China has a problem and it's not the Wuhan flu.

[Darren]

"Details have emerged about a new class of amphibious warships that Navy and Marine Corps leaders say will be essential to competing with near-peer adversaries at sea.

The Navy has released details on a proposed new class of light amphibious warships. The ships will be necessary as the sea services rise to meet growing challenges at sea, according to slides from a recent Navy-led industry day during which leaders met with two dozen companies to discuss the idea.

The lighter ships, according to the slides, will help the Navy and Marine Corps "meet new challenges," including sea-control-and-denial operations. The light amphibious warships, the slides add, will serve as "maneuver and sustainment vessels to confront the changing character of warfare.""

[Darren]

"One of China’s greatest weapons in the sea is simply patience. In the mid-90s, Beijing reassured Manila that its new stilted structure at Mischief Reef, located in the Spratly islands just 217 km (135 miles) from a Philippine coast, was a fishermen’s shelter. By 2018 the reef had been turned into a militarized artificial island complete with anti-ship cruise missiles. The transformation was likely Beijing’s intention all along, even though in September 2015 Chinese president Xi Jinping promised the Spratlys would not, despite all appearances, be militarized.

Last month, China caused alarm by establishing new administrative districts for the Spratly and Paracel archipelagos and naming 80 islands and other geographical features in the sea, claiming sovereignty over underwater features along the way. (Mischief Reef, in its natural state, was submerged at high tide.)

China’s announcements drew quick rebukes from other nations with claims in the sea, including Vietnam and the Philippines. Those countries and many others have railed against China’s expansive claims to nearly the entire sea, which Beijing justifies with its dubious “nine-dash line.” The Philippines won a case in an international tribunal against China’s claims in July 2016.

None of that stopped China from slowly improving its posture in the sea by fortifying its militarized islands and intimidating other nations trying take advantage of resources (including oil) in parts of their own exclusive economic zones that overlap with the nine-dash line."

[Gob]

Jesus fucking Christ on a pogostick. The world is dealing with a pandemic, and the only answer dumb as fuck redneck Americans have is guns, warships and bombs

The sooner the lot of them drown in the cesspit of their useless fat-arsed stupidity the better.

Darren and co are far more of a detriment, threat, and danger to world civilisation than any virus.

Watching some in the USA is like seeing evolution in reverse...

[MajGenl.Meade]

Equal opportunity, Gob. What about Buddha on a pogostick? Or Mohammed (blessed be his name)? I'm sure there are others who'd appreciate the inclusion

[Darren]

Jesus fucking Christ on a pogostick. The world is dealing with a pandemic, and the only answer dumb as fuck redneck Americans have is guns, warships and bombs

The sooner the lot of them drown in the cesspit of their useless fat-arsed stupidity the better.

Darren and co are far more of a detriment, threat, and danger to world civilisation than any virus.

Watching some in the USA is like seeing evolution in reverse...

I take it you're OK with China's actions and along with Jesus, it's all right with you. How familiar are you with China's belt and road initiative and the colonial aspects?

[Darren]

" A bombshell report claims Chinese President Xi Jinping personally asked World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom to 'delay a global warning' about the threat of COVID-19 during a conversation back in January.

Germany's Der Spiegel published the allegations this weekend, citing intelligence from the country's Federal Intelligence Service, known as the 'Bundesnachrichtendienst' (BND).

According to the BND: 'On January 21, China's leader Xi Jinping asked WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to hold back information about a human-to-human transmission and to delay a pandemic warning.

'The BND estimates that China's information policy lost four to six weeks to fight the virus worldwide'."

[MajGenl.Meade]

[ex-khobar Andy]

On January 30th, WHO declared CoV as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. That's one step down from a pandemic; and it may be that it was because there was, at that point, too little evidence of human - to -human transmission, and it still did not meet the definition of a pandemic in terms of its geographic extent. I'm not defending WHO - everyone, including such highly regarded scientists as Dr Fauci, underestimated this thing in the beginning. And I'm not defending the actions of the Chinese government. But there's a bit of 'there but for the grace of God go I' about this. Trillion dollar lawsuits against the Chinese will do nothing to advance the science which is everything.

[Darren]

On January 30th, WHO declared CoV as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. That's one step down from a pandemic; and it may be that it was because there was, at that point, too little evidence of human - to -human transmission, and it still did not meet the definition of a pandemic in terms of its geographic extent. I'm not defending WHO - everyone, including such highly regarded scientists as Dr Fauci, underestimated this thing in the beginning. And I'm not defending the actions of the Chinese government. But there's a bit of 'there but for the grace of God go I' about this. Trillion dollar lawsuits against the Chinese will do nothing to advance the science which is everything.

The science can continue to advance while actions are taken against China for their actions which amounted to a betrayal of the world community.

They are mutually exclusive unless you can prove worldwide research into the virus will halt while legal actions are taken.

[MajGenl.Meade]

[Gob]

I take it you're OK with China's actions and along with Jesus, it's all right with you. How familiar are you with China's belt and road initiative and the colonial aspects?

It's one advantage of not living in a constant fear of foreigners.

[Darren]

I take it you're OK with China's actions and along with Jesus, it's all right with you. How familiar are you with China's belt and road initiative and the colonial aspects?

It's one advantage of not living in a constant fear of foreigners.

I don't get the fear aspect. Are you AOK with this?

"Investments from Beijing have brought infrastructure and jobs – but they have also seen communities forced off their land as well as the murder of a strident critic. To some Ecuadoreans, the social and environmental impact is too high a cost "

https://multimedia.scmp.com/week-asia/a ... ter02.html

[RayThom]

Equal opportunity, Gob. What about Buddha on a pogostick? Or Mohammed (blessed be his name)? I'm sure there are others who'd appreciate the inclusion

I agree. The pogostick wasn't invented until the late 19th century.

It should be more like "Jesus fucking Christ playing with a hoop." Mostly, however, when I'm frustrated and say "Jesus fucking Christ" I never add on the use of a toy with it.

[Darren]

I take it you're OK with China's actions and along with Jesus, it's all right with you. How familiar are you with China's belt and road initiative and the colonial aspects?

It's one advantage of not living in a constant fear of foreigners.

"By the mid-2010s, RFIs or the “Angola Model” had spread across Africa as part of the Chinese building boom that is still underway today. But stakeholders on both sides of these deals have become increasingly nervous about the viability of this kind of barter arrangement.

Projects were being built that didn’t always make a lot of sense, the Chinese were no longer as dependent on African resources as their Belt and Road Initiative took shape and across Africa, concerns mounted about the long term financial implications of this arrangement. One insider with firsthand RFI negotiating experience told me “everyone knew there was a problem, but didn’t know what to solve it.”

The urgency to find a new financing mechanism intensified when the U.S. government, then led by President Barack Obama, started to accuse the Chinese of engaging in a form of “predatory lending” in Africa. At first, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s warnings were largely dismissed by Beijing officials as just another manifestation of “China-bashing.”

https://www.theafricareport.com/22133/c ... heres-how/

[Darren]

"The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted supply chains of companies around the world and has made some of them reconsider the chain as this reliance on Chinese manufacturers has revealed vulnerabilities during the current situation. Hence, looking to diversify its production, Apple is reportedly looking to move nearly 1/5th of its production from China to India."

[Darren]

"But while few question that the virus originates in Wuhan, many don’t know that Wuhan is also the source of another deadly epidemic: America’s fentanyl overdoses.

Fentanyl, a form of synthetic opioid, has quickly become America’s most dangerous drug. In 2018, fentanyl killed 31,897 people in the United States—more than twice the number of any other narcotic. The chemical compound is so lethal, in fact, that just two milligrams—enough to cover Lincoln’s beard on a penny—can prove fatal. In the past five years, fentanyl has devastated hundreds of American communities, particularly in the Northeast and Midwest, where overdose death rates have skyrocketed.

“Most of the fentanyl and novel synthetic opioids in U.S. street markets—as well as their precursor chemicals—originate in China, where the regulatory system does not effectively police the country’s expansive pharmaceutical and chemical industries,” a recent RAND analysis concludes. Chinese manufacturers export the drug in two ways. First, they send shipments directly to American criminal organizations via the U.S. Postal Service, UPS, and FedEx, using the “dark web” to process orders. Second, they (also) ship fentanyl and precursor chemicals to drug cartels in Mexico, which then smuggle the final product into American markets."

https://www.city-journal.org/wuhan-fuel ... l-epidemic

[Darren]

You read it here first.

The imbroglio with China will be a prime factor in Trump's reelection. While I doubt it played a part in the two special election wins on Tuesday, China will be a handy scapegoat. Add in patriotism and it's a winning strategy in red states.

Note the closer relations with Taiwan in the article excerpted below. I don't have the figures but Taiwanese have controlled some of the manufacturing in China for a long time. How much of that production will be removed from China?

"The president has talked about adding new tariffs on top of the 25 percent levies on $370 billion in Chinese goods already in place.

The administration is also considering slapping sanctions on Chinese officials or companies and developing closer relations with Taiwan, which China considers a rogue province."

https://nypost.com/2020/05/04/trumps-pl ... aFYaJbtlR8

[Darren]

"BEIJING (Reuters) - China warned France on Wednesday not to sell arms to neighbouring self-ruled Taiwan which is planning to buy weapons as part of an upgrade to a French-made warship fleet bought 30 years ago."

[MajGenl.Meade]

Let me help you Darren:

From 1991 to July 2015, approved outward investment from Taiwan in
China amounted to USD 150 billion, which equates to 61.2 per cent
of Taiwan’s total approved outward investment. By contrast, since
the Taiwanese government lifted the ban on Chinese investment in
Taiwan, the actual number of investments from 2009 to February
2016 was 814, and the total invested amount was USD 1.5 billion
(Investment Commission 2016)

.

Chinese Investment in Taiwan - SAGE Journals
journals.sagepub.com › doi › pdf

[Darren]

Let me help you Darren:

From 1991 to July 2015, approved outward investment from Taiwan in
China amounted to USD 150 billion, which equates to 61.2 per cent
of Taiwan’s total approved outward investment. By contrast, since
the Taiwanese government lifted the ban on Chinese investment in
Taiwan, the actual number of investments from 2009 to February
2016 was 814, and the total invested amount was USD 1.5 billion
(Investment Commission 2016)

.

Chinese Investment in Taiwan - SAGE Journals
journals.sagepub.com › doi › pdf

If the Navy proceeds with the recommendations of a recent study which picked a foreign design as the basis for destroyers smaller than the Burkes, there's no reason we cant's assist Taiwan in acquiring the same. Given the quantities to be ordered, the same design may be appealing to Japan to ramp up naval construction.