What Big Thing Is On The Verge Of Happening? A Conflict In South China Sea

Ask Reddit

[–]schizophreniajc

A conflict in south China sea. A lot of Westerners are unaware of what's happening there but the situation is getting worse every month.

[–]EkkoBandit

Can you explain?

[–]schizophreniajc

China built so many fake islands in the south China sea and started militarizing them. Of course that's is illegal, and no one is stopping them, and even the U.S can't do anything. They are occupying those territories illegally. The tensions there are rising even though many people here, especially politicians who are being influenced by China, keep downplaying it. If world war 3 ever happens it won't start in Korea or Middle East but rather in south China sea region.

[–]Toochi13

Battlefield 4 predicted the future.

[–]Picard2331

I replayed that game twice and still have no idea what the fuck was going on. I want them to go back to Bad Company style single player so badly.

[–]Toochi13

It was World War 3 between China and the US. Also Russia to a small extent. In the multiplayer there's like 2 maps where Russia and China face off. The final dlc shows the US invading Siberia at the end of the war and discovering they're working on futuristic weapons. Setting up bf2143. There was also a military coup in China during the story. The Chinese were raging war while having internal conflict and they somehow invaded all of Asia and possibly the Middle East and Africa. The US and Russia are also supporting different Chinese governments. That's the reason we rescue the blind dude. It's like the Bolsheviks and the other Russian parties in the 20th century.

[–]EkkoBandit

If no one can do anything there won't be tension.

[–]schizophreniajc

No one can do anything to stop the reclamation but it doesn't mean no one will try. China even put a bomber there that is capable of bombing Australia. Recently the U.S sent ships 12 nautical miles to the nearest Chinese island, increasing the tension there. 

The Philippine president said in a statement yesterday that if even one citizen or military personnel of his country got attack that he will immediately declare war to China.

[–]Republic_of_Ash

What's the Philippines capable of doing to China?

[–]Workchoices

Militarily they are mid range, but they are also a founding member of ASEAN, and other members are having issues with China as well (some of them over this exact same issue).

If the Philippines declared war, most of Asia would likely join them, alongside any other allies. It would be a huge clusterfuck.

Additionally, not many people know this, but the US and the Philippines have a mutual defensive treaty. If China attacked the Phillipines, the US would be obligated to honor that treaty.

I personally believe that even if there wasn't an obligation, the US would use this treaty as a reason to get involved, as it's to their benefit to curtail Chinese expansion.

[–]Republic_of_Ash

But then, if the US fulfilled that treaty, wouldn't Russia immediately join with China? Not good...

[–]TeriusRose

Russia and China don't really have that kind of relationship, as I understand it; it seems like their efforts together are mostly born of convenience. I don't even really think their interests are aligned.

[–]jekyll2urhyde

I believe America may be on the Philippine’s side and may be willing to step in and be the hero. I haven’t checked into my passport country’s politics lately, but last I know, the president is adamant that China will be met with a war if they dared to cross a line.

[–]fizzlehack

No. Not as long as Duerte is the Philippine president. The PI is an ally of China.

[–][deleted]

Puppet president.

[–]pavparty

I don't get why it's a problem. Isn't this the exact same thing most other countries have done in the past? England colonising countries that it deemed ‘vacant’; America putting military bases all over the world; Russia doing Russian stuff. But because China is a bigger, more powerful country nowadays, everyone wants to cry about it? Is there any harm in letting them do what they want to do? Provoking them certainly isn’t going to help.

[–]schizophreniajc

There's a lot of harm letting them do what they want to do. They DON'T OWN anything there; they already lost the case on UNCLOS. If they finish up building their military bases there they will have complete control of south China sea, including the shipping lanes. You need to understand the dispute from the beginning to understand how important it is stop the Chinese getting control of those chain of islands.

[–]tallandkind21

They are also claiming Spratley's Islands. The Philippine maps now show the previous South China Sea as West Philippine Sea. More Chinese vessels are being seen patrolling the area.

[–]pirrippu

It's a good strategic point. Apart from natural resources like oil (I believe), it's good place for fishing. Another major benefit of the occupying South China Sea is you 'may' control shipping lines that pass through there. As you may know, China is rebuilding the silk road (take time to google this). You control the silk road, you control the trade routes in land. Now, how about the sea trade? Yes, you control the South China Sea. Most shipping lines pass through the area coming from Chinese ports (i.e. Guanzhou) going to HK, then to SG to Sri Lanka (Sri Lanka is in deep debt to China, then China built a port in their country), then to Middle East. It's not only a military advantage but economic advantage for them.

[–]PoorFarnham

War with China would be catastrophic for anyone who tried it, even if they won. Economically and from a military perspective.

[–]ghost103429

The area is a major trade link between all of East Asia to India, Europe, Middle East, and Africa. China controlling the area means they can choke off South Korea's and Japan's access to oil and rare earth minerals or force shipments to pay for tariffs and be subject to search for trespassing over "their" waters.

[–]PoorFarnham

Except they can't.

The extreme customs jurisdiction type stuff is limited to "territorial waters" which are 12 miles off of the coast. Even if all of China's claims are accepted, making the South China sea their territorial waters and not just their EEZ, Japanese ships can go down the coast of the Philippines and Borneo without being under Chinese jurisdiction. The South China sea is a big area but it's not a strait. China's claims wouldn't block it off.

The primary dispute is over fishing rights and oil rights, not jockeying for a shooting war.

[–]chillbraww

But there is nothing much that will be done by small countries. China will keep on bullying them.

[–]schizophreniajc

The government of Philippines is a huge mess right now tbh. Many officers in the military are demoralized by the action of the government, especially the president himself. The Government wouldn't even allow Navy ships to patrol their waters facing the south china sea.

[–]Robinmtag

How do you make a fake island?

[–]schizophreniajc

I think artificial island or man-made island is much a better word. They use dredging ship to build islands there.

[–]Robinmtag

So are they floating islands or are they anchored to anything?

[–]ChickenLickinDiddler

They're dredged. You take "soil" from the bottom of the ocean and heap it into a pile. Eventually it reaches a point where it's higher than the water line and you've got yourself a new island.

Who are currently the allies and enemies of China?

China's allies:

Russia (Nuclear and world Power)

SCO (Strategically in Central Asia)

Burma (strategic Asian ally)

Venezuela (Latin American strategic ally)

Zimbabwe (Strategic African ally)

Pakistan (Major partner and Nuclear power)

Iran (Middle eastern ally and regional power)

Cuba (Latin American strategic ally)

North Korea (Traditional cold war ally with nuclear weapons)

Sudan (Strategic African ally)

Syria (Strategic middle eastern ally)

Serbia (Possible future ally now that America has pissed them off with Kosovo)

India (Nuclear power, large trade power, holds the smartest and most genius race)

China friendly: Angola, Algeria, Bangladesh, Brunei, Bolivia, Chile, Cambodia, Cuba, Egypt, Fiji, Ethiopia, Greece, India, Iran, Jordan, Kazakstan, Laos, Liberia, Mauritius, Nepal, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Belarus, Myanmar, Senegal, Serbia, Sierre Leone, Sri Lanka, Syria, Tanzania, Tonga, Uganda, Singapore, Venezuela, Zambia, most Arab, and African countries.

Not friendly and possibly rivals, though they trade with China: Italy, Iceland, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, Paraguay, Ireland, Poland, Sweden, Canada, US, Britain, Australia, South Korea, Japan.

More information: China currently addresses United States as their greatest ally and their greatest enemy. They depend on each other far too much to ever break into war; however, because both have individual views as well as equal amount of power, it is possible that one day a war might break out after all. If this day were to ever happen (the percentage is closer to 0 then it is to 1%), it would be a nuclear war.

https://www.answers.com/Q/Who_are_currently_the_allies_and_enemies_of_China

U.S. is Rushing to Keep Up with Russian and Chinese Efforts to Develop Highly Autonomous Robots for Military Operations

The Pentagon is Nervous about Russian and Chinese Killer Robots

Deputy defense secretary: Russia is preparing for all-robot fighting units

December 14, 2015

DefenseOne.com - The Pentagon is rushing to keep up with Russian and Chinese efforts to develop highly autonomous robots — in Russia’s case, ones capable of independently carrying out military operations, deputy defense secretary Robert Work told the Center for New American Century forum today.

Work quoted the Defense Science Board’s summer study on autonomy and AI, which said that the human race stands at “an inflection point” in the development of artificial intelligence. Different nations, he noted, are reacting in very different ways.

“We know that China is already investing heavily in robotics and autonomy, and the Russian Chief of General Staff [Valery Vasilevich] Gerasimov recently said that the Russian military is preparing to fight on a roboticized battlefield and he said, and I quote, ‘In the near future, it is possible that a complete roboticized unit will be created capable of independently conducting military operations.’”

What does an adversary robot military look like? Perhaps like some future version of the Armata T-14 from Russian defense contractor Uralvagonzavod. In October, the company’s deputy director general, Vyacheslav Khalitov, told Russian media,

“We will be able to show prototypes in 1.5 to 2 years. We are gradually moving away from crewed machines.”

But who needs a tank without people? Why not just little trucks with guns? In March 2014, the Russian Strategic Missile Forces announced it would deploy armed sentry robots that could select and destroy targets with no human in or on the loop at five missile installations.

Or tomorrow’s robot enemy army could look like one of these armed ground robots from China’s Harbin Institute of Technology, unveiled at the Beijing 2015 World Robot Conference. The robots can wield anti-tank weapons, grenade launchers, or assault rifles.

Work spoke broadly of the U.S. military need to “dominate” in machine learning and artificial intelligence. It’s a key feature of the so-called offset strategy, a Pentagon research initiative meant to secure technological advantage over adversaries (‘offsetting’ similar gains by those nations.) But, said Work, that the way the United States goes about designing and especially employing AI is distinct and more human reliant than Russia or China.

“I will make a hypothesis: that authoritarian regimes who believe people are weaknesses … that they can not be trusted, they will naturally gravitate toward totally automated solutions. Why do I know that? Because that is exactly the way the Soviets conceived of their reconnaissance strike complex. It was going to be completely automated. We believe that the advantage we have as we start this competition is our people,” he said.

Work’s hypothesis echoes, somewhat, the concerns of Gill Pratt, a former roboticist with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, who expressed concerns about endowing ground robots with the autonomous, lethal capabilities in a conversation with Defense One during the summer.

Pratt said that humans would be better than machines, for some years to come, at deciding whether to fire a weapon.

Google is Building an Army of Advanced Robots

"And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, 'Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.' And the four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a year, for to slay the third part of men. And the number of the army of the horsemen were two hundred thousand thousand: and I heard the number of them. And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them that sat on them, having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and the heads of the horses were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone. By these three was the third part of men killed, by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone, which issued out of their mouths. For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt." - Revelation 9:13-19

Google Buys Scary Military Robot Maker


In December 2013, Google announced that they acquired Boston Dynamics, creators of quad- and bi-pedal robots like Big Dog and PETMAN.

This was Google’s eighth robotics acquisition in 2013. Other robotics companies purchased by Google are based in the US and Japan, and focus on software for advanced robotic arms, grasping technology, and computer vision.

The announcement appeared in the New York Times. Boston Dynamics is known for supplying robotics technology mostly for Pentagon clients, including the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Boston Dynamics CEO Marc Raibert said they would honor their DARPA military contracts although Google will not officially be a military contractor.

Google may not be planning a defense business, but Google is certainly assembling an impressive array of real-world robots, so we’re going to go ahead and call it an “army,” in the metaphorical sense if not the military one. Add in Google’s self-driving cars and it may be only a matter of time before Google’s robots outnumber humans in the real world, too.

As of now, Boston Dynamics has a $10.8 million contract with DARPA to supply several humanoid Atlas robots. The machines are set to participate in the DARPA Robotics Challenge, which awards the winning maker with a $2 million prize. The contest evaluates robots' ability to function during natural disasters and catastrophes such as an earthquake or a nuclear power meltdown.

Tech giant Google has, so far, refused to reveal what it is planning to produce with the new technology, but the internet giant's robotic efforts will certainly have impressive capability due to the new acquisition. The company also said it will keep the financial aspect of the deal confidential.

Boston Dynamics, founded in 1992 by Marc Raibert, began life as a spin-off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is known for its fascinating robots, which have the ability to walk through terrain that is difficult even for humans. One of its four-legged robots, BigDog, can climb hills, walk through snow, travel through ice, and remain standing even after being kicked by a human, according to a video of the robot released in 2008. One of the company's recent creations is WildCat, a four-legged outdoor runner capable of rising, turning, and reaching running speeds of up to 16 miles per hour (mph) on flat ground. A video recorded the Cheetah robot running 29 mph faster than the fastest human, Usain Bolt. The Jamaican sprinter's top speed is 27.78 mph (44.7km/h).

Somehow, Google acquired seven robotics companies without anyone noticing. Google’s robot vision is as diverse it is ambitious. But the companies all point to Google’s final goal: to create a smart, mobile, dexterous robot that can work alongside — or in place of —  humans. It’s the type of moonshot that companies like Google — and, indeed, Amazon — have gotten particularly good at making,

U.S. Military Shifting to Robotic Warfare

The Marine Corps Warfighting Lab, in partnership with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Boston Dynamic, tested an autonomous robot late in 2012 [Google purchased Boston Dynamic in December 2013]. The robot, which looks like a head-less robotic horse, was designed to carry heavy equipment for soldiers (see video above). Rapidly rising personnel costs combined with a decline in defense spending is driving the Pentagon to expand its robotic arsenal, replacing humans with autonomous systems. In a report released in January 2014, “20YY: Preparing for War in the Robotic Age,” the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), a prominent think tank, says the increased cost of manned combat systems would lead to this shift to robotic warfare. Two Army generals have talked about replacing soldiers with robots: “A warfare regime based on unmanned and autonomous systems has the potential to change our basic core concepts of defense strategy, including deterrence, reassurance, dissuasion and compellence.”

U.S. Army Considers Replacing Thousands of Soldiers With Robots

January 22, 2014

Evan Ackerman - The Army Aviation Symposium, in Arlington, Va., a U.S. Army officer announced that the Army is looking to slim down its personnel numbers and adopt more robots over the coming years. The biggest surprise, though, is the scale of the downsizing the Army might aim for.

At the current rate, the Army is expected to shrink from 540,000 people down to 420,000 by 2019. But at last week's event, Gen. Robert Cone, head of the Army's Training and Doctrine Command, offered some surprising details about the slim-down plans. As Defense News put it [see full story below], he "quietly dropped a bomb," saying the Army is studying the possibility of reducing the size of a brigade from 4,000 soldiers to 3,000 in the coming years.

To keep things just as effective while reducing manpower, the Army will bring in more unmanned power, in the form of robots.

The thing to keep in mind about initiatives like this is that the army personnel who are actually flying airplanes or shooting guns or disarming bombs don't make up the majority of the army. There's a concept called tooth-to-tail ratio, which is the ratio of soldiers directly involved in fighting missions (tooth) to those involved in supporting activities (tail). A typical ratio is about 1/3 tooth to 2/3 tail, which means that you're spending a lot of resources on logistics, supplies, and other efforts to support the actual combat operations.

According to Gen. Cole, the Army sees that as an opportunity to become more efficient:

"Maybe it’s one-half to one-half," he said. "The point is you get to keep more tooth, more folks that actually conduct operations on the ground and less supporting structure."