Posted on 05/07/2014 10:03:42 AM PDT by mojito
“I wonder if Vietnam will kick China’s butt again?”
Possible, but less likely. China’s military is moving away from the large-scale, militia-type force that it had during it’s revolutionary period thru the 1980’s and toward a more modern force.
Last I checked the Vietnamese military was not much more modern than it had been when the Vietnam War ended.
Probably the biggest factor would be the terms of combat: where the fighting takes place and so forth. If it’s an air/naval fight in the South China Sea, bet on China.
They aren’t getting in bed with us, they are arming themselves up.
Most of East Asia isn’t real happy Japan is ramping up.
One party systems need external conflict to distract and contain the disaffected masses. If Dong Sixpack isn’t seething with nationalist rage against Japanese soldiers from 70 years ago, or those pesky Vietnamese, Philippinos, etc., he might just look around and wonder what the Party has done for him lately. Can’t have that.
The Chinese have been disliked and distrusted in SE Asia for centuries.
I do believe that both China and Vietnam still claim to be communist countries.
Lucky the Chinese didn’t sink the boats and kill the crews. Next time Vietnam will not be so lucky. Maybe the Vietnamese can get the Liberal Left in China to protest—maybe some Chinese Movie Stars could march in Beijing? Kerry could come and link arms in support of Vietnam? It worked on us—but will not work on China.
"On May 4, Chinese ships intentionally rammed two Vietnamese Sea Guard vessels," said Tran Duy Hai, a foreign ministry official and deputy head of Vietnam's national border committee. "Chinese ships, with air support, sought to intimidate Vietnamese vessels. Water cannon was used," he told a news conference in Hanoi. Six other ships were also hit, other officials said, but not as badly.
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