deanzaZZR comments

Yoon and his party will be gone in a few years. Being pro-Japanese in Korea looks great from Washington DC. Let's be kind and simply say it looks less well from Seoul.

Why no attribution? I'm guessing that's what Abe Shinzo said when he visited Yasukuni. Sorry, for my part there are no mulligans for egregious war crimes.

To this day, let's remember the souls that fought to Japan and other nations. Leaders made mistakes, and common people should not be blamed for decisions that leaders did in the past.

Meanwhile, we, as representant of modern generation, we should not hold grudge for those men. They made terrible mistakes, but we should learn to forgive even they not asking for it.

And this is exactly what the Chinese government has provided to hundreds of millions of Chinese civilians over the past two decades and he's giddy at the thought of dropping a nuke on China.

Some people are forever lost to reason.

Fighto!: "How about providing infrastructure, hospitals, medicine, agricultural capabilities and FOOD for your people first, little Rocket Man? You know, the things all responsible governments are supposed to do."

Oh! You're talking about North Korea!

Rules-based international system, y'all!

Too bad the "can't beat them, sanction them" idea of the US isn't working.

It's like the blind leading the blind here. China shares 14 land borders. All land border other than that with India are settled.

Odd that China is trying to help a peace initiative on the other side of the planet when it's hassling it's neighbors on every border it has

"The Tungsha (Pratas) Islands, Shisha (Pracel) Islands, Chungsha Islands and Nansha (Spratly) Islands as well as their surrounding waters are an inherent part of the Republic of China's (ROC) territory and waters, whether from the perspective of history, geography or international law. The ROC enjoys all rights over them in accordance with international law."

Just reporting the facts as seen from the perspective of Taipei.

Please watch this important message from the Republic of China (Taiwan). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_fDk_Y8zQI&t=99s

By the same token that island is Philippine territory

Undetermined

US and its allies escorted a Philippine resupply mission the Chinese would whine and stomp their feet but that coast guard ship would stand aside.

Pure provocation and what an embarrassment for the Philippines calling in Big Uncle for some muscle. US/Canadian/Aussie naval vessels firing on Chinese ships will quickly take us from Fantasy Island to the brink of all out war and nuclear confrontation.

@Desert Tortoise That's some Fantasy Island material there and a good way to start a war. I'm sure our friend Aussie Pete would be happy to send a Royal Australian Navy frigate or whatever they have to offer.

The article talks about the nations north of Australia. Going from east to west we have the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and then Indonesia. All of these countries have good and productive relations with China.

All three governments and the normal folk have traditionally been wary about the Aussie and American military in region. China is far away and Australia, newly christened with more US military equipment and troops are just over the horizon. Memories of European/White imperialism remain.

1) China 2) Yes

Two questions, deterrence against what, and, do these nations want you there?

"The deterrence that our four nations provide as we operate together as a Quad is a foundation for all the other nations operating in this region," Thomas said.

"Oceania, the island nations that are just northeast of Australia...all of our nations now are focusing on those countries," he added.

US and their rules based international system, y'all, unless it doesn't fit the US agenda which happens pretty much every day.

China and Russia object to the issue being raised in the council, which is charged with maintaining international peace and security. They say rights issues should be confined to other bodies such as the U.N. Human Rights Council or General Assembly.

The last time the Indians tried to land something on the Moon it went splat. They are choosing a more circuitous route this time.

It's interesting that it might arrive before the Indian probe, which was launched so much earlier.

@Eastman Karaoke Night @Camp David

Who put the national security team in charge of diplomacy? Some may point all the way back to 9/11, certainly that was a start, but it has continued to ramp up and up crowding out all the diplomats, trade advisors and business leaders. This path only leads to war.

The Band is a band before my time but I do enjoy Van Morrison doing Caravan live with the boys. It's time to cue it up one more time.

Just another short-sighted neo-con policy that will boomerang back at US industry and investors. Well, since it's World Cup time, let's call it an own goal.

Of course step two of this ever so international rules based order US presidency is to go around Europe and Asia and attempt to strong arm countries to do the same.

Bad idea if true. The Japanese don't have the chops for this kind of cyber sleuthing and counter-sleuthing.

It's equity in Aso Cement. If he pulled the money out it would be taxable.

How does he get away with this, when the inheritance tax on even Y200,000,000 is substantial?

@Mark Did we read the same article? The article reports that Iran is supplying weapons to Russia and is taking steps so it can quickly build nuclear weapons if it decides to do so.

Wiki suggests Aso is worth $5 billion. Maybe he can buy an offshore island near Taiwan...

According to The Japan Times in 2022, Tarō Asō is the wealthiest member of Japan's National Diet. While Taro Aso's exact net worth is unknown it is estimated that his net worth is $5 billion US Dollars. This would make him not just one of the wealthiest politicians in Japan but one of the wealthiest politicians in the world. 80% of his estimated wealth is inherited while 20% of his estimated wealth has been earned by him. - Wiki

Smiley Japanese faces for the visiting Iranian FM. Interesting.

Nobody has mentioned China's unique asset in the region, the Chinese diaspora thought Southeast Asia and the Pacific. Many are successful business people and have government connections. Japan has no answer for this advantage.

@opheliajadefeldt lol. Any kind of missile attack on China from the United States puts us on the doorstep of Armageddon. Peace out.

It's not nice to talk about 台灣是中國 like that.

Amazing that you're allowed to post such rubbish.

Good. The country needs to be mentally ready for sacrifice if/when Taiwan declares independence.

Just looking at the highlights but it sure looked like the USA had many more quality shots on goal. Sweden's goalkeeper saved the day for the Swedes.

Thailand has faced an unexpectedly difficult time in selecting a new prime minister 

The situation is completely predictable with the military calling the shots in the Thai Senate.

The 250-person Senate is composed of 194 members selected by the ruling junta. Fifty senators represent ten professional and forty social groups: bureaucrats, teachers, judges, farmers, and private companies. A shortlist of 200 were proposed to the NCPO which made the final selection of fifty. The remaining six Senate positions are reserved for the supreme commander of the Armed Forces, the defence permanent secretary, the national police chief, and the heads of the army, navy, and air force, who are all senators ex officio.[4] As of 2020, 104 out of the 250 senators are police or military officers.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senate_of_Thailand

@Fu Since you seem to be obsessed with China, I suggest you learn Chinese if you haven't already. Take a look at China's most watched news program Xinwen Lianbo (新闻联播) published on August 3rd. Reports on the flooding start @1:50 and continue on until @8:50. It then continues with a story about the army helping in rescue operations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFgjGkfOdMU

@sunfunbun The point being, had the US taken a more balanced approach with aid being directed at the economy to help the Niger people as well and bolster democratic institutions instead of sending bags of cash to the military it's far less likely to be in the current sad situation. The same story is unfolding across other parts of West Africa.