China improving its military potence rapidly

[Platapus]

Originally Posted by Ducimus

Is Taiwan, really any of our business to begin with?

Well considering that in my opinion there is only one justification for going to war and that is that winning the war furthers a national policy, agenda, or goal, this is a very cogent question.

[TLAM Strike]

Originally Posted by Ducimus

Is Taiwan, really any of our business to begin with?

Safe assumption that many of the chips in your computer were manufactured in Taiwan. A lot of computer hardware is manufactured in Taiwan (the basic stuffs like microchips, transistors, semiconductors, while the cards and boards are assembled in Singapore or Mexico etc), that's why Taiwan called the Silicon Island.

The Interwebs... made in Taiwan

[UnderseaLcpl]

Originally Posted by Snestorm

China is now the leading economic power (Thanks to the profit driven elite's practice of exporting jobs). Unless that changes, she will eventualy be the leading military power.

I think you have been mislead, my friend. China isn't anywhere near being the world's leading economic power. By most measures it's a distant third, with economic output measuring roughly half of what the EU and the US produce.

China is indeed a developing superpower, but her time is not yet. As of now, she depends far to heavily on Western economies. Barring some radical political change, it will be at least two more decades before China picks herself up by her bootstraps and becomes a truly modern nation. If she ever reaches that point, there will be no reason to fear her. Affluent nations have no reason to wage irrational wars.

Originally Posted by Platapus

How many American lives is Taiwan worth?

How many Taiwanese lives is China worth? If we don't protect them, the answer is all of them. The Chinese Communist party will steal everything the Taiwanese have worked so hard to achieve over the past half-century. I don't particularly care about Taiwan because I'm a practical person who doesn't believe that the US has any business or real ability to enforce its will upon the world other than being a haven for the poor and disenfranchised, but can you accept responsibility for the fate of Taiwan? Will you vote to protect Taiwan? Will you fight for her? Will you do nothing to save all those people?

Originally Posted by Ducimus

Is Taiwan, really any of our business to begin with?

I don't know. Were the Jews enduring the Holocaust any of our business to begin with? Were the Koreans or the Vietnamese or the Somalians or Kuwaitis or the Iraqis or the Kurds or the Bosnians any of our business to begin with?

It all boils down to whether or not you think the wealthiest nation in the world has any kind of moral obligation to the rest of the world. I think it doesn't because I already know that there is nothing the US can do to rectify the rest of the world's problems. No amount of money will fix a genocide, and no amount of military intervention will correct religious hatred. It doesn't work like that. The only thing that will make people co-exist in relative peace is wealth brought about by capitalism and the resultant non-conflct over resources of any kind. You can choose to believe that or not while the wealthiest nations in the world spend their time fighting on behalf of other nations for silly political reasons.

[Skybird]

If you worry about chips from Taiwan, then for the same reason you also have to worry about general electronics parts from Foxcon, located inside the special economy zone of Shenyang, China. you'll meet them as often in your computers and electronics, as you meet those Taiwanese chips - if not more often.

[TLAM Strike]

Originally Posted by Skybird

If you worry about chips from Taiwan, then for the same reason you also have to worry about general electronics parts from Foxcon, located inside the special economy zone of Shenyang, China. you'll meet them as often in your computers and electronics, as you meet those Taiwanese chips - if not more often.

Apparently Foxconn is leaving the mainland.

[Skybird]

That would put the Foxconn factories even more at risk. The Chinese would not bomb their own factories or foreign factories they can simply seize, own and use, but Taiwan they would flood with missiles and destroy industrial high value assets, if they cannot overrun and seize the island quite qickly. I mean it is hard to image that the importance of Foxconn for Western high tech escapes their attention.

[TLAM Strike]

Originally Posted by Skybird

That would put the Foxconn factories even more at risk. The Chinese would not bomb their own factories or foreign factories they can simply seize, own and use, but Taiwan they would flood with missiles and destroy industrial high value assets, if they cannot overrun and seize the island quite qickly. I mean it is hard to image that the importance of Foxconn for Western high tech escapes their attention.

Well in the article they said they may move them to India and Vietnam, so I don't think they would be at risk. India has the most powerful military in South Asia, not to mention the bomb so I don't think China would be able to conduct a military action against Foxconn's factories there without starting WWIII, (India and the US against China? How much would they charge on Pay Per View for that fight?). Vietnam perhaps they could bomb them and not fear much retaliation, attacks against Chinese's held islands in the Spratly's would be a possible counter strike for Vietnam or sub attacks against PRC shipping with their North Korean provided Yugo type subs or those new Kilos they are buying. Seizing Foxconn factories in Vietnam would be fair more difficult, remember the last time China sent troops in to Vietnam? It was a debacle.

[Skybird]

A, I missed the part on Vietnam and India. The translation reached me after waiting over one minute, and then in mutilated form only and with many §$% and ?#! passages. I believed they would move to Taiwan.

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by TLAM Strike

Seizing Foxconn factories in Vietnam would be fair more difficult, remember the last time China sent troops in to Vietnam? It was a debacle.

Ypou mean the third Vietnam war when chinese intervention stopped the march of the vietnamese? The losses were high on both sides, but Vietnam took a nasty beating, being stopped and pushed back to their own land. They went a long way since then, milutarily. Today, they probably would decide a war with Vietnam much more decisively.

It is a story that tells everybody in the West that the Chinese do not shy away from conflict even if that means losses much higher than western nation's people would tolerate.

However, chinese history also shows that china does not favour military aggression for expansion beyond its borders. They use Ferengi diplomacy, not Klingon confrontation. Taiwan they set their eyes on not to conquer something foreign, but because they live by the honest belief that it legitimately is part of One-China.

[Ducimus]

>>The Interwebs... made in Taiwan

If it wasn't Taiwan, it would be in india, or somewhere else. Either way, the worlds corporations would find some country with cheap labor to manufacture their goods in.

>>It all boils down to whether or not you think the wealthiest nation in the world has any kind of moral obligation to the rest of the world.

Hell no! What i want to know is where is it written we have to involve ourselves in other peoples problems? Use whatever euphism you want, but who died and left us to be the worlds F**king policeman? Or did we just appoint ourselves? Or is there some law written somewhere that we must? We pour money and people into other countries, and all too often they piss down our backs, spit in our face. or take pot shots at us. Screw that, we need to look out for our own people for a change. If the problem is not in our country, it is not our problem. You know that old joke about "If patton were president"? That pretty much sums up my belief in this matter.

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by Ducimus

>>The Interwebs... made in Taiwan

If it wasn't Taiwan, it would be in india, or somewhere else. Either way, the worlds corporations would find some country with cheap labor to manufacture their goods in.

>>It all boils down to whether or not you think the wealthiest nation in the world has any kind of moral obligation to the rest of the world.

Hell no! What i want to know is where is it written we have to involve ourselves in other peoples problems? Use whatever euphism you want, but who died and left us to be the worlds F**king policeman? Or did we just appoint ourselves? Or is there some law written somewhere that we must? We pour money and people into other countries, and all too often they piss down our backs, spit in our face. or take pot shots at us. Screw that, we need to look out for our own people for a change. If the problem is not in our country, it is not our problem. You know that old joke about "If patton were president"? That pretty much sums up my belief in this matter.

I wonder what the world would think if the US screamed, "ISOLATIONISM!"

[Ducimus]

They'd hate us anyway for not getting the "hand outs" they're accustomed to.

Originally Posted by Ducimus

Is Taiwan, really any of our business to begin with?

So how much left from the "freedom of speech", not much in real life and you now start with STFU on the boards . My country is also non of anyone business, but that doesn`t mean you can`t criticize it any time you want attention ^^ (in a real desperate ways^^)

[Ducimus]

Originally Posted by Dimitrius07

So how much left from the "freedom of speech", not much in real life and you now start with STFU on the boards . My country is also non of anyone business, but that doesn`t mean you can`t criticize it any time you want attention ^^ (in a real desperate ways^^)

I have no idea what your rambling about. I suspect your barking up the wrong tree.

[Factor]

Originally Posted by Dimitrius07

So how much left from the "freedom of speech", not much in real life and you now start with STFU on the boards . My country is also non of anyone business, but that doesn`t mean you can`t criticize it any time you want attention ^^ (in a real desperate ways^^)

Wow, that made a whole lot of no sense.