Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature currently requires accessing the site using the built-in Safari browser.
No, they really don't.
Wanna scare yourself into an early grave you go right ahead. Been through this before with Soviet fear-mongering. And when it's some religious whackjob who probably thinks it's the end-times, it's really more about that that anything real-world.
China is pushing men to share a woman.No one's talking about war. Buncha women this thread.
Not paying attention to the news? The administration has been talking about more ground troops in Iraq to deal with Syria.
China may be sabre rattling but considering the excessive male population they have there I wouldn't be at all surprised I'd they started wars just to keep them from rebelling.
You are spot on with your analysis, and the only one talking sense in this thread. Why christians all want death and destruction I will never understand. Just to fulfill some prophesy that was actually meant for their (ancient) time not ours. Nobody is evil people, all it is, is a clash of cultures.China and the US are no more going to start shooting at each other than the US v USSR were gonna. China's reasonable and atheistic like the Soviets were. So for them there's no glorious death for God incentivizing them to do something really dumb.
Plus we owe them rather a lot of money. Start a war and we might just say 'GFY we owe you nothing.'
You are spot on with your analysis, and the only one talking sense in this thread. Why christians all want death and destruction I will never understand. Just to fulfill some prophesy that was actually meant for their (ancient) time not ours. Nobody is evil people, all it is, is a clash of cultures.
, As a Christian I don't want death and destruction but the Book of Revelation (in the Bible) does mention a 200,000,000 person army.
"Closer to Armageddon?"
No, just more ridiculous religious demagoguery.
Admiral John Richardson, the U.S. chief of naval operations, and his Chinese counterpart Admiral Wu Shengli will participate in the talks. The two countries have previously held two other video teleconferences. According to the U.S.-based news website Defense News, a U.S. official said the call on Thursday was not scheduled but the two navies agreed to hold the teleconference “in light of current events.”
Earlier this week, Washington took its biggest step to date to challenge China's claims in the South China Sea, sailing a U.S. navy warship within a 12 nautical mile zone of man made islands in the hotly disputed waters. Beijing, which claims most of the South China Sea as its own, responded angrily calling the trip a “deliberate provocation” and filing a formal protest to the U.S. Ambassador in Beijing.
Chinese defense officials have warned that further forays into territory that it claims as its own may “trigger eventualities.”
Speaking at a regular press briefing on Thursday, Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun commented on the teleconference call and said that China would raise its “solemn position regarding the U.S. vessels entry without permission.” Yang also urged Washington to not continue to go down what he called the wrong path. “If they do, we will take all necessary measures in accordance with the need," he said.
Online reaction[/url]
In a legal defeat for China, the Hague-based tribunal rejected Beijing's claim that the disputes were about its territorial sovereignty and said additional hearings would be held to decide the merits of the Philippines' arguments. China has boycotted the proceedings and rejects the court's authority in the case. Beijing claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, dismissing claims to parts of it from Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei. The tribunal found it has authority to hear seven of Manila's submissions under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and China's decision not to participate did "not deprive the tribunal of jurisdiction".
The United States, a treaty ally of the Philippines that this week challenged Beijing's pursuit of territorial claims by sailing close to artificial islands China has constructed in the South China Sea, welcomed the decision, according to a senior U.S. defense official. "This demonstrates the relevance of international law to the territorial conflicts in the South China Sea," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The official added: "It demonstrates that sovereign claims are not necessarily indisputable and it shows that judging issues like this on the basis of international law and international practice are a viable way of, at a minimum, managing territorial conflicts if not resolving them."
State Department spokesman John Kirby told a regular news briefing that in accordance with the terms of UNCLOS, the decision of the tribunal would be legally binding on both the Philippines and China. John McCain, chairman of the U.S. Senate's armed services committee, hailed the Hague ruling. "Today's ruling is an important step forward in upholding international law against China's attempts to assert vast and, in my view, questionable claims in the South China Sea," he said. McCain said Washington should continue to support partner countries and allies such as the Philippines in the face of China's assertiveness, including through routine freedom-of-navigation patrols like the one that angered Beijing this week.
MORE
On Tuesday, a U.S. warship sailed within 12 nautical miles of one of Beijing's man-made islands in the contested Spratly archipelago, triggering a sharp reaction from China. "The U.S. are exercising their freedom of navigation," a senior EU official said at a briefing, chiming with the U.S. line. A U.S. Navy spokesman had said that the patrol was part of the U.S. freedom of navigation operations meant to "protect the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea and airspace guaranteed to all nations under international law".
USS Lassen (DDG 82), (R) transits in formation with ROKS Sokcho (PCC 778) during exercise Foal Eagle 2015, in waters east of the Korean Peninsula
The EU is concerned about Beijing's plans to build new islands in contested waters, the EU official said, a statement that may be welcomed by other Asian nations opposing China's claims to almost the entire South China Sea. Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei contest China's sovereignty over parts of one of the world's busiest sea lanes. "Whilst not taking a position on claims, the EU is committed to a maritime order based upon the principles of international law, in particular as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the law of the Sea (UNCLOS)," an EU foreign affairs spokesman said in a statement.
The EU has been nursing relations with Beijing, hoping to attract Chinese funds to relaunch the bloc's sluggish economy and has been negotiating a bilateral investment and trade deal. In defiance of Washington, EU governments have also decided to join the Chinese-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). European and Asian foreign affairs ministers gather in Luxembourg next week for ASEM, a regular event that brings together all 28 EU countries and 21 Asian nations, including China, Vietnam and the Philippines.
European Union sides with United States on South China Sea incident
China’s naval commander told his US counterpart that a minor incident could spark war in the South China Sea if the US did not stop its “provocative acts” in the disputed waterway, the Chinese navy said yesterday. Admiral Wu Shengli made the comments to US chief of naval operations Admiral John Richardson during a video teleconference on Thursday, according to a Chinese naval statement. The two officers held talks after a US warship sailed within 12 nautical miles (22.2km) of one of Beijing’s artificial islands in the contested Spratly archipelago (Nansha Islands) on Tuesday.
China has rebuked Washington over the patrol, the most significant US challenge yet to territorial limits China effectively claims around its seven artificial islands in one of the world’s busiest sea lanes. “If the United States continues with these kinds of dangerous, provocative acts, there could well be a seriously pressing situation between frontline forces from both sides on the sea and in the air, or even a minor incident that sparks war,” the statement paraphrased Wu as saying. “ hope the US side cherishes the good situation between the Chinese and US navies that has not come easily and avoids these kinds of incidents from happening again,” Wu said. Speaking earlier, a US official said the naval chiefs agreed to maintain dialogue and follow protocols to avoid clashes.
Scheduled port visits by US and Chinese ships and planned visits to China by senior US Navy officers remained on track, the official said. “None of that is in jeopardy. Nothing has been canceled,” the official said. Both officers agreed on the need to stick to protocols established under the Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea (CUES). “They agreed that it’s very important that both sides continue to use the protocols under the CUES agreement when they’re operating close to keep the chances for misunderstanding and any kind of provocation from occurring,” the US official said. Indeed, Wu said he believed the Chinese and US navies had plenty of scope for cooperation and should both “play a positive role in maintaining peace and stability in the South China Sea.”
A US Navy spokesman said Washington’s position that US freedom of navigation operations were meant to “protect the rights, freedoms, and lawful uses of the sea and airspace guaranteed to all nations under international law.” Chinese warships followed the USS Lassen, a guided-missile destroyer, as it moved through the Spratlys on Tuesday. The US Navy is operating in a maritime domain bristling with Chinese ships. While the US Navy is expected to keep its technological edge in Asia for decades, China’s potential trump card is sheer weight of numbers, with dozens of naval and coastguard vessels routinely deployed in the South China Sea, security experts say. China has overlapping claims with Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei in the South China Sea.
Minor incident could spark war: China - Taipei Times
This is what Armageddon looks like:
