The chinese own half our national debt.

False...they own a quarter of the foreign held debt....and the foreign held debt makes up less than half of the total...so they hold about 13% of the total.  cite


Meanwhile.....US, Japan and the Aussies hold joint exercise in the South China Sea.

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