CDZ Is China really aggressive?

[waltky]

Granny says dey need some regime change in China...

US group warns of ‘storm’ to hit South China Sea
Sun, Oct 04, 2015 - CHINESE PERCEPTION: Heritage Foundation fellow Dean Cheng said inaction by the US over Chinese island-building could cause Beijing to see it as weak

There is a military storm brewing in the South China Sea and it will involve Taiwan, a US national defense and strategic planning consultancy on Friday told a Washington conference. “China is maneuvering and building up its military forces with clear intent,” Global Strategies and Transformation president Paul Giarra said. Giarra told the Heritage Foundation think tank that Beijing had convinced the US not to consider the nation in the context of geography or military operations. “We are thinking of Taiwan as a political problem that we want to go away,” he said at the conference, titled “Taiwan in the South China Sea.” “The Chinese have convinced us that in order to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, all we have to do is keep Taiwan quiet,” Giarra said. “The trouble is, the situation in the Taiwan Strait is neither peaceful nor stable,” he said. “Taiwan, in its most appropriate military operational perspective, is a key geostrategic bastion and this is what the Chinese don’t want us to think about.”

Giarra said that China wants to minimize the Taiwan issue and Washington to think of the nation as nothing but a distraction. However, in geostrategic and military operational terms, securing Taiwan would be a great advantage, he said. “By virtue of its location, Taiwan challenges the People’s Republic of China’s control of its broad ocean approaches,” Giarra said. He said this “compelling” geostrategic reality had been lost in the propaganda, psychological and political warfare going on between China and the rest of the world. “Either Taiwan is going to be on our side and an advantage for us or in the blink of an eye political change could make Taiwan an advantage for China,” he said. China is building up its air, naval and missile forces to take control of the South China Sea, he added. “They are trying to convince us that if we will only go along, we will all get rich and it will all be peaceful,” he said.

Heritage Foundation senior research fellow Dean Cheng said the “first island chain” is a barrier to China in the hands of adversaries, but would be a shield if most of it was controlled by Beijing. “What we do in the South China Sea will effect how Beijing sees us and what China is doing there should affect how we perceive them,” Cheng said. He said that with the US having not gone within 12 nautical miles (22.2km) of artificial islands being developed by China and having not exerted its sphere of influence, Beijing would interpret the inaction as weakness. “If China believes it can intimidate neighbors or the United States [over] the South China Sea [issue], it has implications for Taiwan,” Cheng said.

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See also:

China warns US on S China Sea
Sun, Oct 11, 2015 - PATROLS: Washington says it does not recognize Beijing’s sovereignty over several islands and that the US Navy will continue to operate where international law allows

China on Friday said it would not stand for violations of its territorial waters in the name of freedom of navigation, as the US considers sailing warships close to China’s artificial islands in the South China Sea. A US defense official on Thursday said that the US was considering sending ships to waters inside the 12 nautical mile (22km) zones that China claims as territory around islands it has built in the Spratly Islands (Nansha Islands, 南沙群島). Western media reports quoted US officials as saying the action could take place within a matter of days, but awaited a decision by US President Barack Obama.

The commander of US forces in the Pacific, Admiral Harry Harris, on Friday declined to say whether the US would carry out the plan, but he made clear it was an option he had presented to Obama and said the US must carry out freedom of navigation patrols throughout the Asia-Pacific region. “I simply won’t discuss future operations,” Harris told a Washington seminar. “With regards to whether we are going to sail within 12 miles, or fly within 12 miles, of any of the reclaimed islands that China has built in the South China Sea, I will reserve that for later.”

Earlier on Friday, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying warned against any such patrols. “We will never allow any country to violate China’s territorial waters and airspace in the Spratly Islands, in the name of protecting freedom of navigation and overflight,” Hua told a regular news briefing. “We urge the related parties not to take any provocative actions, and genuinely take a responsible stance on regional peace and stability.” China claims most of the South China Sea, where Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Brunei have overlapping claims. Washington has signaled it does not recognize Beijing’s sovereignty over the several islands China has built on reefs in the Spratly Islands and says the US Navy will continue to operate wherever international law allows.

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[waltky]

Vietnam objects to Chinese lighthouses...

Vietnam slams China over construction of lighthouses in South China Sea
Oct 14, 2015: Vietnam on Wednesday slammed China over its construction of two lighthouses in the disputed South China Sea, saying the move violates Vietnam's sovereignty and escalates tensions.

Chinese state media reported last week that a completion ceremony was held for the lighthouses on Cuateron Reef and Johnson South Reef in the Spratly islands.

The state-run Vietnam News Agency quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Le Hai Binh as saying the construction ``seriously violates Vietnam's sovereignty ... complicates the situation and escalates tensions.'' He said Vietnam will protest China's actions.

Xinhua says the lighthouses will help improve navigation in the area. China has launched a massive land reclamation project on reefs in the South China Sea over the last 18 months, raising concerns in the region and in the United States.

Vietnam slams China over construction of lighthouses in South China Sea - The Times of India

See also:

China completes construction of lighthouses in disputed South China Sea
Sat Oct 10, 2015 - China has completed the construction of two lighthouses in the disputed South China Sea, the official Xinhua news agency reported, as tensions in the region mount over Beijing's maritime ambitions.

A completion ceremony was held for the lighthouses on Cuateron Reef and Johnson South Reef in the Spratly islands, Xinhua said late on Friday. The United States and the Philippines have opposed the construction. China claims most of the energy-rich South China Sea, through which $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year, and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have overlapping claims.

Chinese dredging vessels are purportedly seen in the waters around Mischief Reef in the disputed Spratly Islands in this still image from video taken by a P-8A Poseidon surveillance aircraft provided by the United States Navy​

China said on Friday it would not stand for violations of its territorial waters in the name of freedom of navigation, as the United States considers sailing warships to waters inside the 12-nautical-mile zones around islands it has built in the Spratly chain. Washington has signaled it does not recognize Beijing's sovereignty over the several islands China has built on reefs in the Spratly archipelago and says the U.S. navy will continue to operate wherever international law allows.

The issue is central to increasingly tense relations between the United States and China, the world's two largest economies. Beijing has said construction in the region is to help maritime search and rescue, disaster relief, environmental protection and navigational security. It has also said it will continue to build other installations to better serve countries in the region and vessels navigating those waters.

China completes construction of lighthouses in disputed South China Sea

Related:

US, Australia Rebuff China Over South China Sea
October 14, 2015: In a rebuff to China, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Tuesday that the United States military would sail and fly wherever international law allowed, including the disputed South China Sea.

Carter spoke after a two-day meeting between U.S. and Australian foreign and defense ministers at which the long-time allies agreed to expand defense cooperation and expressed "strong concerns" over Beijing's building on disputed islands. "Make no mistake, the United States will fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows, as we do around the world, and the South China Sea will not be an exception," Carter told a joint news conference. "We will do that in the time and places of our choosing," Carter added. He had been asked about reports that the United States had already decided to conduct freedom-of-navigation operations inside 12 nautical mile limits that China claims around islands built on reefs in the Spratly archipelago.

The Boston meeting brought together Carter, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Australian Defense Minister Marise Payne for regular talks between the two countries. A joint statement said they "expressed strong concerns over recent Chinese land reclamation and construction activity in the South China Sea. It called on "all claimant states to halt land reclamation, construction, and militarization." Bishop welcomed a statement by Chinese President Xi Jinping last month that China did not intend to militarize the islands and said she hoped Beijing would stick to the commitment. China claims most of the South China Sea and last week its foreign ministry warned that Beijing would not stand for violations of its territorial waters in the name of freedom of navigation.

Some analysts in Washington believe the decision has been taken and the patrols could take place later this week or next. "You know, doing the 12 nautical mile challenge is one among a variety of options that we're considering," a U.S. official said. "We're waiting for an interagency decision that includes the White House." The United States says that under international law building up artificial islands on previously submerged reefs does not entitle a country to claim a territorial limit and that it is vital to maintain freedom of navigation in a sea through which more than $5 trillion of world trade passes every year.

US, Australia Rebuff China Over South China Sea

 

[Brian_1349]

I don't think so

 

[eagle1462010]

 

[waltky]

China antagonizin' Vietnam...

Vietnam accuses China of sinking fishing boat
Oct 15,`15 -- Vietnam on Thursday accused China of sinking one of its fishing boats near disputed islands in the South China Sea, in the latest incident that could further raise tensions between the Communist neighbors.

Phan Huy Hoang, an official in central Quang Ngai province where the fishermen came from, said a Chinese vessel slammed into the fishing boat with 10 fishermen on board near the Paracels islands on Sept. 29 and sank it. The fishermen were rescued by another Vietnamese fishing boat and the case was reported to authorities when the fishermen returned home two days ago. "Chinese actions against fishermen from Quang Ngai province have been more aggressive and brutal," Hoang said by telephone from Quang Ngai. More than 20 Vietnamese fishing boats have been attacked by Chinese vessels this year including the sinking of a fishing trawler in July, he said, adding a formal protest will be made to China.

Dang Dung, the captain of the boat, said he and nine crew members were sleeping after a night of fishing when the Chinese vessel slammed the side of their boat and then five Chinese men jumped onto their boat. Dung said by telephone from Quang Ngai that the men were armed with knives and took away the boat's navigation devices, fishing equipment and their catch. He said his leaking boat sank about 12 hours later, and the crew then spent four hours floating with life vests in the water before being rescued by another Vietnamese fishing boat.

Vietnam and China both claim the Paracels islands, which were occupied by China after ousting the U.S.-backed South Vietnamese navy in 1974, one year before the end of the Vietnam War. The two countries along with the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also claim parts or all the Spratlys islands in the South China Sea, an area which occupies a busy international sea lane and is rich in oil and gas and fish resources.

News from The Associated Press

 

[waltky]

China loses So. China Sea dispute...

U.S. urges all countries to adhere to South China Sea ruling
July 12, 2016 | WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States said on Tuesday that an arbitration court ruling that China has no historic title over the waters of the South China Sea should be treated as final and binding and not as a reason to raise tensions.

"We certainly would urge all parties not to use this as an opportunity to engage in escalatory or provocative action," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters in a briefing aboard Air Force One. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague announced its ruling on Tuesday that there was no legal basis for China to claim historic rights to resources within much of the South China Sea, which has been subject to territorial disputes by several countries. China, which boycotted the hearings at the court, vowed again to ignore the ruling and said its armed forces would defend its sovereignty and maritime interests.

Earlier, U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby termed the court's decision "an important contribution to the shared goal of a peaceful resolution to disputes in the South China Sea." "The United States expresses its hope and expectation that both parties will comply with their obligations," Kirby said. China claims most of the energy-rich waters through which about $5 trillion in shipping trade passes every year. Neighbors Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims.

Daniel Kritenbrink, U.S. President Barack Obama's top Asia policy advisor, said that Washington had "no need or interest in stirring tension in the South China Sea" as a pretext for involvement in the region. Kritenbrink, who is the senior director for Asia affairs at the National Security Council, made clear that Washington did not fear China's rise, "nor do we seek to use the South China Sea to thwart it". "... we will not turn a blind eye to this important waterway in return for cooperation elsewhere in the world," he added.

U.S. Senator John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and fellow Republican Dan Sullivan issued a statement encouraging other claimants, including Vietnam, to seek similar resolution of maritime disputes through arbitration and negotiation. "China faces a choice: China can choose to be guided by international law, institutions, and norms. Or it can choose to reject them and pursue the path of intimidation and coercion," they said. The senators said the United States should be "regularly challenging China’s excessive maritime claims" through air and warship patrols and make clear the U.S. interest in preventing Chinese militarization of strategic features such as Scarborough Shoal.

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[waltky]

China don't like it...

South China Sea: China defiant as tribunal backs Philippines
Tue, 12 Jul 2016 - China is defiant after an international tribunal rejects its claims to parts of the South China Sea, but pledges to resolve tensions with neighbours.

China has firmly rejected an international tribunal ruling that its claims to rights in the South China Sea have no legal basis. President Xi Jinping said China's "territorial sovereignty and marine rights" in the seas would not be affected by the ruling "in any way". But he insisted China was still "committed to resolving disputes" with its neighbours. The Philippines brought the case to the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

Aerial photo of a Chinese vessel at Johnson Reef, Spratly Islands​

The tribunal, based in the Hague, ruled that there was no evidence that China had historic rights to the waters or resources that fell within its "nine-dash line", and was violating the Philippine's sovereign rights with its operations there. The ruling was made by an arbitration tribunal under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which both countries have signed. It is binding but the Permanent Court of Arbitration has no powers of enforcement.

The dispute

The Philippines has had diplomatic spats with China over the Scarborough Shoal and Spratlys in particular. It says China's "nine-dash line", which China uses to demarcate its territorial claims, is unlawful under the UNCLOS convention. Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei also have competing claims in the region. Although these islands are largely uninhabited, they may have reserves of natural resources around them. There has been little detailed exploration of the area, so estimates are largely extrapolated from the mineral wealth of neighbouring areas. The sea is also a major shipping route and home to fishing grounds that supply the livelihoods of people across the region.

Reaction

Chinese media were quick to take the official line that Beijing would not recognise the ruling. China's state news agency Xinhua said that "as the panel has no jurisdiction, its decision is naturally null and void". The Philippine government welcomed the ruling as a "milestone decision", but there was little outright celebration. The BBC's Jonah Fisher in Manila says this may be due to a recent change of government - many Filipinos believe newly-elected President Rodrigo Duterte may have sought promises of Chinese investment, in return for a quiet, dignified response. There was more delight among Philippine social media users, who dubbed the ruling #CHexit.

Both the US and Japan urged both sides to abide by the ruling. The US called it an "important contribution to the shared goal of a peaceful resolution to disputes in the South China Sea". But Taiwan rejected the tribunal's findings on an area it administers, saying the ruling had "seriously damaged" its rights and would "definitely not accept this ruling". The US sent an aircraft carrier and fighter jets to the region ahead of the decision, while the Chinese navy has been carrying out exercises near the disputed Paracel islands.

Sounding a conciliatory tone - Stephen McDonell, BBC News, Beijing

See also:

South China Sea verdict: The actual show may have just begun
Wednesday 13th July, 2016 - The Philippines’ government officials are most likely exulting at the moment, as the tribunal at The Hague has overruled China’s claim of more than its fair share of the pie - in this case, the South China Sea.

The tribunal on Tuesday ruled that China has no legal basis for claiming nearly 90 percent of the South China Sea as it has done, in an overwhelmingly clean sweep for the Philippines and finalising of Beijing’s loss of a crucial international case. China’s claims on rocky outcrops, some of which are low-tide elevations exposed only at low tide, cannot be classified under territorial claims, added the international tribunal. China has been asked to scale back military expansion in the area, on grounds that the Philippines’ sovereign rights have been breached, effectively perforating China’s almost omnipresent “nine-dash” line demarcating its claimed areas in the South China Sea.

Further, Beijing’s expansion, large-scale land reclamation and artificial island construction have upset the ecology due to the rampant destruction of the marine environment and “permanent irreparable harm to the coral reef ecosystem.” Philippines’ secretary of foreign affairs Perfecto Yasay was ecstatic, saying that the ruling was a “milestone” but also cautioned to employ “restraint and sobriety” among other countries concerned. China has erupted in anger over the announcement that a large area of the water body is to be classified as either neutral waters or economic zones of other countries, including Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei and Taiwan.

The “ill-founded” ruling has been termed as “naturally null and void,” and Chinese media have claimed that the tribunal had overlooked “basic truths” while “trampling” on international laws and reforms. If a set of defiant reactions expected from China does come to pass, the ruling will increase frictions in an area, both physical and theoretical, that is already bristling with tension.

A decade-long battle comes to an end

 

[waltky]

What China gonna do now?...

What's next in the South China Sea disputes
Jul 13,`16 -- An international tribunal made a landmark ruling Tuesday rejecting China's vast territorial claims in the South China Sea, handing the Philippines a victory and dealing a blow to Beijing. But it remains unclear what, if any, impact the ruling will have, given that the tribunal doesn't have any way to enforce it.

The next steps China, the Philippines and the United States might be considering:

CHINA: MAINTAIN HARD LINE, PUSH FOR TALKS

China has spared no effort in dismissing the arbitration decision as null and void, and denouncing the proceedings and even the five-member panel that made the ruling. The government on Wednesday released a policy paper on its dispute with the Philippines over the South China Sea, in which Beijing reiterated its position that the sea's islands are "China's inherent territory." Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin also warned other nations not to challenge China's security interests in the South China Sea, saying Beijing had the right to establish an air defense identification zone over the disputed waters if necessary. At the same time, Beijing appears for now to be trying a softer approach in appealing to the Philippines to return to the negotiating table, saying there would be "tangible benefits" for the Philippines to cooperate with China.

To persuade Manila to return to talks, China could offer to share fishing and oil and gas resources with the Philippines and finance railway projects in the Southeast Asian nation, analysts say. Because the Hague-based tribunal can't enforce its decision, the ruling's impact on China might mostly be in the damage it causes to Beijing's image as it seeks a stronger voice on the global stage and legitimacy as a global power. Analysts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies say the ruling could help convince Beijing to treat Manila and other claimants fairly in the medium-to-long term. Some analysts speculate that China could try to escalate the dispute to punish Manila for pursuing the case and deter other claimants from doing the same. Beijing could take more assertive measures such as island building on Scarborough Shoal, a reef off the Philippine coast where a standoff with China prompted the Philippines to initiate the legal case in 2013.

THE PHILIPPINES: WALK THE TIGHTROPE

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has not directly responded to China's overtures since the ruling was issued, though his spokesmen have said the government is studying the tribunal's decision. China has been on a charm offensive and Duterte is navigating a tightrope in which he wants to revive relations with Beijing while being seen as defending the major victory the country won through arbitration. Philippine Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay said that over the next few days, the government will take steps to ensure that the tribunal's ruling is "peacefully implemented." "We are open to making sure that we will have bilateral talks with China in the implementation of this decision of the arbitral tribunal," he told Manila radio DZBB. He said that "the next step is to move forward and let diplomacy reign."

Yasay said both China and the Philippines have committed not to take provocative action. China expert Chito Sta. Romana told ABS-CBN network that the challenge for Duterte now is how to combine engagement and deterrence. "It's how to combine getting along with China and being able to stand up and discuss disputes - this is where I think the challenge is," he said. Philippine House Rep. Harry Roque, an international law expert, said that if China resorts to force in the South China Sea, the Philippines can seek a vote of the U.N. General Assembly - not the Security Council, where China has veto powers - authorizing sanctions against Beijing.

U.S.: MORE PATROLS IN THE SOUTH CHINA SEA?

See also:

China says it could declare air zone over South China Sea
Jul 13,`16 -- China warned other countries Wednesday against threatening its security in the South China Sea after an international tribunal handed the Philippines a victory by saying Beijing had no legal basis for its expansive claims there.

Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin said Beijing could declare an air defense identification zone over the waters if it felt threatened, a move that would sharply escalate tensions. But Beijing also extended an olive branch to the new Philippine government, saying the Southeast Asian nation would benefit from cooperating with China. The Philippines, under a U.N. treaty governing the seas, had sought arbitration in 2013 on several issues related to its long-running territorial disputes with China. In its ruling Tuesday, the tribunal found China's far-reaching claims to the South China Sea had no legal basis and that Beijing had violated the Philippines' maritime rights by building up artificial islands and disrupting fishing and oil exploration.

While introducing a policy paper in response to the ruling, Liu said the islands in the South China Sea were China's "inherent territory" and blamed the Philippines for stirring up trouble. "If our security is being threatened, of course we have the right to demarcate a zone. This would depend on our overall assessment," Liu said in a briefing. "We hope that other countries will not take this opportunity to threaten China and work with China to protect the peace and stability of the South China Sea, and not let it become the origin of a war." In 2013, China set up an air defense identification zone over disputed islands in the East China Sea, requiring all aircraft entering the area to notify Chinese authorities or be subjected to "emergency military measures" if they disobey orders from Beijing. The U.S. and others refuse to recognize the zone.

While blaming the previous Philippine government for complicating the dispute by seeking arbitration, Liu said China remains committed to negotiations with the Philippines and noted new Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's positive remarks on the issue. "After the storm of this arbitration has passed, and the sky has cleared, we hope this day (of negotiations) will come quickly, but whether it can come, we still have to wait," Liu said, adding that China believed that cooperation would also bring Filipinos "tangible benefits." Duterte has not directly responded to China's overtures. He is navigating a tightrope in which he wants to revive relations with Beijing while being seen as defending the major victory the country has won through arbitration. Former Philippine President Benigno Aquino III, who initiated the case, said the ruling brought clarity that "now establishes better conditions that enable countries to engage each other, bearing in mind their duties and rights within a context that espouses equality and amity." Cooperation, however, would remain elusive if conflicts over claims persist, he said.

Six regional governments have overlapping claims in the South China Sea, waters that are rich in fishing stocks and potential energy resources and where an estimated $5 trillion in global trade passes each year. Beijing says vast areas of the South China Sea have been Chinese territory since ancient times and demarcated its modern claims with the so-called nine-dash line, a map that was submitted under the U.N. treaty. The tribunal said any historical resource rights were wiped out if they were incompatible with exclusive economic zones established under the treaty, which both countries have signed.

News from The Associated Press

 

[yiostheoy]

Please note - Clean debate zone.

There is much around about China and Chinese aggression, but is that really the case?
Yes, China invaded and occupied Tibet (nasty), and China has had conflicts with India, but India seems just as guilty as China in that one.
There are disputes regarding islands, but who says China is actually wrong?
They have just as much right to make claims as Japan and South Korea and, as long as they don't take by force, there is nothing wrong in those claims.
The last is China's military build up. I maintain this latest increase is entirely in answer to United States forces being in their part of the Pacific, not as an aggressive force, but a defensive one.

My assertion is as follows.
China has the right to make claims on disputed land.
China has the right to build up its forces to protect against foreign military build ups.
China has only invaded one country, and that's not a bad record when you compare to other nations.

Finally, these news headlines came to my attention.
America sends troops to fight in foreign wars, whilst China sends doctors to fight foreign illnesses.

If the PRC ala Xi feels they need to fortify artificial islands in the South China Sea for the purposes of national defense then that is solely a Chinese issue.

Of course the Philippines has registered their complaint, and the world court has ruled in favor of the Philippines on the basis of what China is doing in international waters is unprecedented.

This is a real dilemma then.

I do not believe China is an aggressive nation. But Xi is new and there is no telling what he plans to do.

War between China and the USA is probably inevitable simply because when you have 2 bullies on the same block then 1 of them is going to want bragging rights.

 

[Indofred]

Given this is a military aircraft half way around the world from it's home base, I think we can safely suggest the aggressor is the US.

 

[Kristian]

and China has had conflicts with India, but India seems just as guilty as China in that one.

China do not invate India and the U.S. because there is quality with Army and Marines and in the U.S. Marine Corps in southern into Mexico.

 

[Dekster]

and China has had conflicts with India, but India seems just as guilty as China in that one.

China do not invate India and the U.S. because there is quality with Army and Marines and in the U.S. Marine Corps in southern into Mexico.

Why would they invade a country they already own?....and if they did invade, it would not be to the south. It would be the Pacific northwest.

 

[Kristian]

and China has had conflicts with India, but India seems just as guilty as China in that one.

China do not invate India and the U.S. because there is quality with Army and Marines and in the U.S. Marine Corps in southern into Mexico.

Why would they invade a country they already own?....and if they did invade, it would not be to the south. It would be the Pacific northwest.

U.S. have troops in middle and south east in the Army.

 

[Kristian]

Different spread of 400,000 ground troops.

 

[Agit8r]

China is dependent on trade. They aren't about to start any wars.

 

[320 Years of History]

My assertion is as follows.

• China has the right to make claims on disputed land.
• China has the right to build up its forces to protect against foreign military build ups.
• China has only invaded one country, and that's not a bad record when you compare to other nations.

All of that's true, but none of it is reliably indicative of what China will or will not do going forward.

My assertions are as follows:

• China is aggressive about stealing/copying that which it lacks "now" and thinks it wants/needs "now."
• China is like the U.S. in that it will do whatever it wants to do because it's what it thinks it should or must do, and it will dare the rest of the world to try and stop them from doing it. As long as they aren't "butting heads" to forcibly with the U.S. or Russia when they do so, there's nothing that'll come of whatever China does just as it is with the U.S.' and Russia's geopolitical moves.

 

[Holos]

Please note - Clean debate zone.

There is much around about China and Chinese aggression, but is that really the case?
Yes, China invaded and occupied Tibet (nasty), and China has had conflicts with India, but India seems just as guilty as China in that one.
There are disputes regarding islands, but who says China is actually wrong?
They have just as much right to make claims as Japan and South Korea and, as long as they don't take by force, there is nothing wrong in those claims.
The last is China's military build up. I maintain this latest increase is entirely in answer to United States forces being in their part of the Pacific, not as an aggressive force, but a defensive one.

My assertion is as follows.
China has the right to make claims on disputed land.
China has the right to build up its forces to protect against foreign military build ups.
China has only invaded one country, and that's not a bad record when you compare to other nations.

Finally, these news headlines came to my attention.
America sends troops to fight in foreign wars, whilst China sends doctors to fight foreign illnesses.

Considering the comparison between US sending troops to exercise international relations and China sending medics for the same purpose through a military perspective, it must be acknowledged that China is far more strategically advanced in its exchanges.

The underlying premise, as we are communicating in the English language and parting our observations from the so called "West" (somehow having to pin the "East" as main reference, so that our directions guided by compasses would be of any dialectical and procedural effect in covering the majority of land on Earth), is that the main reason why there are actually troops being sent from the US to another country is because the other countries are themselves threatening or aggressive, with the US needing to match those circumstances in prospective neutrality to ensure its own required established resource capacity, which is truly nothing other than individual citizen international confidence, since the resource capacity has already been extensively developed by technological optimization to effectively surpass its own borders and reach lands of another sovereign country with similar advanced resource collection development. In fact, the situation is nothing other than of human identity (human rights), since economics and technology have long been diligently established by cohesive and internationally relating national groups of deploying and employing countries (which happens to be, pretty much indistinguishably, any and all countries with active military industrial complexes or departments).

The situation with China, taking also in consideration the same view point of the information we are receiving as being "in the West" but coming "from the East", the main reason why a country sends medics into another country (instead of excursions or ambassadors, for example) is the same as why a country sends troops. Individual citizen international confidence.

Certain sections of our 21st century nations, more specifically those of the new post-world-wars generations, do not and are largely incapable of relating, or even recognizing, what otherwise should be (and is) multiple cultural diversity. The concept of "traveling heroic medics", therefore, is not so aggravating or disturbing (aggressive) as the concept of "traveling heroic soldiers", since cultural diversification is much more tolerant and accepting of isolating empathy and bio-mineral agents (syringes) than of segregationist empathy and exclusively mineral agents (weapons).