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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.
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
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.
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.