Tanomazu

That's true, but you could have said the same of the German tank regiments in 1939. Unlike then I do not think any allies will play a major role. The UK is a country which currently looks like it will be running out of gas to produce basic consumer items, as well as running out of meat and concerned about food shortages. Australia is a very small country with negligible military capabilities. If a military conflict were to happen it would be largely down to the US and China. Even Russia would be unlikely to play a role, because the US have already stated that they would not invade China and Russia's strength is on land. Japan and South Korea have surface naval vessels but no submarine capabilities to speak of. If a Sino-American conflict happens it will be, without a doubt a naval affair. And the Chinese have developed new technology which even Pentagon planners think would at the press of a button destroy US aircraft carriers with missiles. The only option the US have is to engage in submarine warfare. To destroy the Chinese naval vessels that transport troops to Taiwan, and to destroy Chinese supply ships. China has 60 submarines. The USA has 66. But of those 14 are SSBNs, so nuclear missile submarines which would only play a role in an all out atomic war, which is more than extremely unlikely due to the need for self-preservation. After all China has 200-300 nuclear missiles that can destroy the entire US, the entire planet, many times over, and the US has even more missiles. For the reason of self-preservation alone therefore a full nuclear war is unlikely. A blockade of the sea around China is another matter, but the Germans did not really bring the UK to its knees despite a successful submarine campaign, whether the US could do so with China, with 52 submarines is hard to say. Either way I strongly doubt the Chinese will go to war with Taiwan. The US have already made clear they do not fancy a war with China, see Gen Mark Milley.

"China has the strongest military force in the world according to a study released on March 21 by defence website Military Direct. China wins in a sea war with 406 ships vs Russia with 278 and the USA or India with 202, it said." https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/defence/china-beats-us-in-ultimate-military-strength-index-while-india-comes-in-fourth/china/slideshow/81632470.cms

So you've been around for a long time but only 200 posts? I don't know, seems a bit doubtful to me.

Okay, because they're highly promiscuous.

You mean Bonobos are not promiscuous?

The problem is you have "perspective blinkers". You don't see things as they are. Only through a lens of what used to be. Bangkok is still Bangkok. And if some of the places you liked have disappeared it's usually because they did not make money and nobody wanted to go there anymore. Moreover, many better places have appeared in Bangkok, CM and other places which did not exist when you first came 16 years ago. I disagree that land prices are "absurd". They compare very favourably with many Western countries. You can easily get houses with decent amounts of land. One could still go out, pre-Covid, for a fraction of the cost of what that night out would cost in New York or London or Paris. Of course prices go up over time, that is the case in every single place on earth. You can still eat for 65 Baht in Thailand. Try getting a meal for that money in Western countries. Now, I would agree that overall Thailand is not much cheaper, if you eat Western food, obviously. However, Thailand has many attractions that continue, and have not disappeared, eg Fantastic weather, much cheaper accommodation (ie you get more for the money), wide variety of dining options, far better shopping than any Western country (ie better shopping malls and the largest market in Asia for unique items), interesting Buddhist culture, graceful and polite people (who yes are not considerate as neighbours or drivers but at least will not spray graffiti everywhere and kill you for kicks). Thailand is still exotic, and highly attractive.

The basis for love was pair bonding. Because romantic love could only be invented and thrive on the basis of pair bonding. In terms of time pair bonding longe preceded love. At the very start human society was highly promiscuous, both male and female, and males had to engage in physical combat to ensure sexual access to females. This is seen in many primate societies like Bonobos, Chimpanzees. However, in those primate societies we also see that the non-dominant males resorted to a trick to gain sexual access to females, they offered them food in return for sex. The same happened in human society. However, when another male swooped in and "stole" a pregnancy, obviously the provisioning was a lost investment. Thus human beta males developed the concept of fidelity and pair bonding was born. This not only reduced the injuries by males, time invested in male competition, but also allowed those males to be sure of their offspring and to invest more time in their rearing. Thus the family was born. We should always remember that primates are naturally promiscuous and that love is an artificial construct, as is pair bonding, which was invented by males who were defeated in male on male competition. There is very little reason today, apart from culture, religion, media and convention, for women to adhere to the fidelity principle implicit in pair bonding, because provisioning is done by employers and the state for females now. Indeed with divorce, breaking the fidelity principle is economically rewarded for females. This will no doubt further erode the fidelity principle in modern times. https://www.pnas.org/content/109/25/9923

That is purely for domestic consumption. Of course it suits the Chinese to portray the US, UK and OZ as agressors. AUKUS is no hardening of attitude, it's merely a continuation of Five Eyes in the guise of Three Eyes, with a few subs throw in for Australia. None of that matters at all. Neither China will go to war over Taiwan, nor would the US go to war with China. See Mark Milley bending over backwards to assure his Chinese counterparts that will not be the case. Evergrande is actually an example of Chinese regulators doing their job, unlike those in the West. The reason Evergrande is in trouble is because of the rules brought in by the Chinese themselves. We have to see if they make interest payments and if there are real issues China may step in anyway to save it. Let's see. It's a sign of a maturing economy, that rules and regulations are brought in which even the biggest players have to abide by.

Absolutely unlikely, given the massive economic interests Germany, France, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Singapore all have in China. Why would they hobble their economies to placate an American country that has shown it betrays its allies in a heartbeat? Makes no sense.

Yah, China moving away from capitalism. Okay. You're welcome to your opinon.

And China has plenty of foreign markets. Even without the US. The US tried a trade embargo with very mixed results. Hobble Huawei? Okay, so Xiaomi becomes the worlds biggest phone company instead. The Chinese economy is like a Hydra, you take one head off and two grow in its place. I very much doubt France, Germany, Indonesia, Malaysia, Italy, Spain, Singapore would follow US calls for a global boycott of China. After how the US, UK and Australia showed they will betray their allies in a heartbeat.

Again, the US is far from insane enough to start a war with China. We saw that with Gen Mark Milley's bending over backwards to kiss up to his Chinese counterparts to ensure they know he would give them advance notice of any strike. Nor is China mad enough to risk its entire economy over Taiwan. So China does not need to win a conventional war. Because there won't be one. America does not have the appetite for one in any event, as we saw with Afghanistan. All China has to do is to keep doing what it's doing, for its maturing economy to keep clocking in superb growth figures the West can only dream of, grow its economy, grow its military, grow its new silk road. In the end, as we see America wobbling domestically and militarily, it's only a question of time until China overtakes everyone.

Except the US tried that with Huawei and failed miserably. Even banned Huawei from the Google universe. Net result? Chinese phone maker Xiaomi overtakes Samsung and Iphone. "For instance, US restrictions on vital chips and the use of key Google services has crippled Huawei’s smartphone sales around the world. But as it turns out, thus far the real winner in this instance is another Chinese telecoms company, Xiaomi. Recently labeled the “World’s Hottest Smartphone Brand,” Xiaomi sold more phones in June than Samsung and in the second quarter of 2021 jumped past Apple to become number two in world sales. " https://www.aei.org/technology-and-innovation/whats-up-with-huawei-and-whats-up-with-the-biden-administrations-endless-china-policy-review/ You seem to forget that China has markets all over the world, the US is just one market among many, the UK and Australia don't even matter at all in terms of markets for China.

It would be very nice if China's expansion could be checked in the South China Sea, indeed all over South East Asia. However, such a goal can not be accomplished with a silly Five Eyes, Three Eyes, AUKUS, or some such nonsense. The only way to truly check Chinese power is to destroy it, to fight it. And as we saw in the Hindukush, the American's don't even have the stomach to take on stone age Afghan Taleban fighters. Their voters do not want American soldiers to die in Afghanistan, Taiwan or the South China sea. That is why American presidents from Trump to Biden wanted to withdraw the military from Afghanistan, they want votes. American could easily bomb China. However, that would risk nuclear retaliation by China. America, for voter reasons, for self preservation, would never ever go to war with China. It would be insane. So they are trying to project what they can't put in place, power on the ground. By calling on Australia to drive a few submarines around, maybe become a nuclear power down the line (which Australian voters would never go for I suspect). Ultimately, China holds all the cards. It's economy is the world's strongest. It's population the world's largest. You can not really defeat China. They could hardly defeat Germany, which had far less people than China, far less economic clout. It's ludicrous. All AUKUS is is simply a scaled back Five Eyes, an open declaration that the Anglos will spy on everyone else. It doesn't mean a thing. In real terms.

Exactly right. We can see by Xi Jinping's war on his media companies, which are largely controlled by his rivals, that he is jockeying for power in China. He is consolidating his hold domestically. In these circumstances it would be hard to see a war with Taiwan. China is very much playing a long term strategic hand. And they do not need to invade Taiwan. Already in Afghanistan we have seen that US military power is imploding and weakening. It would be crazy for China to risk US air strikes over Taiwan when its economy still has a long way to go to mature and the US are doing China the favour of imploding domestically and militarily all by themselves.

Absolutely correct. Neither will China give the US an excuse to bomb its economy, nor do the US have the will to go to war over Taiwan or the South China sea. Couldn't agree more. AUKUS, like I said, is more about the interests of the US defense industry, that want to play up war with China to increase drone orders, submarine sales, and the like.

Intel has manufacturing and assembly/test facilities in China, Israel, Ireland, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the United States of America. https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000029951/processors/intel-xeon-processors.html They seem rather well diversified in terms of production locations if you ask me.

The largest and best semi-conductor companies the world are: 1. Intel (USA) 2. Samsung (South Korea) 3. TSMC (Taiwan) 4. SK Hynix (South Korea) 5. Micron (USA) 6.Qualcom (USA) 7. Broadcom (USA) 8. Nvidia (USA) 9. TI (USA) 10. Infineon (Germany) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiconductor_industry I don't know if you noticed, the supply of chips in the US and the whole world is already interrupted, and we've seen no war of any kind.

A takeover of Taiwan plan would involve a blockade of the island and the bombing of key infrastructure (ports, runways, oil tanks, powerplants) that would paralyze much of Taiwanese activity within days. Second step would be a bombing of military outposts along the shore followed by a mass invasion of an army of hundreds of thousands of CCP soldiers sailing the Taiwan straight in a huge commandeered civilian fleet (fishing boats, cargo vessels, shuttles etc) along with their navy, with China maintaining A2/AD area denial of the region. China's military is still no match for the US in a land war on neutral soil, but they would be fighting on home turf the type of war their whole military has been geared towards for decades now. The US Navy's edge in carrier groups would probably be denied by the threat of hypersonic missile swarms, and overall, China has the edge as they view Taiwan as an existential national goal towards which they are willing to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of soldiers, while the American public is war-weary and has no real stake in Taiwan. In contrast, American presidents from Trump to Biden have shown they are more concerned about votes. And their voters in the US do not want American soldiers to die in Afghanistan, Taiwan or the South China Sea. There is no point in having a superior military if you don't have the will to use it. And from Vietnam to Afghanistan, we have seen time and time again that the Americans are not willing to use it. Ultimately however, your point is moot, I doubt very much China will be gearing up to invade Taiwan any time soon. Xi Jinping still has to consolidate his hold in China. The recent war on the media is because it is dominated by his rivals, and he wants to strengthen his hold in China. Much more likely is that China will not be goaded into doing something rash over Taiwan, despite its mad dog rhetoric, which is really for home consumption.

Because they're using the scaling back of Five Eyes to Three Eyes as a political propaganda weapon, obviously. They will portray America, UK and Australia as the agressor, it suits them very well. They will not relish the prospect of Australia becoming a nuclear base, clearly. But all of that was already in place, or on the cards before. AUKUS does not change a thing really. If you seriously think that the US, UK or Australia will push back against Chinese aggression for real, say if the Chinese would invade Taiwan, I think you're living in La La land. Clearly, we have seen with Afghanistan that the Americans will run and betray their allies even when it has real security concerns at stake, America is imploding really, domestically and militarily. If a real aggression by China against Taiwan would happen the US, UK and Australia would do precisely nothing. Because they know any politician that risks American, UK, OZ soldier's lives for say Taiwan, or even more ridiculous, the South China Sea, would soon be voted out. Their voters do not want war. And AUKUS is not about war, or resisting Chinese aggression, AUKUS is about the economic interests of the US defense industry, which is playing up the Chinese threat to get more orders for drones etc. You can all rest assured, the US will do a runner again, before they let US soldiers die for Taiwan.

AUKUS changes nothing, it's a paper tiger. It's not like the US capabilities are radically enhanced by a dwarf country like Australia, population 25 million or the sick man of Europe, the UK, where even the NHS can't take care of its own people. We've already known that the US, with Australia and the UK is spying on its allies with Five Eyes. So now they'll do it even more, as if that were even possible. It should surprise noone that the Americans betray ASEAN and EU countries in pursuit of their self-interest. Nor that the Australians wish to crawl under the comforting security blanket of the Americans, given how China whipped them recently. Even if that means Australia becoming yet another colonised military base for the Americans. The Australians are afraid. Of China. Biden probably did this to distract from his catastrophic failure in Afghanistan, to pretend he has a foreign policy of importance, when in reality this is just Five Eyes 2.0. China will be far too prudent to do anything rash, and will continue to build its railway through Thailand, all of Asia in fact. Meanwhile America will have to deal with near civil war conditions at home, the UK with its ailing health service and Australia, well, who cares really.

It's not just Thailand: "...few countries were as surprised as Australia’s neighbours to the north, the ASEAN members. In particular, Indonesia and Malaysia have come out strongly against Australia’s plan to acquire a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines with the help of the US and UK. Even Singapore, Australia’s most reliable ally in the region, has expressed concern. First, many of them think there is no such thing as acquiring nuclear-powered submarines without the prospect of acquiring nuclear weapons in the future. Australia has not joined the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which requires parties to agree not to develop, test, produce, acquire, possess, stockpile or threaten to use nuclear weapons. Both Indonesia (the unofficial leader of ASEAN) and Malaysia fear AUKUS will also lead to a major arms race in the wider Indo-Pacific region." https://theconversation.com/why-is-southeast-asia-so-concerned-about-aukus-and-australias-plans-for-nuclear-submarines-168260

County Mayo, lol, that scraggy little, moss covered, mud brown, wind beaten backwater, lol....as if it could ever compete with the beauty of a full on rain-forest in Thailand, you're clearly trolling. County Mayo is completely out of contention, nobody in their right mind would move to a place like Ireland, the whipping boy of the English. Ever been to north Thailand mountains? The rain forests? Scenery that far surpasses anything you'd see in Ireland ten times over. And certainly a lot warmer, thank God, than these cold backwaters in Ireland. The ice-cold winter being the price of your very short spring and summers. No thanks. Give me the consistently warm Thai weather any day. I wouldn't touch ladyboys with a barge pole, I come to Thailand for the culture, the weather, the food, the people the shopping, all of it miles better than anything Ireland, Britain or Spain can offer. But nice of you to comment on my post, which you obviously didn't read, 5555...

Well that just shows your staggering ignorance of South East Asia's history. In fact when Angkor Wat was taking off Spain had to roll over and be colonised by Arab invaders. There was nothing even remotely comparing to Angkor Wat in Spain at the time. It also shows your ignorance of Spanish history, the Spanish empire was not long-lived. In fact the south-east Asian Kingdom of Srivijaya was in Philippines long before the Spanish found it. They also colonised Africa long before the British. Srivijaya, Khmer, Majapahit, Shailandra, Sukhotai, Dvaravati, Langkasuka, all these empires mean nothing to you because you're simply ignorant and uneducated. However, in fact the achievements in south-east Asia far outshine anything done in Rome or Spain. We now know that it was in fact south-east Asians who colonised not just all of the South-east Asian archipelagos but also most of Polynesia, up to Hawaii. Furthermore evidence is emerging that the Native American Indians may have got there not just via a land bridge, but also across the seas, namely from south-east Asia. South East Asians thus discovered Africa, North America, Hawaii and Polynesia fantastically early, far, far earlier than when the Spanish arrived, and they did so on rudimentary sea vessels in much more difficult conditions then the Spanish endured. The achievements of South East Asians are just never recognised because they are not taught in schools and largely ignored by the west. However, empires there have been, explorations too, and in fact if it had not been for South-East Asia we would not have the corporation or Christmas as we know it today. The difference is that the South-East Asians always enriched the lands they ended up in, whereas the Europeans took from them and left them poorer. However, this is no doubt all too hard to comprehend for you. Spain may do better in Sport today, but it was not always thus, for a long time Spain was insignificant in terms of sports, only when money poured in did Spain start to excel in sport. However, if you walk around Thailand today and see young men play foot-volleyball you can't help but think that is so much more skillful than any sport done in Spain today. Just a question of money. My point in any event was that you can play any sports you like in Thailand, which btw, now has world class golfers. Again, a question of money. Hard to concentrate on horse-riding (where btw Spain does not excel at all in modern equestrian sport) when colonial exploitation has left the countries so poor that most of the people can not afford the basics of life. And that exploitation continues today.

And how will he transcribe it from a screenshot? He said she sent him screenshots. Presumably in Thai. So he typed the Thai text from the screenshot into Google Translate? Okay.