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I’ve just passed Ito Yokado & Isetan downtown, and in Isetan in particular have seen around 70-80 women grappling for handbags in the bargain bin. Go team!
Both stores looked busy. Up consumerism!!
@Brendan: Given how stage managed these protests are, and the fact that they were deliberately created to distract the Chinese from other topics like the power transition and the economic slowdown, I think this is the last place you should look for real social change.
Quote:I think this is the last place you should look for real social change.Oh don’t get me wrong, I expected absolutely zero social change as an even remotely possible outcome of this. I was really posing the question (to myself) whether or not this would escalate to on account of some of the vandalism and such taking place, and the subsequent reaction that would follow to quell it.
It’s actually hilarious how everything has just fallen back into shape again after Tuesday afternoon’s parade. I’ve grabbed some food in Isetan tonight and the store was absolutely rammed.
Some news for those of you inside the firewall, here is the latest since a day and a half ago (I’m in Taiwan).
There are now 16 Chinese light destroyers and 4 maritime patrol vessels around the Diau Islands along with 100 Taiwanese missile cruisers and assorted escort ships and Japan also has thrown 80+ frigates and assorted ships. Add to this madness 1000+ fishing vessels from all three countries and you know that’s a volatile mix. All in the same space around a few rocks sticking out of the water.
On the biz front China is threatening to withhold 100% of it’s rare
earth mineral exports to Japan for 3C and electronic devices which
would instantly shut off the Japanese economy. Strange winds are
blowing, and all the citizens of all the falling economies of Asia are now distracted enough so they are not complaining about what is
happening at home. The distraction has let them forget falling wages,unemployment and the economic slowdown.
There is open internet in Taipei and its on the news morning, and evening. Their worry is not that the governments will start shooting at each other but some bone head nationalist fisherman from one of the three countries with an AK-47 on their fishing boat will fire on a military vessel.
Happy Thursday! Peace
Quote:i wish i could post a gif for my reaction to this but LOLOLOL.If you have thoughts or opinions, share them. Posting LOL and leaving in the middle of a discussion that people have put time and thought into is rude.
That’s a lot of boats. Dave does the news have any video or photos to show the density or anything like that? I haven’t seen anything in the last couple days but have looked, mostly just searched for the fishing boats…was hoping to see them swarm “like locusts” on the sea, but alls I found was generic images and text.
Youtube had one clip, but it’s from CCTV and doesn’t say or show much, a clip with like 2 ships in it.
Here’s a good article I just caught: China Tests US-Japan Ties in Island Dispute
“The pitch of the growing tensions over the Senkaku Islands, which the Chinese call the Diaoyu Islands, has been carefully orchestrated by Beijing over several months to exert pressure on Tokyo and Washington in order to see what fault lines appear, but without causing events to cascade out of control.”
Quote:Some news for those of you inside the firewall, here is the latest since a day and a half ago (I’m in Taiwan).I’ve been following news of this pretty closely but hadn’t heard that. Thanks for the update Dave.
Quote:Here’s a good article I just caught: China Tests US-Japan Ties in Island DisputeGood article. An interesting paragraph:
Quote:It doesn’t matter that the demonstrations were almost entirely stage-managed by the Chinese authorities. “Protesters” were briefed about acceptable chants, were provided with banners if they lacked them, and told that, while it was fine to throw eggs, please don’t throw rocks or cause damage.Basically: “Please do exactly what we want while still feeling like you are enjoying the right to protest”
Another good one:
Could Asia Really Go to War Over These?
Just like this article, a comparison between modern China and the pre-WW1 German Empire is drawn. That is becoming a popular analogy to describe three defining features of China right now which are:
1. Explosive economic growth
2. Hyper nationalism
3. Contempt for and mistrust of surrounding nations
@tall dave
Taiwan doesn’t even have 100 naval vessels, much less anything you’d call a ‘missile cruiser’. Wikipedia does claim they have about 50 missile boats and site reputable sources. But a missile boat is hardly a real naval vessel – the ones ROC has don’t even mount their own radar, instead depending on other sources to find their targets. Basically they’re disposable missile carriers with no defensive capabilities of their own, and are the equivalent of suicide dive bombers.
Not the photos I wanted, Brendan….
BUT THAT’S AWESOME!
@Max — “Assorted escort ships” could be any type of ship to accompany their missile cruisers..regardless – I think the point is, they’re trying to throw some boats into the mix.
Quote:Taiwan doesn’t even have 100 naval vessels, much less anything you’d call a ‘missile cruiser’.Taiwan is the little guy stuck in the middle of two giants beating their chests (okay, basically only China is saber rattling). Among China and Japan though, the islands are currently under Japanese control and I don’t see that changing unless Japan willingly gives them up. Aside from US support, Japanese military power is modernized and considerable. Not to mention, developed economies almost never wage war in the traditional sense because they both stand to lose too much.
Imagine for a second what would happen if China were to go to war with Japan, which is a potential outcome of the buildup of Japanese and Chinese ships around the island. Chinese factories across the country shut down without US & Japanese trade, the Chinese middle class gets obliterated, workers and peasants riot, and then at that point we are not far from a total breakdown of the current system of order in China. I don’t see this going to war because it would not end well for anyone, especially China.
Yeah, I agree, having a war now is an incredibly bad idea for both parties. China has no functional way to even prosecute a war,, its navy is incredibly outgunned and it can’t invade anyone with its massive army. It can only launch missiles, which would hopefully be non-nuclear.
All China really wanted out of this rabble rousing was A: The distraction from other events and B: The bargaining chip of all the ravening hordes demanding blood to use at the table when they sit down and talk this out with the Japanese. I’m sure the political calculus for them was an easy win-win there, since all that hatred becomes externally focused.
Here is a snippet from China Post in Taiwan,
TAIPEI–At least 100 Taiwanese fishing boats are expected to approach the disputed Diaoyutai Islands in the East China Sea in the coming days to protest against Japan’s occupation of the island group and harassment of fishermen around the islands.
“Our goal is to mobilize over 100 fishing boats to gather in the waters around the Diaoyutais,” Chen said.
He said the plan is for the participating vessels to circle the waters 12 nautical miles off the island group, which is administered by Japan but also claimed by China and Taiwan.
He also did not rule out the possibility that the boats will try to penetrate the defenses of Japanese patrol boats and land on the islets to raise the Taiwan flag in a show of protest.
It is estimated that the fishermen taking part in the protest will need at least NT$5 million (US$170,179) in fuel subsidies for their protest.
The association will shoulder NT$1.4 million of the cost, but members of committee will have to solicit donations to make up the shortfall.
So if the fishermen of Taiwan need extra funds to protest and the journey is three times shorter than vessels coming from China, I wonder how much China is subsidizing the Chinese fishermen?
Independent protests funded by the govt. Go team Go!
Peace and Love
Wow, badass fishing boat protest! They’re circling only 12 nautical miles off the coast, that’s…….. Wait, international waters. What a blowhard piece, although most domestics who read it likely end with the thought “were sending protesting boats to show them!” when in fact it’s as ballsy as protesting an occupation of the moon from Portland.
Strange…all this. Wouldn’t China get their asses handed to them if they did go to war with…almost anyone? A big standing army with no navy means what? they’d have to conscript all the fishing boats in China to send their troops anywhere? OK, no one’s gonna invade or be able to invade China, but no one wants to do that anyway.
But to back up their intentions in the South China Sea, wouldn’t even Taiwan or South Korea’s Navy pretty much obliterate China’s?
I would think China would wait another 20-30 years to do this posturing –in which time they probably will have a formidable Navy. Then again, I could be wrong about the relative military strengths of the region…
BTW–does Taiwan have nukes?
@Brian
Simply put..no. Here’s some statistics:
China:
NAVAL POWER
Total Navy Ships: 972
Merchant Marine Strength: 2,012 [2012]
Major Ports & Terminals: 8
Aircraft Carriers: 1 [2012]
Destroyers: 25 [2012]
Submarines: 63 [2012]
Frigates: 47 [2012]
Patrol Craft: 332 [2012]
Mine Warfare Craft: 52 [2012]
Amphibious Assault Craft: 233 [2012]
Japan:
NAVAL POWER
Total Navy Ships: 110
Merchant Marine Strength: 673 [2011]
Major Ports & Terminals: 10
Aircraft Carriers: 0 [2011]
Destroyers: 10 [2011]
Submarines: 16 [2011]
Frigates: 36 [2011]
Patrol Craft: 6 [2011]
Mine Warfare Craft: 29 [2011]
Amphibious Assault Craft: 25 [2011]
This is only the number of craft, I don’t know the details on the power or modernization of each craft in the categories above. This information is from http://www.globalfirepower.com
On another note, even if there was war and nukes thrown, I HAVE GOOD NEWS PEOPLE:
http://motherboard.vice.com/2012/9/20/u-s-dropped-nukes-on-beer-and-it-was-a-good-idea-too
NOTE: USA statistics,
NAVAL POWER
Total Navy Ships: 2,384
Merchant Marine Strength: 418 [2011]
Major Ports & Terminals: 21
Aircraft Carriers: 11 [2011]
Destroyers: 59 [2011]
Submarines: 75 [2011]
Frigates: 30 [2011]
Patrol Craft: 12 [2011]
Mine Warfare Craft: 14 [2011]
Amphibious Assault Craft: 30 [2011]
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