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Hey,BUT WE are playing diplomatic POKER here

What do you expect when the great powers play POKER

You call my bluff and I call your bluff

As William Shakespear had said, "All the World's a stage, and all of us (Japan and China included) are mere ( POKER )players...."

China and Japan have to use some good diplomacy to end the stand-off

We are seeing very Oriental-style "giving-face" from both parties to each other

OK, well done, both sides, everybody's honor is intact ,this round

precisely

the Vietnamese are great warriors, taking on the Chinese, French and Americans, and even beating the sh*t out of them

The vietnamese were a vassel state of China before the French moved in and colonize them

The Chinese could never fully subjugate the great Vietnamese fighters, so, a compremise was reached. Neither side could conquer the other. Oriental "face-saving".The most convenient was for the Vietnamese to become a synbolic vassel-state
More of a charade if you ask me

yes, indeed

anyone and everyone who serves his country, in whichever way, is a hero

THe Chinese emperors certainly regarded themselves as the "BIG BROTHER" to all their neighbours.
Historically, as long as the neighbours officially acknowledge China as the "Big Brother" ( or GODFATHER if you will) and pay an annual symbolic tribute of a "GOLDEN FLOWER" and then become what is known as a "VASSEL" state, the Chinese emperor will promise to offer "protection" to his "younger brother"

As in the case of MAlacca, (16th Century)when constantly being attacked by SIAM, kow-towed to China, and in return, China gave protection and kept the Siamese away (the Siamese knew better than to tangle with a protectorate of the mighty CHinese empire

The Russians when crtitisized for selling jet-fighters, subs and destroyers to China, said, "a few SU-30, Sovremmennys, KILOS are NOT going to change the strategic balance with China" How right they are

China may well already have developed successfully MOLECULAR NANOTECHNOLOGAL WEAPONS ( Post nuclear bombs weapons), Laser, EMG, MIcro-wave etc etc
A few European conventional weapons might well NOT have any impact on the overall strategic balance of power

China is treading real, real cautiously in Indonesia as both are claimimg the SPRATELYS

the Indonesians are really sensitive about Chinese naval warships hanging around

The Sri Lankans and India also do not ish to embrace Chinese arm forces personnels

Wash Times reported in Sept 2002 that:

US Deputy Secy of Defense, Paul Wolfowitz said in a 2002 Sept interview with Phoenix TV that :

" China will very likely become a Superpower within the next 25-50 years, and that is very fast, by Historical standards"

And the Wash Times further reported that "Secy of Defense, Don Rumsfeld agrees with this assessment".

This assessment was based on studies by US Pentagon, US Defense Dept, US War College, CIA, FBI, etc

Personally, I don't agree with it

Why would any nation be stupid enough to want to be a Superpower ???? with all its headaches, burdens, and to be the targets of Al-Queda and all the 2-bits terrorists wannabeess ?????

Nope, China may be too smart for that.....

Having said that,

to go to fight a tiger inside a tiger's liar is not an easy undertaking

especially when this tiger feels that it is defending its house

How much is RACE a factor?
Why do you specify the racial part ?
If race is the criteria, then China, Japan and Korea, the "yellow" races would be unired against any non-yellows, right?

To me, race is NOT the over-riding factor

"Those who failed to learn from History are doomed to repeat it"

Post 1950, all the wars that China fought, ie the Korean War, India-China Border war, Vietnam etc she fought from a position of weakness.

During the Japanese invasion 1938-1945, China was willing to sacrifige up to 30 millions lives to defend her national territorial integrity. She refused to accept a "Sweet" peace deal from Japan to end the war during the halfway stage. In spite of the Japanese offering some concessions. Her loyalty to the Allied cause is the reason the Pres Rosevelt gave China a permanent seat in the UN Security Council--- as a strong gesture of recognition of China's great sacrifige of millions of lives and casulties and of not surrendering or accepting Japanese compromise "sweet" peace -deal
Pres Rosevelt was grateful to China's resolve, a China-Japan peace treaty would free one million well-equipped "crack' Japanese troops to fight American boys in the Pacific theater
Now, who is now very keen to take on China ? on a key question of what she perceives (rightly or wrongly, who are we to judge) as her territorial integrity ? Is China willing to sacrifige another 30 million lives to defend her Principle"? -- that Taiwan is her territory?

How much casulties is one prepared to accept, when planning to take China on? How many 18 year-olds boys and girls must die to applease the super-inflated egos of some self-appointed demi-Gods? I myself has no answer
What fools we mortals be

I have met ordinary Chinese people in HK who had said to me, "the Jews and the overseas Chinese in South-East Asia are kinda like ....say, "soul-brothers" " given the the overseas Chinese in SE Asia were also always been victims of persecution and progroms
Having said that, the FEER had said in 1998 that China had given an undertaking to the State of Israel that" China will underwrite and guarantee the Rights of the State of Israel to exist"
The people in China have a soft spot for Israelis/Jews, given that there was a Jewish Community in Kaifeng a 1000 years ago. People in China also respect and admire the Jewish people for their genius and talent

To John Winchester

" Good luck and God bless"

Is it anything like, say.....
a situation where the US would be very upset if Japan were to give a visa to OSAMA BIN LADEN

One SSBN is all it takes to neutralize S'pore

Let's get real

At least, the S'poreans are a pragmatic and realistic people why do I say that?

Well, a USSR diplomat once commented this about S'pore's so-called "military might" vis-a-vis the Great Powers

He said, "all a great power ,like the US,USSR or PRC need to do to make S'pore surrender is to send a nuclear-armed sub to within a couple of hundred miles from S'pore, and get ready to unleash its SLBMs and then the leaders of this great power to telephone S'ore's PM to say "look, we have got 20 SLBMs pointed and ready to fire at you. Are you going to surrender or not???"

S'pore is just a VERY VERY VERY TINY island ,you see

Is it really fairer in India ?????

I doubt it. and why ?

Because of the CASTE -SYSTEM in HINDUISM that ensures(institutionalizes) that the lower castes will FOREVER REMAINs lower caste (ie in perpectuity), for generaions after generations. The lower castes cannot get out off ther inferior castes except when they convert their religion from HINDUISM to CHRISTIANITY or ISLAM

Looking at Chinese History, Chinese society had always very high SOCIAL-MOBILITY. Peasants can become EMPERORS, eg, the first MING Emperor. Peasant children ,through their ability, were allowed to sit for the Annual Civil-Service Examinations, and if they scored well , could become high -ranking Government Officials in the Imperial Civil-Service. And those peasants good in KUNG-FU can become Generals

And today, a lot of Chinese millionaires rose from the ranks of the poor/peasant class, and more are are joinning in

LOL, BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA......

Your #5 photo/caption.

Thanks.

Made my day.

Well said

One must not jump to conclusions

A suggestion to the US Custom Dept " You guys should at least train your officers in the Martials Arts so that they can at least reprehend a suspect without too much injuries to the suspect-----more so if she happens to be female"

It's a joke for a Superpower to be seen to best up womenfolk-----NOT an heroic thing to do, isn't it?

Precisely.
.
According to SUN TZU (THE ART OF WAR)

"The best genersl is NOT the one who wins every battle,
He is the one who CAN subdue his enemy without doing
battle"

China has remained united and intact continuosly for the past 5000 years

China did not break up during the time of the;

"WARRING STATES"----2500BC, when 5 warring states fought each other continuosly

"THE OPIUM WAR"----1860-1900 when all the major Western Powers attacked her simultaneously

"THE 2nd WW" , 1937-1945, when Japan bombed her back to the Stone-Age. The Chinese fought on against overwheming odds,suffering great hardships, and losing 38 million dead,

"THE CIVIL-WAR" 1945-1949 The Cummunists against the Nationalist Armies

The GREAT CULTURAL REVOLUTION, When the country was in total chaos. The Maoist against the Moderates

Will China break up now ?????

A good question......