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Japan Launches Two New Spy Satellites
According to the Daily Yomiuri, "Japan launched two satellites on Jan. 27 to strengthen its surveillance capabilities, including keeping a closer eye on North Korea which has vowed to stage another nuclear test. One of them was a radar-equipped unit to complete a system of surveillance satellites that will allow Tokyo to monitor any place in the world at least once a day. The other was a demonstration satellite to collect data for research and development." The Defense News version of the story says "Japan developed a plan to use several satellites as one group to gather intelligence in the late 1990s as a response to a long-range missile launch by Pyongyang in 1998. The space agency has said the radar satellite would be used for information-gathering, including data following Japan’s 2011 quake and tsunami, but did not mention North Korea by name."
Check this video of new spy technology for drones and presumably spy satellites: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=e95_1359267780
A single drone can cover a 25 sq mi area with 6" resolution. This video is incredible in that it gives you a detailed peek at what is possible from a single aircraft and the amount of data-processing that can be done in real time.
They're two different kinds of threats. China at least rotates its leaders in and out, and probably has less of a chance of some maniac doing stupid things that would endanger both China's economy and those of its competitors. NK, on the other hand, is ruled by a cult of personality unrivaled in the world today, and if he starts believing his own propoganda, there's no telling what suicidal path KJU will take NK down.
I've learned that they're worthless, so I don't read AC comments anymore.
If North Korea is not a threat then surely China wouldn't be either. Admittedly the Chinese seem to hold a grudge for a very long time over the Nanking Massacre, but I cannot imagine them attacking Japan.
Fable and history are merely tools of statecraft. The decision to go to war or not with anyone has much more to do with resources and trade routes than anything sentimental. As long as China is getting its way, and Japan does not become weak, Japan is safe. But at a certain point China will outgrow its current situation and will find it necessary to make territorial gains in order to keep growing, or something will get in its way, like the US. When that happens both sides will come up with a narrative that gives it them an apparent moral highground, and we get a war.
Wha seems to be becoming difficult now is reading the enemy's movements, because there is so much activity it is easier to hide significant events in plain sight, like the building of underground installations, etc. Unknown unknowns are the scariest thing of all.
Do it yourself, because no one else will do it yourself. [beta blockade 10-17 Feb]
China had a cult of personality but it didn't work, so they reverted to the earlier system prior to the republic (which also didn't work), but without an emperor. A complex order of bureaucrats runs things in China today just like it has for thousands of years. Communism is just a facade. Heck, they could still have an emperor if they wanted and things would be almost exactly the same.
China's most immediate goal is southern Siberia. China severely lacks farmable land, and the russians have a lot of it unused. Both are conducting military excercises in the area. Russia, though, knows that it can not stand against China by it's own, so is seeking admission into NATO; the USA knows that it does not want to help Russia and is thus seeking withdrawal from NATO. This is also a part of why USA is leaving the Atlantic and focusing on the Pacific now. For the Russians it would probably make most sense to go Alaska on Siberia, but their imperial pride might not be willing to do in under pressure.
China's second immediate goal is a possible attack from Japan, not that it would be much of a problem. Of course they would not attack Japan by themselves, nothing to gain there. But they are pawning Japan in another game. Remember when USA was giving crap to China because China "artificially" keeps its currency cheap? China was doing it by buying up massive amounts of USD, basic stuff. When the amount of crap they recieved became too high, they outsourced it to Japan. Started to buy up yen instead. The price of yen rising, Japan losing it's export power, all of their big companies going bust. Japan is doing it's best to cheapen the yen by buying up USD themselves, (following the Chinese masterplan) but they can not match the Chinese wallet. So the Japanese economy, already in a standstill for decades, is now on the brink of collapse. And they might be crazy enough to go kamikaze on the Great Wall of China.
But the dance around Taiwan? I do not think so. They are too small to pose any real threat, but they work wonders as an enemy to point at for rallying up masses. They also work wonders as a diplomatic taboo, a card that will move mountains if played well.
FCKGW 09F9 42
I think that there is not any zeal for expansionist policy in the postwar generation. There is still plenty of cultural/racial prejudice in Japan, but that doesn't always equate with empire building.
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NK is essentially an arm of China. One has to understand that China has a lot of control over what NK does due to leadership ties, and NK has traditionally served as an agent of Chinese interests when really shoddy stuff has to be done.
That in addition to the old animosity that most Koreans, North or South have for Japanese and the fact that NK has a very strong spying presence in Japan to the point of kidnapping japanese to get them to teach japanese customs and culture to their agents, NK is a very credible threat to Japan, and far greater threat then China in short term.
So how long have you been a member of the KKK?
Because if you disagree with Obama, or just so happen to not like the color tie he chooses to wear, you instantly receive your custom bath robe and lifetime membership card.
There's a lot of "young farts" and "middle aged farts" thinking the same thing. Make no mistake, while Japan being a classic East Asian country with extreme interests in keeping their face and therefore only aim to show their "civilized" side to the outside world, the nationalist pride is present and going stronger then ever after WW2 defeat. Look no further then Japanese PMs visiting Yasukuni shrine in spite of massive problems this causes to their foreign relations. They simply have to do this, because if they didn't, voters with that particular point of view would likely not vote for them in next election.
It's not terribly different from US bible belt folks and US presidents having to pay significant lip service to the Christianity regardless of their own thoughts on the matter.
In other words: they are a very traditional Western country in spite of being located in Far East.
That's one way to look at it. Another way to look at it is to think of China as a country run by engineers. The current president Hu Jintao is a hydraulic engineer and the next guy in line Xi Jinping is a chemical engineer and Jiang Zemin who was president before Hu Jintao was an electrical engineer. The next couple of guys in line in the politburo are economists and engineers.
Once you realize that China is run by engineers a lot of what China is doing begins to make sense in a sort of intuitive way if you're a tech person yourself.
>China's second immediate goal is a possible attack from Japan, not that it would be much of a problem.
>Of course they would not attack Japan by themselves, nothing to gain there.
>But they are pawning Japan in another game. Remember when USA was giving crap to China because China "artificially" keeps its currency cheap?
>China was doing it by buying up massive amounts of USD, basic stuff. When the amount of crap they recieved became too high, they outsourced it to Japan.
China HAD to "buy" USD, they are selling a lot of stuff to Americans. Americans can only pay with USD at some level, and Chinese have to accept it. There is little they can do with it, except buy treasury bonds. (or burn it for heat in the winter).
>Started to buy up yen instead.
Well I think they are only buying Yen to the extent they sell stuff to Japan, which is much less than they sell to the US.
>The price of yen rising, Japan losing it's export power, all of their big companies going bust.
But Import power is raising, which is good for consumers like me! We can go on fancier vacations, but up more foreign goods, etc. Also, very few companies have gone "bust". Some have gone bankrupt, but it's just restructuring so far for the most part. (i.e. declaring bankruptcy so they are allowed to get rid of useless lifers, etc.).
> Japan is doing it's best to cheapen the yen by buying up USD themselves,
Well not "Japan", just PM Abe. I wish he wouldn't be doing that stuff, as it sucks for us Japanese in some ways as mentioned above.
> (following the Chinese masterplan) but they can not match the Chinese wallet.
Why not? We easily could. Just here the government doesn't control so much, and taxes are not so high.
>So the Japanese economy, already in a standstill for decades, is now on the brink of collapse.
Wow, doom and gloom. Come hang out here for a few weeks. Stand-still isn't bad once things are running smoothly. It's a myth that things need to "expand" constantly. Just like when you are growing, your rate of growth slows as you get older, and eventually you reach a stable height. Japan has probably a pretty good GDP for the population. About 10x the wealth of China per person.
Anyway, even on the day before pay day, you will find restaurants, bars, etc. packed. Hardly on the brink of collapse. Plus, last time I visited the US, *that* was depressing. Japan is nowhere near that bad.
>And they might be crazy enough to go kamikaze on the Great Wall of China.
Uhm..??? I'm not sure what this means.
History moves on. Japan is no longer our enemy. Russia too is no longer our enemy, although people in the US State Dept haven't grown out of it. We have other enemies today. Like N Korea. We would do well to focus on real enemies who do wish to damage or destroy us, as opposed to imaginary enemies borne out of history, but who we defeated and changed, and who are no longer inimical to us.
Russia wants to join NATO? Hilarious. Where'd you pick that one up?
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
You are correct, and even the people like Ishihara who lives through those "good old days" also lived through the aftermath of WW2 and the suffering that the country had to endure. Since then there has been a strong pacifist movement in Japan. A few years back the government was talking about removing the non-aggression clause from the constitution but it was a very unpopular policy. Japanese people mostly recognize how good peace has been to them and how much better off they are now than they would ever have been under the old system, even if they had won.
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SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC