Post by Chronopolice on Apr 6, 2009 18:55:56 GMT -5
Hmmm the Pentagon reshuffling the defense budget around.
That is a good sign.
The main weakness of US forces is the lack of special forces for those special situations that don't need conventional forces on the ground. The war on terrorism is one filled with espionage, subterfuge and super-surgical strikes.
However, I will still invest some funds into research and development of future weapons systems just in case the next major conflict rolls around.
IMHO, I think that the US shouldn't scale back the Navy. Power projection is still in the vogue. Besides, if the US Navy is scaled back, what's to stop China from flexing its military muscle beyond the South China sea?
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Post by Anime Daisuki on Apr 7, 2009 19:09:58 GMT -5
That statement above underestimates the territorial independence of Southeast Asian nations, and overestimate the "resource assets" of those same nations.
In WWII, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, etc, looked like a good target to the Japanese because of raw materials like oil, rubber, etc. But since that time growth has exploded exponentially, and demand has outstripped supply. The amount of oil produced by ASEAN today is in no way comparable to that produced by the Middle East. There's nothing to gain... a case in point, you don't hear big Chinese oil companies drilling in Brunei, PI, etc. You hear them in Africa, in the Middle East, but not in S.E.A.
Also, S.E.A nations are very different one from another. And like all nations that come out of colonialism, view their Independence dearly. You'll be hardpressed to find one willing to submit itself to the orbit of Chinese influence.
Really, Islamtic terrorism taking over Southeast Asia is a bigger threat, IMHO, than something as remote as China or India influence.
Last Edit: Apr 7, 2009 19:37:48 GMT -5 by Anime Daisuki
Post by 10KI Investment Corporation on Apr 7, 2009 22:45:17 GMT -5
Although the defense folk are shuffling around spending... it's not lowering total spending at all... just cutting back on some 122 million dollar fighters and moving that money elsewhere.
I really think the treasury should consider using tacos as a currency. By doing so millions of tacos from 10KI would be able to enter and stimulate the economy.
More than 6 Million tacos under management!!![/color]
Post by New Dracora on Apr 7, 2009 23:10:30 GMT -5
I get the impression you mis-interpreted what I said since Japan sort to conquer via force where I was refering to China 'spreading the wealth' via money (which imo beats nationalism any day).
Recently, there has been a large amount of Chinese interest in Australian mining consortiums, especially those dealing in iron ore. In the past most attempts were cut off by the government in the interests of national security and as we were experiencing a mining boom at the time the industry didn't really put up much of a fuss.
Now however, the drop in mineral demand due to the economic crisis started by the US has caused the boom to go bust and a lot of mining companies are now in serious financial trouble... a perfect time for the Chinese to start knocking again - which they have done - and well, all that 'yuan' is looking very attractive right now.
Another bid has already been made for a major iron exporter - the government announced it would not be standing in the way of such a deal this time - so when I stated that China would soon own most of the resource assets in the south-east asia/pacific region, I was more referring to my own backyard rather than yours. But since Australian-based mining companies such as Rio Tinto and BHP run a good portion of resource interests in the region.......
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XKI Generation: The Recession Generation XKI Map Nation Color: Bottom Left XKI NS Join Year: 56 - Wednesday, 29 March 2006 Historical XKI Political Party: TIP - The Islands Party
I get the impression you mis-interpreted what I said since Japan sort to conquer via force where I was refering to China 'spreading the wealth' via money (which imo beats nationalism any day).
Recently, there has been a large amount of Chinese interest in Australian mining consortiums, especially those dealing in iron ore. In the past most attempts were cut off by the government in the interests of national security and as we were experiencing a mining boom at the time the industry didn't really put up much of a fuss.
Now however, the drop in mineral demand due to the economic crisis started by the US has caused the boom to go bust and a lot of mining companies are now in serious financial trouble... a perfect time for the Chinese to start knocking again - which they have done - and well, all that 'yuan' is looking very attractive right now.
Another bid has already been made for a major iron exporter - the government announced it would not be standing in the way of such a deal this time - so when I stated that China would soon own most of the resource assets in the south-east asia/pacific region, I was more referring to my own backyard rather than yours. But since Australian-based mining companies such as Rio Tinto and BHP run a good portion of resource interests in the region.......
I am not very up to date on this--- but the last time I did research on the topic there's way more Foreign Direct Investments going from countries like Singapore and Malaysia to China, than the other way around. China has always been on the receiving end of our money, but as I said, my research is about 3-4 years old.
As for Australia, we in Southeast Asia don't really consider her part of Southeast Asia or Asia at al,l for that matter. Australia is Australia to us, a separate continent. But I will concede the point since you added teh quantifier /pacific region.
Last Edit: Apr 8, 2009 0:18:21 GMT -5 by Anime Daisuki
That statement above underestimates the territorial independence of Southeast Asian nations, and overestimate the "resource assets" of those same nations.
In WWII, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, etc, looked like a good target to the Japanese because of raw materials like oil, rubber, etc. But since that time growth has exploded exponentially, and demand has outstripped supply. The amount of oil produced by ASEAN today is in no way comparable to that produced by the Middle East. There's nothing to gain... a case in point, you don't hear big Chinese oil companies drilling in Brunei, PI, etc. You hear them in Africa, in the Middle East, but not in S.E.A.
Also, S.E.A nations are very different one from another. And like all nations that come out of colonialism, view their Independence dearly. You'll be hardpressed to find one willing to submit itself to the orbit of Chinese influence.
Really, Islamtic terrorism taking over Southeast Asia is a bigger threat, IMHO, than something as remote as China or India influence.
Islamic terrorists from the South. Sensitive Taiwan-China relations to the North. North Korea has us within missile range. Spratly Islands territorial row to the West. US Pacific Fleet to the East.
I hope no one lights a match in this powder room known as SE Asia.