Obama Asserts US Pacific Power Fear of Rising China

[AznKhmerBoi]

Yes i am aware there are troops currently station there , but those were agreements made since WW2 and Korean War. Now Obama openly stated that he wants fighter jets and 2,5000 marine in Austrailia because China have made friends with their neighbors.

I just don't agree with the troop buildup because China have no intentions on any conflicts. I would understand and agree about a troop buildup due to North Korea, but this is confrontation because of China over a disputed area in the South China Sea.

Basically the US want to take this advantage to win new allies and show China that US does not fear China.
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As Washington and Beijing spar this week in a new round of their heavyweight contest for influence in Southeast Asia, the Chinese have diplomatically ducked a number of American punches.

China has laid sovereignty claims to almost all of the South China Sea, believed to be rich not only in fisheries but in oil and other mineral resources. Those claims conflict with claims to specific islands and atolls by Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Brunei – which have periodically flared up into maritime stand-offs.

Chinese fears that Washington is seeking to contain China, and drive a wedge between Beijing and neighboring states






[/quote]
Do you think that American troop presence in the Pacific, which we already have and have had since the 1800s, would cause imbalance?[/quote]

[CRTGAMER]

Invasion not a worry, there is a bigger issue Americans should be concerned with.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Sta ... _ownership

Foreign ownership
As of January 2011, foreigners owned $4.45 trillion of U.S. debt, or approximately 47% of the debt held by the public of $9.49 trillion and 32% of the total debt of $14.1 trillion. The largest holders were the central banks of China, Japan, the United Kingdom and Brazil. The share held by foreign governments has grown over time, rising from 13% of the public debt in 1988 to 25% in 2007.

As of May 2011 the largest single holder of U.S. government debt was China, with 36 percent of all foreign-held U.S. Treasury securities (16% of total US public debt). China's holdings of government debt, as a percentage of all foreign-held government debt, have decreased a bit over the last year, but are up significantly since 2000 (when China held just 6 percent of all foreign-held U.S. Treasury securities).

[AppleQueso]

Except anything that could be construed as a declaration of war would immediately nullify all US debts to China.

I can't help but roll my eyes at the whole OMG CHINA OWNS US rhetoric.

[AmishSamurai]

Except anything that could be construed as a declaration of war would immediately nullify all US debts to China.

I can't help but roll my eyes at the whole OMG CHINA OWNS US rhetoric.

Pretty much. If China tried demanding all the money back, it would be as simple as the US saying "nope", and then China is ruined because every country in the world borrowing money from them does the same. They're already on a soon-to-pop bubble from making cities, malls, and condos that are completely unoccupied, and shot themselves in the foot by saying "we're not going to export rare earth metals for the next month in order to buy up every company in our country dealing with them and inflate prices".

[Hazerd]

We need to get off this planet... Cowboy Bebop style!

[BoringSupreez]

Except anything that could be construed as a declaration of war would immediately nullify all US debts to China.

I can't help but roll my eyes at the whole OMG CHINA OWNS US rhetoric.

Pretty much. If China tried demanding all the money back, it would be as simple as the US saying "nope", and then China is ruined because every country in the world borrowing money from them does the same. They're already on a soon-to-pop bubble from making cities, malls, and condos that are completely unoccupied, and shot themselves in the foot by saying "we're not going to export rare earth metals for the next month in order to buy up every company in our country dealing with them and inflate prices".

What you said. If China's success were a house, the foundation is America. If we fail, or decide not to pay back China, their house crumbles. Even without the debt, they get huge amounts of money from us buying manufactured goods from them.

[Ack]

In short the US shouldnt station any troops to create a conflict because you dont see Chinese troops stationing their army anywhere near the US.

No, but China's military is currently working on anti-satellite weaponry, their stealth bombing capability, aircraft carriers, and cyberwarfare...all of which would help deny a large area, such as the Pacific Ocean, from a technologically advanced opponent. Warfare isn't necessarily conducted with troops, a considerable portion of it comes from denying resources and intelligence while providing the capability to strike an opponent once those resources and intelligence capabilities are disrupted.

China's also recently been involved in territorial disputes involving neighbors as well as accused of cutting international undersea communications lines going into Vietnam and harassing foreign ships. Add to this a longstanding worldview of Chinese supremacy over its neighbors and its rising economic status...well, it's not a great cocktail.

The idea behind positioning troops in Australia is to create an effective barrier in the Pacific against increased aggression from China throughout the region to other nations(not necessarily just the US and its direct allies), ranging from American and allied forces in Alaska, Japan, and South Korea, down into Australia and the Melanesian and Polynesian islands. Indochina's not really the focus of this move, though if some sort of war did break out, I'd say we should push for Vietnam as a US ally to give us another doorway into China, because Vietnam is exceptionally skilled at guerrilla warfare and has a long history of using it against various superpowers, and because of Vietnam's poor past relationship with China.

[mjmjr25]

This is a really in-depth and nuanced topic. Personally i'm not about to spew my feelings on all of the complexities involved here.

I just want to simply say - any WAR with China would look nothing like the war in Vietnam. The loser of a traditional war would be subject to unimaginable (perceived mind you) indenture. Thus losing a war would not be an option. Thus it would be a nuclear war. Thus, most, if not all of us would be dead.

So lets not worry about this too much for now.

[AznKhmerBoi]

In short the US shouldnt station any troops to create a conflict because you dont see Chinese troops stationing their army anywhere near the US.

1-China's also recently been involved in territorial disputes involving neighbors as well as accused of cutting international undersea communications lines going into Vietnam and harassing foreign ships. Add to this a longstanding worldview of Chinese supremacy over its neighbors and its rising economic status...well, it's not a great cocktail.

2-The idea behind positioning troops in Australia is to create an effective barrier in the Pacific against increased aggression from China throughout the region to other nations(not necessarily just the US and its direct allies), ranging from American and allied forces in Alaska, Japan, and South Korea, down into Australia and the Melanesian and Polynesian islands. .

Agree with some of your statements, but you have to understand that the territorial dispute that China currently have with Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Brunei, and Vietnam.

1-Just like the Euro Union Southeast Asia have there version called ASEAN which includes Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore,Thailand, Brunei, Burma, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. The main goal is cultural development among its members, the protection of regional peace and stability.

The issue is that some the territory that China laid claims were since debateable before the time of ASEAN and should be resolve between China and those countries who also lay claims.

As for various small skirmishes with China and Vietnam, these things happens all the time when border countries do not a defined territory.

The reason that ASEAN feels that this issue should be resolve with those certain countries is because they are uncertain to who actually owns it and especially with China kindness toward its neighbor, it would be rude to bite the hand that feeds you.
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2- I personally think the stationing of the troops in Austrailia is to fend their main Southeast Asian Nation the Phillipines. As recently Hillary Clinton made her visits to the Phillipines on issues such as South China Sea territorial disputes and the U.S.-Philippines defense alliance.

Oddly enough
Moments later a student activist stood up from the crowd and held up a poster opposing a treaty that allows U.S. troops and ships to visit the Philippines, a former U.S. colony. As he was led out by security, the student yelled, "Junk U.S. imperialism."

It also makes since to station troops in Austrailia because its location is very close to Indochina and where the problems are. Japan & Korea is really not the focus of this new agenda, because there are already US troops station there.

[equalsign]

I just wish the USA (my country) would stop expanding its overseas military influence. The country is way in debt. We literally do not have the money to do this.