rammygirl 2,059 Posted March 17 Don’t forget that China has Aus in sight. Frying pan and fire and all that………. So many wineries ......so little time :yes: Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cheery Thistle 53 Posted March 17 20 minutes ago, rammygirl said: Don’t forget that China has Aus in sight. Frying pan and fire and all that………. I don’t think Australia would be China’s first target. There are many more internationally significant countries in front of Aus in the queue (no offence intended re: international significance!). We won’t go into historical comparisons between Australia and Europe/UK and involvement in wars, unless you really want to. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Toots 11,512 Posted March 17 1 hour ago, Cheery Thistle said: I don’t think Australia would be China’s first target. There are many more internationally significant countries in front of Aus in the queue (no offence intended re: international significance!). We won’t go into historical comparisons between Australia and Europe/UK and involvement in wars, unless you really want to. Well I'm certainly hoping we won't be China's first (or last) target but we shouldn't let ourselves get too complacent. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cheery Thistle 53 Posted March 17 49 minutes ago, Toots said: Well I'm certainly hoping we won't be China's first (or last) target but we shouldn't let ourselves get too complacent. No, but Putin is on the move so the threat is definitely far more immediate/direct/tangible. It’s not something you can really appreciate unless a) you’re in geographical proximity and b) you have a government that has pulled your country into multiple wars over the past 40 years. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marisawright 10,054 Posted March 17 11 hours ago, Toots said: Well I'm certainly hoping we won't be China's first (or last) target... I was watching a program recently by some military gurus, discussing China. They all seemed to think a war with China will happen sooner or later. The good news (if you can call it that) is that they all thought China would ignore Australia, pretty much. They pointed to what happened with Japan in WWII. Japan knew it would be easy to take over Australia, but decided it would be too much hassle to manage once they'd taken it. Too much landmass, too spread out. So instead, they decided to cut Australia off by taking control of the seas around it. These military gurus all felt China would be likely to do something similar, basically putting Australia on the back burner until they'd won the war everywhere else. 1 Scot by birth, emigrated 1985 | Aussie husband granted UK spouse visa, moved to UK May 2015 | Returned to Oz June 2016 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Skani 5,287 Posted March 17 12 hours ago, Cheery Thistle said: I don’t think Australia would be China’s first target. There are many more internationally significant countries in front of Aus in the queue It depends what they are after: if it's resources or land then international insignificance wouldn't matter. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Parley 7,197 Posted March 17 China will not seek to invade Australia. That is a very far fetched idea. What would happen though is if China invade Taiwan, The US will step in to defend Taiwan and Australia will support the US in a war with China over Taiwan. I personally don't think China will invade anyone. It is not really their way of doing things. 1 Buy a man eat fish. The Day, Teach Man, to lifetime. - Joe Biden. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marisawright 10,054 Posted March 17 9 minutes ago, Skani said: It depends what they are after: if it's resources or land then international insignificance wouldn't matter. They already own huge chunks of Australia, one way or another. 1 Scot by birth, emigrated 1985 | Aussie husband granted UK spouse visa, moved to UK May 2015 | Returned to Oz June 2016 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Toots 11,512 Posted March 18 2 hours ago, Parley said: China will not seek to invade Australia. That is a very far fetched idea. What would happen though is if China invade Taiwan, The US will step in to defend Taiwan and Australia will support the US in a war with China over Taiwan. I personally don't think China will invade anyone. It is not really their way of doing things. I don't think China will invade Australia either but agree that Australia will support the USA if China does invade Taiwan. It's to be hoped that won't need to happen. Look at how 60,000 Australians served in the Vietnam War as part of an allied force led by the USA. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
InnerVoice 123 Posted March 18 (edited) 16 hours ago, rammygirl said: Don’t forget that China has Aus in sight. Frying pan and fire and all that………. 16 hours ago, Cheery Thistle said: I don’t think Australia would be China’s first target. There are many more internationally significant countries in front of Aus in the queue (no offence intended re: international significance!). We won’t go into historical comparisons between Australia and Europe/UK and involvement in wars, unless you really want to. 14 hours ago, Toots said: Well I'm certainly hoping we won't be China's first (or last) target but we shouldn't let ourselves get too complacent. I'd agree we shouldn't be too complacent about China as they clearly have designs on the Asia Pacific region. You can see them annexing the odd island here and there whilst no one's looking, but I find the notion that China will attack Australia unprovoked is preposterous. It's just media concocted nonsense to keep the newspapers moving because rarely anything worth reporting ever happens here. Why on earth would the Chinese invade Australia when they can simply keep on buying it? Putin is a different matter. He's madder than a box of frogs, and only Newton's laws of motion and death are likely to stop him. My fingers are firmly crossed for the latter, although he seems to be in good nick for his age. Thankfully we're getting some shiny new submarines to keep us all safe, so we can rest easily in our beds once again. Edited March 18 by InnerVoice Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
InnerVoice 123 Posted March 18 3 hours ago, Parley said: China will not seek to invade Australia. That is a very far fetched idea. What would happen though is if China invade Taiwan, The US will step in to defend Taiwan and Australia will support the US in a war with China over Taiwan. I personally don't think China will invade anyone. It is not really their way of doing things. Investing heavily in developing nations' infrastructure, and then crippling them debt so they are forever in China's servitude is more their style. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bobj 10,146 Posted March 18 Another good thread ruined by world politics and sabre rattlers Cheers, Bobj. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
InnerVoice 123 Posted March 18 2 hours ago, Bobj said: Another good thread ruined by world politics and sabre rattlers Cheers, Bobj. Fair point, although those of us who've gone off on a tangent have previously made a positive contribution to the thread. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cheery Thistle 53 Posted March 18 4 hours ago, Bobj said: Another good thread ruined by world politics and sabre rattlers Cheers, Bobj. There’s definitely a few tin hat wearers! 1 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
InnerVoice 123 Posted March 18 38 minutes ago, Cheery Thistle said: There’s definitely a few tin hat wearers! I'd get used to that if you're moving here! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites