Discussion for article #243965
Two words: Fuck China.
Negociate a deal where we will not overfly China with bombers if China stops its assault on our software systems to steal secrets.
The actual provocation goes unmentioned: China’s unwarranted claim of sovereignty to regions of theSouth China Sea simply because they have dumped a bunch of fill there and called the fill islands. There is no sanction in the law of the sea for such behavior.
1 Like
Regardless of the flimsiness of China’s territorial claims here, flying B52s over these islands is heavy-handed and overly provocative. The symbolism is clear, B52s were one of the three pillars of our thermonuclear strike force during the cold war and flying these planes in such a manner is, in my, o[pinion, dangerous, macho nonsense, even if the aircraft are unarmed.
Yeah, I’m guessing the Chinese wouldn’t much like it if their neighbors started plopping down manmade islands just outside of Chinese territorial waters and claiming sovereignty over them and over the surrounding waters. No, I don’t think the Chinese would like that one bit…but they’d be hard pressed to explain why that wouldn’t be O.K., while their equivalent actions in the South China sea are perfectly fine. I’d hate to be the diplomat who had to try to explain that. Maybe someone ought to ask them…
I agree with that too. The word that comes to mind is brinksmanship. The passive-aggressive asshole approach to world affairs, always needling and pushing boundaries, seemingly itching for a fight. Which inevitably leads to instances like this. It may well be an accident that they flew too close this time, but when you keep doing things, even “by accident,” that inevitably lead to “accidental” conflict, you’re still kind of inviting conflict.
Of course to some extent the U.S. does want a conflict on this issue (albeit not an armed confrontation), because the status quo is the Chinese building more of these islands and thus creating more “facts on the ground,” after first creating the ground itself.