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To China's chagrin, Japan-Taiwan talks could pave the way for closer ties
- Ericson2314 5y agoI wonder if it would someday be possible to build and epic rail tunnel between them, by way of Okinawa or something. If this block is the thessalacracy or whatever, increasingly long rail tunnels—be they Switzerland–Italy, Ireland–Britain, Chile–Argentina, or whatever else—would be my preferred foundation for international relations.
- kaladin-jasnah 5y agoHow feasible would that be? I would want to look at the Bering Strait not having a train between it (yet) as a sign that it's hard (and probably too expensive[0]) but a really long overseas train system would be really cool (actually, a highway would be cooler). [0] https://www.iflscience.com/technology/china-wants-to-build-an-8000mile-underwater-train-line-to-the-usa/ https://www.iflscience.com/technology/china-wants-to-build-a...
- shkkmo 5y agoThe actual tunnel under the Bering Strait is only small part of the challenge as the end points of that tunnel are quite a long ways from any existing railways. There would be thousands of miles of rails to lay through difficult terrain.
- lumost 5y agoAnd the two endpoints have had a strong dislike for each other more often than not for the last 100 years.
- Ericson2314 5y agoShouldn'ta sold it!
- thghtihadanacct 5y agoOh, hindsight! Got me again. seriously tho, that tunnel would be useless currently.
- Ericson2314 5y agoYeah not disputing that, just pointing out the Russians might rather extend the trans-siberian railroad to their own colony.
- Ericson2314 5y agoI should add Spain–Morocco to my list. Japan–Korea and Taiwan–Luzon also seem to make far more sense. Japan Twain Ryukyu island hopping is quite a flex, now that I check the map again.
- Ericson2314 5y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan%E2%80%93Korea_Undersea_Tunnel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan%E2%80%93Korea_Undersea_T...
- kenneth 5y agoThere's not much on either side of the Bering strait, so even if feasible there's probably little demand for it.
- kibwen 5y agoYou'd first want to connect the Ryukyu islands to Kyushu via a series of several equally epic rail tunnels. Doesn't make much sense to fly/sail to Okinawa just to disembark and continue by train to Taiwan.
- stuartcw 5y agoErr.. no. It is generally considered unwise to consider boring sea tunnels along the boundaries of tectonic plates in the Ring of Fire especially considering the distance from Taipei to Naha is 641km, 30 times longer than the current record holding sea tunnel between the Hokkaido and the main land. Also note Ireland-Britain has no tunnel.
- mrlonglong 5y agoThere could be if Boris Johnson gets his way. But I rather suspect the Treasury won't let it happen. They are notorious skinflints.
- redis_mlc 5y agoFYI: The US and Japan have an acoustic sensor network that monitors and contains the 9-dashed line area for China's submarines - chokepoints. So the main reason for Japan and Taiwan to have a closer relationahip is to track submarines in that oceanic area, which is considered critical. Since 2010, China has had operational nuclear-powered submarines with MIRVs. They spent 50 years achieving that - and they're aimed at the US, of course. Nuclear submarines are noisy (pumps), and China's doubly so. Also, there's an arms race in that region thanks to Obama's disregard of mutual defense treaties, resulting in Xi's takeover of Scarborough Shoals from the Philippines and the ADIZ around the Japanese Senkaku islands. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarborough_Shoal_standoff https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scarborough_Shoal_standoff https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senkaku_Islands_dispute https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senkaku_Islands_dispute The erosion of America's international credibility started by Obama just increased dramatically with Biden's bungling of the Afghanistan withdrawal. US Democrats in the White House are hapless. There's no point in spending billions on military hardware when nobody believes you can or will use it. Our allies and enemies feared Trump, while they pity Biden, who's a shell of a man plain for all to see in videos since 2012.
- lingua_franca 5y agoThis is not chagrin for China, but danger for Taiwan. Given recent talks and activities between Taiwan and US/Japan, I won't be surprised if China attacks the island within 3 years.
- sativallday 5y agoDepends on if countries will actual come to the aid of Taiwan militarily.