Schnicnac

Yea of course no wonder, it seems after almost 5 decades of Cold War the simplistic Rambo movie style "us good them bad" thinking is rapidly taking hold in many brains again, where each sides almost religiously glorifies their own system. And the sheep just follow. Yet, one might be wondering sometimes about some self-entitling tendency to mentally climaxing each time when the holy word democracy comes up, yet seem to deviate more and more from the nice theoretical concept. A more honest look helps, when looking close enough what some of those self-titled democracies offer, then one will see the suffering from an extreme bipartisan political climate or increasingly narrow corridors of tolerated opinions, a general decline in wealth of the non-elite and a more and more impoverished lower and middle class, drug addiction in the open, ailing or non-existent public infrastructure, ongoing immigration crises, woke'ism... but, hey, at least one can vote for one of the two or maybe more of the "same action different name" parties and everything will definitely change for the better...and yea we hear you people... promised! 🙂

Again, a treaty with linked conditions. You don't follow the conditions, you see repercussions because the other party just pays attention to these. Same as Trump scolded the lousy free rider members of NATO that didn't pay their fair share like famously Germany:) It stands that none has seen Chinese troops venturing to places far offshore to invade them. Sending a full set of troops, tanks and aircrafts vs a bunch of mercenaries in Africa is a whole different game. What existed in recent hundreds years of history is what is called Germany today was a handful of states, some small, some large, the Austrians had an empire together later on with Hungary... Of course the further you go back the more you can have your one country/ empire, but same of course then would be valid for China and its hundreds and hundreds of years claims dating back when it comes to maritime and land claims. In any case Mr. Ice Field, at least one should applaud you for your sense of commitment trying hard to have the last word and with that feel that you are somehow right. Your knowledge of dynamics here in this part of the world lacks the cultural and linguistic insights necessary to tap a layer deeper beyond what has been translated and processed for you already. Cheers! 🍾 🙂

No didn't miss it at all, it's just different from a full fledged army with carriers. Just having mercenaries here and there, not much different from other state sponsored clandestine actors in the Middle East, Central Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe, instigating all kinds of fancy color revolutions 🙂 In HK there were obviously some actors calling for separation, I guess in most countries you would sit in jail for this...even in...mmh...say....Spain 🙂 Germany and Austria are distinct countries...it's not like one was taken from each other after waging war on them because they didn't tolerate state sponsored drug trafficking:)

As much as of a treaty (albeit "only" a bilateral one) as the UN Charter both of which Iraq under Saddam and the US, UK and other allied invaders subscribed too. You see, it's easy to tell others what is good and bad and create rules to be imposed on others, but following them in the same manner can sometimes be a bit hard. Russia was never comfortable with the demarcation and linked it to many conditions, many of which involve Ukraine staying in Russia's realm of influence... and that's why it has not been solved. Again, there is fantastic literature from knowledgeable historians about this, just need to find it 🙂 To the point of being pedantic, but it's called Republic of China, established in 1912 and moved just over to the island to which also previous Chinese governments laid claim and hold. In the ROC people speak almost all Mandarin, some also Hokkien (which is also spoken by the people in Fujian in China's south), use (traditional) Chinese (characters) to write, celebrate Chinese festivals, culture and yes even interact with Mainland China as one of their major trading partner. Ask any of the KMT + allied parties voters there what their preference is, it may shatter your pinky world view 🙂

Haven't seen Russia or China shipping troops thousands of kilometers from their shores to search in vain for nuclear weapons or fighting another system, but rather engage in disputes with neighbors which is pretty more common than you may think. Since the end of Britain's 99 year lease in 1997 China has re-exercised control over the whole of Hong Kong and two years later Macau, nothing new about it. Actually by just looking at a map you may find out they are located at the Southern tip of Guangdong, write and speak Chinese 🙂If you think about it, the Qing had been pretty generous to even give Britain such a long lease after being defeated in wars against state sponsored drug trafficking. And last but not least, even the Republic of China on Taiwan (yes that's the formal name) happens to have maritime disputes in the South China Sea overlapping for example with those of the Philippines as it conflicts with their not 9 but 11 dash line. So what are we going to do about it? 🙂

Guess that also explains the extraordinary overreach of US taxation lamentably harassing its ordinary citizens overseas with related paperwork and pay demands...those very laborious citizens that left and live (and benefit from) in another country and its infrastructure... all this machine, the bases all over the world and the companies benefiting from it cost money. Of course any crisis and conflict is another revenue boost..

Well said

Just had a good laugh at your euro-centric school knowledge with the occasional wikipedia backups you are ardently googling for, followed by post edits 🙂 The Ukraine-Russia border demarcation topic is a bit more nuanced than you may believe. Again it has not been solved, and no some bilateral murky agreements don't do that either 🙂 There is a good article on Chatham House about this topic you may look up. Also I regret to disappoint you but the Civil War in China didn't end because of the US, I don't know in which propaganda school they teach this 🤣 Yes the US helped ending World War by nuking not just one, but two entire cities in Japan, and US military advised KMT leaders (while also establishing links to Mao btw), but troops that stopped the war.... 🤣 Only with the onset of the Korean War the US decided to not let the KMT go down in history and protect the losing party of the civil war that fled to Taiwan and has then used that ever since against Mainland China. Yes even the Republic of China in Taiwan represented the Whole of China in the UN and the Security Council, so guess everyone acknowledged Taiwan as part of a Greater China 🙂Didn't matter much that the regime that fled to Taiwan was authoritarian and not kind to indigenous tribes, but hey, it's a buddy so then "democracy" doesn't matter so much 🙂 And yes, while most people prefer the current status quo vs anything else, the respective camps and their voter bases have their own preferences on how to go from there and this is what I recommend to look at for those who are not so firm in the miniscule details of dynamics there...

You just seem to miss the point that the KMT plus allied parties have a significant voter base... and it just so happened this week the former KMT leader just showed up in Beijing. Tip: a quick check what they stand for may quickly lead to some more enlightenment outside of CNN 🙂

🤣

Yes, it might be incredible for some people from across the pond (or continent for that matter) without any slightest cultural nor linguistic insight into how others may think, nevertheless we'd be hard-pressed to find a country that would take public humiliation diplomatically lightly 🙂 Since you mention treaties, I'm not aware of any treaty in which Russia recognized the pattern of its borders with Ukraine. Yes it recognizes there are borders, but how are the exactly defined? That hasn't been solved since 1991. The reason that the US has troops stationed in Taiwan is simply to access world class computer chips, deny China an unsinkable carrier, and prolong its meddling into a civil war by backing the losing side which since then has evolved into a vibrant democracy. It's all about stopping Chinas rise as superpower, clinging onto its decades long preeminent leadership in global affairs which is now waning by the day, with the majority of jurisdictions across planet earth having China already as their most important trading partner. Certainly they did not put troops there because Taiwan is a democracy. This is just laughable "good guy" marketing propaganda many of the wannabe self-entitled folks in the west with their narrow opinion corridors fall for as well (since the US didn't bother about the authoritarian leadership under the KMT there during the Cold War either).

There is something especially people here in this part of the world call face. Filing an application to be then publicly rejected or openly played with, yes even more humiliating when the USSR was just falling apart. Again, if the puppet masters at NATO had any honest foresight and streamlined the "application process" they wouldn't need to shiver now for Europe having turned into a warzone. As other posters pointed out, there was a tacit understanding NATO would not expand eastwards, yet had done so without hitting the breaks and now even fantasizing about offices in Tokyo. Look, even for Taiwan you seem to miss the point that there is a significant percentage of the populace supporting the very party that sees Taiwan as part of China... so what are US troops there for? Also encirclement (along with South Korea, Japan, Philippines and cozying up to Vietnam which it just bombed along with Laos a few decades ago? There is something called Karma, in Oz it's called boomerang. Time well tell 🙂

I'm also wondering often why so many moaning people linger around here, complaining about Thailand, while praising the western paradises they come from, yet make no move to follow through on what they preach... there is enough border exit points 🙂

Wrong, or maybe you missed that specific history lecture day. The interest to join NATO dates back to Gorbachev already. A little bit more of foresight to seize that olive branch and then integrating an "enemy" could have prevented so much of what we see today. The last straw was that salami-slicing-tactic of bringing Ukraine into EU/ Western fold and calling the invasion of Ukraine (yes it is an invasion by Russia) an act of defense is obviously wrong, but it is simply a way to remove a too western friendly regime that would be another pearl on the string around Russia's western border. This, coupled with color revolutions that spread into Central Asia. Yes the very Central Asia you deem drifting apart from Russia that are actually closer to Russia and China, such as through the SCO. In any case, fair game, when a country feels threatened by being invaded directly or by sponsored regime change operations, then yea why not ask buddies to protect you. That's what buddies do, right? 🙂

Stationing nuclear missiles in any part of a country's own territory is a bit different from placing them in "allied" countries. Wouldn't otherwise have heard of a Bering Strait missile crisis... But since you have all the insights, so what exactly triggered the failing of Putin's interest to join NATO? Fear of unemployment and drifting into irrelevance by the NATO apparatchiks back then once there was no enemy to "defend" against anymore? Or fear of another big country in the club so that the US wouldn't be the only one? Ukraine as the biggest territory in Eastern Europe was the last straw... it's great to see the world from a Rambo movie good vs evil perspective, but the world is a bit more nuanced and people both here and in Russia for that matter may have different views of world matters 🙂 Fair enough, no cries then when Chinese ships go tit for that with freedom of navigation exercises or build bases around the American continent at some point 🙂