China - US Tension in S. China Sea

[Rangiroo]

And what do you think the US would do if the Chinese were trawling all sorts of sonar gear 150 miles off the Chesapeake????....gimmee a break....go the chinese!!!!

[GeoPowers]

Originally Posted by Alexei

Dude. What planet are you living on?


Sheesh.

I hear ya, but in danger of incorrectly speaking on another's behalf...I'm guessing Ram's reffering to the early western expansion of the U.S., in which he'd be pretty accurate.

For Rangiroo, the U.S. adheres to international law and certainly does not send pseudo-fishing vessels to do their dirty work. Will the U.S. project power in effort to make their displeasure known? Hopefully, 'cause I'm rooting for my "home team".

GeoPowers

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by Rangiroo

And what do you think the US would do if the Chinese were trawling all sorts of sonar gear 150 miles off the Chesapeake????....gimmee a break....go the chinese!!!!

In hope this does not turn into another off topic p*@@ing match. Let us not forget the Chinese human rights record. Unless you are saying go Chinese to the students of Tiananmen Square.

[TaoJones]

Originally Posted by starfish62

I don't understand the motivation here. Anyone in that part of the world with any insight on this confrontation? (And I understand that "unarmed U.S. Navy ocean surveillance ship" means electronic surveillance spyboat, but still!)

U.S. says Chinese vessels harassed Navy ship | Politics | Reuters

Do you remember when Joe Biden spoke out during the campaign and said that the next American administration would be tested early? That, IMO, is what this incident is all about. The Chinese did the same thing early in the Bush administration, as you'll recall, only that incident involved planes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hainan_Island_incident

These cat-and-mouse games go on all the time between the superpowers and, yes, we often intentionally provoke a response. During the Cold War, the US and its allies often probed the Soviet defenses to see what they would do. Many believe that the Korean airliner KAL 007 did not inadvertantly stray off the Great Circle route from Alaska to Seoul, but intentionally selected a vector that would take it into Soviet airspace over Sakhalin Island. The supposition was that the Soviet response could be ascertained, but that they would not do anything more severe than escort the airliner out of Soviet airspace.

When their fighter pilot instead fired air-to-air missiles into the passenger jet, leading to its catastrophic crash and the loss of all 246 passengers and 23 crew, it became an international incident. The Soviets evidently reacted more severely than usual because they were tired of the provocations, or it could just have been the over-reaction of a single fighter pilot, but it is thought that the West ceased using non-combatants in the confrontation with the Soviets thereafter, while the Soviets made themselves look foolish by initially denying any knowledge of the downing of the airliner.

The difference today is that the eyeball-to-eyeball stare-downs are no longer with the Soviets (or, more accurately, the Russians now).

TaoJones

[cat man do]

Originally Posted by Celestialsailor

In hope this does not turn into another off topic p*@@ing match. Let us not forget the Chinese human rights record. Unless you are saying go Chinese to the students of Tiananmen Square.

He says bringing up Tianamen Square, human rights and posting a picture

Dave

[meyermm]

It is always different when it is the USA - I remember Soviet missiles in Cuba and how the US reacted, nearly world war 3 - the most recent was wanting to position missiles in Europe near Russia, Russia was supposed to grin and be happy.

[Hud3]

Hey guys, this thread is waaaaaay off the subject of boating and cruising. I'm going to put the lock on it. Sorry...