| Chinese spy balloon 18:11 - Feb 3 with 4079 views | Samuelowen88 |
Have we covered this?
All seems a bit strange, why use a baloon when they have the satellite technology they do?
You also can't exactly make a baloon go where you want.
And it it was just a weather baloon, why are the US so p*ssed? |  |
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| Chinese spy balloon on 19:04 - Feb 5 with 701 views | Radlett_blue |
| Chinese spy balloon on 17:26 - Feb 5 by DJR |
As if we don't have enough on our hands with conflict against Russia, it does strike me as odd that the West almost appears keen to provoke conflict with China.
There also seems to be an element of paranoia creeping in, with a Tory MP calling today for people to delete the Tik Tok app to protect their personal data.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tiktok-people-china-bytedance-con
Of course, China's record on human rights is poor butt so is the record of so many other countries, and the increasing move to distance the West from China in terms of trade, at a time when we could benefit from China's revival, is also puzzling. |
China is now vying with the US as the global superpower. It's economy will eventually become larger than the US, although they do have a much higher population. The US realises this & doesn't like it & this is partly why it has become far less influential in Europe & the Middle East. I wonder what the US will do if China tries to reappropriate Taiwan. China is an authoritarian, undemocratic regime so no wonder the West is wary. |  |
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| Chinese spy balloon on 19:31 - Feb 5 with 649 views | DJR |
| Chinese spy balloon on 19:04 - Feb 5 by Radlett_blue |
China is now vying with the US as the global superpower. It's economy will eventually become larger than the US, although they do have a much higher population. The US realises this & doesn't like it & this is partly why it has become far less influential in Europe & the Middle East. I wonder what the US will do if China tries to reappropriate Taiwan. China is an authoritarian, undemocratic regime so no wonder the West is wary. |
I think part of the problem may well be that the US hasn't really had a strong direction these last 15 year or so under Obama, Trump. And the same has been true of the rest of the West, which takes its lead from the US
Maybe Iraq and Afghanistan have played a part, but I do sense the US has become very inward-looking, and thus reactive rather than pro-active.
It is also interesting to compare the West's response to Covid to its response to the 2008 financial crash. In 2008, there was a coordinated response, with Gordon Brown playing a large part, but for Covid many countries seemed to go it alone (whether financially or scientificallly). And similarly, there has not been much coordinated response to the cost of living crisis.
It makes one wonder if Russia would have invaded Ukraine, if the West had a more coherent direction. But I do fear the West is also being reactive rather than proactive when it comes to China, and so repeating the same mistakes. |  | | |
| Chinese spy balloon on 20:01 - Feb 5 with 630 views | Oldsmoker |
| Chinese spy balloon on 17:26 - Feb 5 by DJR |
As if we don't have enough on our hands with conflict against Russia, it does strike me as odd that the West almost appears keen to provoke conflict with China.
There also seems to be an element of paranoia creeping in, with a Tory MP calling today for people to delete the Tik Tok app to protect their personal data.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tiktok-people-china-bytedance-con
Of course, China's record on human rights is poor butt so is the record of so many other countries, and the increasing move to distance the West from China in terms of trade, at a time when we could benefit from China's revival, is also puzzling. |
In 1663, Britain got Royal approval for the slave trade.
150 years later and we were still at it.
Of course, we're squeaky clean nowadays - apart from Patel/Braverman mis-steps.
Are we really calling them mis-steps nowadays?
It seems it's 'oops you found us out - sorry about that' makes it all go away. |  |
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| Chinese spy balloon on 14:17 - Feb 6 with 523 views | Crawfordsboot |
| Chinese spy balloon on 17:26 - Feb 5 by DJR |
As if we don't have enough on our hands with conflict against Russia, it does strike me as odd that the West almost appears keen to provoke conflict with China.
There also seems to be an element of paranoia creeping in, with a Tory MP calling today for people to delete the Tik Tok app to protect their personal data.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/tiktok-people-china-bytedance-con
Of course, China's record on human rights is poor butt so is the record of so many other countries, and the increasing move to distance the West from China in terms of trade, at a time when we could benefit from China's revival, is also puzzling. |
It strikes me as a little odd that you describe this as the west provoking China. It’s a Chinese balloon over American territory not the other way round.
Such balloons can be guided to higher or lower levels so as to catch different airstreams and therefore can be guided in certain directions. They can also be positioned so as to sit and monitor continuously. A satellite passes in orbit so is only able to monitor sites for a relatively short period of time. |  | | |
| Chinese spy balloon on 14:53 - Feb 6 with 486 views | giant_stow |
| Chinese spy balloon on 14:17 - Feb 6 by Crawfordsboot |
It strikes me as a little odd that you describe this as the west provoking China. It’s a Chinese balloon over American territory not the other way round.
Such balloons can be guided to higher or lower levels so as to catch different airstreams and therefore can be guided in certain directions. They can also be positioned so as to sit and monitor continuously. A satellite passes in orbit so is only able to monitor sites for a relatively short period of time. |
I would also question whether its the west provoking China in terms of recent history too. China has been provoking the whole world in many ways recently: Indian border battles, threatening Taiwan, treatment of the Uigyers, building military bases on the Spratley Islands (and others), despite the territorial claims of other nations in the area, their response to Covid (after possibly giving it to the rest of the world), industrial IP theft, reneging on the Hong Kong deal and tacit support for North Korea and Russia.
If China continues on that course, the whole world will have a massive problem. |  |
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