Quote:
Originally Posted by Urzu 7
Why don't they want east-Asian countries getting along better?
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I think the precise description for US motivation in East Asia is to have countries getting along, but not
too well. The USA certainly doesn't want anything close to an actual war or even a major shooting match to occur in the world's biggest economic region. You think the Great Recession was bad, watch what happens to the world economy when Shanghai, Tokyo, Taipei and Seoul become missile targets.
But on the other hand the USA is reluctant to see lasting settlements that defuse the disputes, since it is currently helping a resurgence of American diplomatic influence in the region. China's shift towards a belligerent stance results in fear and outrage in the neighboring countries, even overt ethnic tensions over perceived Chinese arrogance. This can be seen from the opinions of our Asian members, who are far more outraged over the various recent disputes than our American ones. Even TRL recently said his opinion has changed over what the rise of China really means.
As for my opinion, perhaps China is indeed now strong enough to get its way with a big stick, but so far all it succeeded in doing is forcing countries which are no natural allies to close ranks against the big bully. For example, the Spratly Islands dispute is a multi-party one, with as many as six parties (PRC, ROC [Taiwan], Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines, Brunei) making various claims, but with PRC's recent belligerence, the other parties are starting to show more and more interest in an "international" solution where they could undercut PRC's forceful push.