ThoseDeafMutes
Member
Here is the UK's territory:
That's actually an inhabited place whose inhabitants want to remain part of the UK, as confirmed by referendum. Disputed islands in the SCS do not have anybody living on them.
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China says United States should 'brush up on' South China Sea history
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That's actually an inhabited place whose inhabitants want to remain part of the UK, as confirmed by referendum. Disputed islands in the SCS do not have anybody living on them.
andythinkpad
Member
Here is the UK's territory:
You don't even have to go there. Japan's maritime claim is even bigger and more ridiculous than China's
Ether_Snake
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You don't even have to go there. Japan's maritime claim is even bigger and more ridiculous than China's
I like how they left some space in the middle.
Pancake Mix
Copied someone else's pancake recipe
What makes the British claim even more beyond reproach: No indigenous population ever settled on the islands. Every single person is a settler, so Argentina's claims of that as invalidating the referendum make zero sense. Of course people from the UK moved there...there was nobody on them, that's entirely up for grabs. It's also a claim that was backed up with relevant flags for a relevant period of time, not like China is doing in places that other nations also claim. You can't do that in the modern era, there are overlapping claims backed up by relevant international law, China planting a flag doesn't invalidate them.
Argentina is never getting the Falklands. Nearest neighbour means nothing.
Japan has inhabited islands extending immediately northwest of Taiwan and...IIRC hundreds of miles roughly directly south of Tokyo.
The islands northwest of Taiwan are disputed today, as you see there, but the international thinking is that they're very much Japan.
Their claims there are less outlandish than you think. They actually have a valid claim to those southern areas.
In fact, I think Tomb Raider 2013 might have taken place in the weird space in the middle.
Pancake Mix
Copied someone else's pancake recipe
Edit: oops, sorry, double post.
Okinawa?
Pancake Mix
Copied someone else's pancake recipe
ThoseDeafMutes
Member
You don't even have to go there. Japan's maritime claim is even bigger and more ridiculous than China's
You do understand that Japan controls numerous inhabited Islands that are too small to appear on that map right?
Here is the UK's territory:
Maybe I'm just forgetting, but I'm fairly sure the UK doesn't actually claim a massive slice of the Atlantic stretching across the whole planet.
lastplayed
Member
andythinkpad
Member
Japan claim plenty of uninhabited islands, it's just that they are not close to other countries so nobody fight over most of them with Japan
BTW, these rocks are just oceans, they shouldn't be claimed by any country just like the arctic or the moon. Maybe 10 years from now, UN will pass law to split up the arctic among countries, but assigning moral value to these natural place is silly.
Pancake Mix
Copied someone else's pancake recipe
But that's the point, those Southwestern claims of Japan's are actually islands, many inhabited, and they aren't controversial unless you ask China or Taiwan.
As for the more southeastern claims, well IIRC they do have valid claims to actual islands (inhabited or not) a fairly long distance roughly straight south of Tokyo. I don't remember what to google offhand, but if you wanted to fiddle around in google maps you'd likely find the island names. Not positive about those, however.
The Southwestern extent of their claim is Japanese beyond dispute and makes perfect sense. Inhabited too.
That there aren't any inhabitants only complicates matters but it doesn't say all that much about who actually has the rights to the disputed islands. And that part has to do with historical claims, not on geographical proximity.
perfectchaos007
Member
I wonder how many times in history a territory/s was taken without a war or monetary payment. Sounds like China wants to take some freebies and hopes everyone will be cool with it. Good luck with that China.
You can tell he doesn't read by just hearing him speak for 5 minutes.
Atraveller
Banned
It hasn't been like this for decades.
lastplayed
Member
China would be like "aw shit son you got us!" then slap the leg and laugh it off.
I know shit would hit the fan but realistically how would china respond? I doubt they would start sending nukes.
Nobody here gonna question why he's got parts of Mexico and Colombia starred? Holiday plans? You do know Trump's building a wall right?
The United States isn't going to just randomly attack the PRC.
Militarily those islands now have several runways and ports and will soon house barracks and mobile radars and even ballistic missiles. They will have the capability to operate warships and fighter jets thousands of miles from their mainland and also monitor large swathes of the Southeast Pacific. For them, this is their Hawaii, Guam. Plus they will soon have markets and ports for commercial fisheries and mining and extraction. They will literally begin stealing oil and gas and minerals that would rightfully belong to Vietnam and the Philippines and then back up those claims by having a warship threaten Vietnamese fishermen etc. It also provides them an ability to keep a vital trade route under their military control.
firehawk12
Subete no aware
I think that's the weirdest thing. If China signed a defense Pact with Mexico and decided to surround the American border with Chinese military bases, I assume American politicians would like to wave their saber as well. Hell, it happened with Russia and Cuba.
I find operating military installations in other nations with the consent (and encouragement) of their own governments to be far less "bullying" than a nation seizing foreign territory by military force or threat of force, as Russia has done recently and as China is trying/is doing here.
I think the US is the biggest bully of the world.
Your mean is Vietnam, Former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya or Somalia? The people out there must be very grateful to US.
water_wendi
Water is not wet!
I think the US is the biggest bully of the world.
Probably wont have to worry about these bases soon given the trajectory we are on.
Vietnam is getup much closer to the US recently, as a counter to China's aggressive posture. And I think a lot people in Kosovo are happy with that decision.
I never said the US is perfect, far from it. But posing a map of US bases and calling it the "biggest bully" is a ridiculous simplification.
TheRedSnifit
Member
I think the US is the biggest bully of the world.
I'm sure those countries would be thrilled if we just pulled out all of our troops tomorrow.
QuicheFontaine
Member
Nah, we do.
Also that red line should loop around the bottom of Argentina to encircle the Pitcairn Islands.
North Korea missiles mysteriously get an upgrade capable of hitting Japan, while Vietnam and Taiwan suddenly disappear from the map.
Pancake Mix
Copied someone else's pancake recipe
I think the US is the biggest bully of the world.
Ummm, those of us in its NATO (and other) allies would say the US has been a fantastic partner for our way of life and a dear friend. You can say a lot about the current political situation, sure, but you cannot deny that the US has always been there for its friends.
Pretty sure all of those bases are well-liked and the US either owns the territory or rents them out. Australia is a huge partner, and those American troops are much appreciated.
Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan rely on American defence, Taiwan in particular for their independence and democracy. South Korea has the largest military of three, and even then, American help is appreciated.
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