Miscellaneous News

Andy1974 said:

Juat for starters Lithuania “was” a key rail route on the BRI, they literally just opened a rail freight facility to support it.

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So what? Now it isnt a key rail route. China will just redirect the rail route from other countries.

BRI is a long-term project. China didnt start this project hoping that everything would go well. It knew that there would be traps and machinations by the West. In fact I would say that so far, the BRI has been mostly unaffected by such schemes.

If the West thinks that BRI is only a 5 or even 10 years plan them they are mistaken. If you want to see a hint on how many years to the future China is looking, then just watch the BRI investments that China is making into Africa.

Andy1974 said:

It can use it’s influence around the Baltic Sea to support Washington, and it’s an admired little country that’s doing well for itself.

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Lithuania and other such US puppets can do whatever they want. China never shackled them.

However, that means China can also do whatever it wants. Now depending on how much such, US puppets take actions against China, then China will respond accordingly.

It seems to me that you mistakenly believe that China response toolbox is "only" limited in the economic sphere. I wont say much but you can be sure that China and Russia can act accordingly if necessary

Andy1974 said:

Sorry, it does much more damage than you are alluding too. Any loss like this is vital in many ways.

Juat for starters Lithuania “was” a key rail route on the BRI, they literally just opened a rail freight facility to support it.

It can use it’s influence around the Baltic Sea to support Washington, and it’s an admired little country that’s doing well for itself.

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Gaslighting rhetoric equals evidence of an actual economic boom/activity in your mind? Jeez...if that's what takes to beat China then all these almost civilizational efforts by Western countries lead by the U.S. are just exercise in dumb f..kery.

Andy1974 said:

presumably to practice for war? What are any exercises for?

I’m sure it’s nothing to do with the nonsense “annexation” fake news posted here.

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Somebody's bitter.

Andy1974 said:

Sorry, it does much more damage than you are alluding too. Any loss like this is vital in many ways.

Juat for starters Lithuania “was” a key rail route on the BRI, they literally just opened a rail freight facility to support it.

It can use it’s influence around the Baltic Sea to support Washington, and it’s an admired little country that’s doing well for itself.

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Lithuania, admired by who?

Not even Lithuanians like Lithuania. , population is declining and 80%+ of high schoolers want to leave the country. Literally anyone that can leave has left, leaving mostly Nazis and idiots.

Saying things like “so what?”, “they are tiny”, etc. is missing the point, if 1 country shifts then it’s important, because it can happen again, and if it builds any kind of momentum you can have a new political block aligned against China. If it’s not fully understood why this happens and how to counter it then it will happen again. Plese don't stick your head in the sand thinking it doesn’t matter.

Twice in the final months of the Trump administration, the country’s top military officer was so fearful that the president’s actions might spark a war with China that he moved urgently to avert armed conflict.
In a pair of secret phone calls, Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, assured his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Li Zuocheng of the People’s Liberation Army, that the United States would not strike, according to a new book by Washington Post associate editor Bob Woodward and national political reporter Robert Costa.
One call took place on Oct. 30, 2020, four days before the election that unseated President Trump, and the other on Jan. 8, 2021, two days after the Capitol siege carried out by his supporters in a quest to cancel the vote.

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The first call was prompted by Milley’s review of intelligence suggesting the Chinese believed the United States was preparing to attack. That belief, the authors write, was based on tensions over military exercises in the South China Sea, and deepened by Trump’s belligerent rhetoric toward China.
“General Li, I want to assure you that the American government is stable and everything is going to be okay,” Milley told him. “We are not going to attack or conduct any kinetic operations against you.”
In the book’s account, Milley went so far as to pledge he would alert his counterpart in the event of a U.S. attack, stressing the rapport they’d established through a backchannel. “General Li, you and I have known each other for now five years. If we’re going to attack, I’m going to call you ahead of time. It’s not going to be a surprise.”
Li took the chairman at his word, the authors write in the book, “Peril,” which is set to be released next week.

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In the second call, placed to address Chinese fears about the events of Jan. 6, Li wasn’t as easily assuaged, even after Milley promised him, “We are 100 percent steady. Everything’s fine. But democracy can be sloppy sometimes.”
Li remained rattled, and Milley, who did not relay the conversation to Trump, according to the book, understood why. The chairman, 62 at the time and chosen by Trump in 2018, believed the president had suffered a mental decline after the election, the authors write, a view he communicated to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in a phone call on Jan. 8. He agreed with her evaluation that Trump was unstable, according to a call transcript obtained by the authors.
Believing that China could lash out if it felt at risk from an unpredictable and vengeful American president, Milley took action. The same day, he called the admiral overseeing the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, the military unit responsible for Asia and the Pacific region, and recommended postponing the military exercises, according to the book. The admiral complied.

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Andy1974 said:

Saying things like “so what?”, “they are tiny”, etc. is missing the point, if 1 country shifts then it’s important, because it can happen again, and if it builds any kind of momentum you can have a new political block aligned against China. If it’s not fully understood why this happens and how to counter it then it will happen again. Plese don't stick your head in the sand thinking it doesn’t matter.

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You realize that Lithuania is part of NATO for a long time now right?
All 3 Baltic states basically have no air force and rely on NATO to provide most of their advanced defense force (Tanks, fighters, etc.).

escobar said:

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This is super plus spicy. However I will just quote one thing that stood out to me

"General Li, you and I have known each other for now five years. If we’re going to attack, I’m going to call you ahead of time. It’s not going to be a surprise.”
Li took the chairman at his word, the authors write in the book,

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Either this is satire or they were maybe planning of doing a fake attack and fake counterattack (like Iran's counterstrike at an empty field lol)

However I doubt the CMC would tolerate any kind of attack so most probably "General Li" didnt believe him at all.

Andy1974 said:

Saying things like “so what?”, “they are tiny”, etc. is missing the point, if 1 country shifts then it’s important, because it can happen again, and if it builds any kind of momentum you can have a new political block aligned against China. If it’s not fully understood why this happens and how to counter it then it will happen again. Plese don't stick your head in the sand thinking it doesn’t matter.

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In international stage, size does matter. Being tiny does weigh nothing. One big equates to 100s tiny's. Otherwise, why is there the concept of "banana republic", "proxy state", "vassal state" and "puppet state"? I think only you see the importance in the move of these state, nobody else.

Andy1974 said:

Saying things like “so what?”, “they are tiny”, etc. is missing the point, if 1 country shifts then it’s important, because it can happen again, and if it builds any kind of momentum you can have a new political block aligned against China. If it’s not fully understood why this happens and how to counter it then it will happen again. Plese don't stick your head in the sand thinking it doesn’t matter.

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You have not provided a single shred of evidence to support your failed thesis. You're a typical liberal who seems to suggest or replace actual strategy with rhetorical strategy which only ever works and perhaps by design to soothe the growing fragility of your country's society and by extension the bruised ego's of many western people who after all have began to actually question the predominant establishment views that are affecting their socio-politico-economics. The question of identity, nationality, cultural heritage and values that have not been replaced by globalism a.k.a. universalism of values as advocated by the likes of Fukiyama is being rejected and the suprationalism that has infected almost all western liberal democracies are being challenged by the predictable backlash and rise of suprationalism.

Lithuania is looking to eek out what it can out of their decades of relationships with NATO a.k.a. the U.S. led institution since Lithuanians have entrenched themselves firmly and surely as the most anti-Russia amongst all the former Warsaw pact members. The growing closeness of China-Russia partnership isn't lost on the Lithuanians and it's recent geopolitical actions against China should not and must not be viewed without involving the Russia equation.