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> making it exponentially harder for them to attack Taiwan I fail to see how the sentiments of Vietnam or the Philippines have any bearing on the capacity of C
by wahern 3y ago
> making it exponentially harder for them to attack Taiwan
I fail to see how the sentiments of Vietnam or the Philippines have any bearing on the capacity of China to capture Taiwan. Talk is cheap, and neither country has taken any substantive steps toward a deterrence capability, let alone an improved one.
> The US basically has a barrier of military bases along the entire Chinese coast.
This sounds like something a PRC defense pundit would claim as justification for China's belligerency in the South China Sea. The few US bases in the region are north of the South China Sea, in Japan and North Korea. Take a quick glance at a map.
> The US also besties with Singapore, sharing a navel base there, where it could easily cut off China from middle eastern oil via The Straight of Malacca.
Singapore also has close ties with China, including joint military training: https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/china-says-will-conduct-joint-military-training-with-singapore-coming-weeks-2023-08-28/ https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/china-says-will-c...
The "bases" the US has in Singapore are merely for logistics and training. India also has similar agreements for use of Singapore's naval bases, and India is not a defense ally of the U.S. Singapore has a few bases in the U.S., but they're likewise for training and nobody would claim they're a potential military staging ground.
Singapore isn't a defense ally of the U.S., notwithstanding their defense ties. As a vulnerable city-state Singapore desires to be besties with everybody, especially those who can exert pressure on Malaysia and Indonesia.
- sandGorgon 3y ago>India is not a defense ally of the U.S. India is not a defense ally of any country. However, at this time, India is the only country that is in a state of active war with China.
- anon291 3y agoIndia has a pretty strict neutrality policy. But you can bet if China waged an expansionist war they would be on the same side as those fighting China.
- Workaccount2 3y agoChingi Naval Base is an American naval base shared with the Singapore Navy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changi_Naval_Base https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changi_Naval_Base Here is a map of US military bases: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:American_bases_worldwide.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:American_bases_worldwide.... You can see the US has bases in South korea, Japan, Philipines, and Singapore. As well as outer laying bases in Guam and Northern Australia. China doesn't have any breathing room in the pacific. But when you shit all over your neighbors, that's what happens. They back North Korea. Have centuries long conflict with Japan. And ignore the Philippines South China Sea territory.
- wahern 3y agoThe U.S. doesn't have any bases in the Philippines. Under EDCA the U.S. has been able to place logistics personnel at some Philippine bases. There's no U.S. war fighting capability there, at least not yet--rehabilitation of some old U.S. naval and air facilities for future use has only recently begun, AFAIU. The U.S. also has signals facilities in many places. Some might count these as military bases, but that's a stretch.
- sib301 3y agoSingapore does not have any bases in the US. Not sure what you’re talking about.
- wahern 3y agoFor some reason I thought they had a fully leased facility in the US, but perhaps I was thinking about the 425th squadron: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/425th_Fighter_Squadron https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/425th_Fighter_Squadron That's a permanent squadron dedicated to training RSAF pilots. Singapore keeps their own planes and equipment there. The RSAF also has two other detachments in the US: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Singapore_Air_Force#Overseas_detachments https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Singapore_Air_Forc... Also, "Singapore has the second largest permanent foreign military training presence in the continental United States, with almost 1,000 Singapore Armed Forces personnel training at any one time." https://www.state.gov/u-s-security-cooperation-with-singapore/ https://www.state.gov/u-s-security-cooperation-with-singapor...