Tuesday, February 4, 2014

2 US scholars weigh in on likelihood of an Asia-Pacific war.

Will there be a shooting war in the Asia-Pacific, either between major Asian powers themselves or between China and the United States because the latter has been compelled to stand by an ally under attack because of treaty commitments?

Two well-known American scholars offer their assessments. Both are compelling:

John Mearsheimer

US-China Rivalry More Dangerous Than Cold War?

http://thediplomat.com/2014/01/us-china-rivalry-more-dangerous-than-cold-war/

Joseph Nye

1914 revisited?

http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/joseph-s--nye-asks-whether-war-between-china-and-the-us-is-as-inevitable-as-many-believe-world-war-i-to-have-been

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In a real shooting war, key targets get blown up. Here in Singapore, a film animation student provoked netizens' ire when he posted his project -- in which the Marina Bay Sands building was reduced to rubble in a missile attack -- on YouTube. His name (he is a Eurasian Singaporean who has done his NS) even got a number of netizens going on a yet-another-foreigner rant. The police were not amused either.

Here's insing.com's story:

Student called up by police after posting video


http://news.insing.com/feature/student-called-up-by-police-after-posting-video/id-78383101

I believe the video has been taken down but I managed to see that particular segment by Googling for it. Anyway, read the comments in the insing.com story for some netizens' reactions.
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Finally, I mentioned Jardine Steps yesterday. As a schoolboy, I used to ride the ferry (the vessels had names like Andrew, Bongsu, Chantek, Kerang, Chepat, Kilat and Laju -- this last one was famous for having been hijacked by terrorists). Googling, I found this National Library pic:


Oh yes, looking at the black-and-white picture, it seemed like only yesterday when I would be disembarking from the jetty or waiting for one of the vessels to appear and dock alongside!

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