“Something didn’t look right to me because in nature very rarely do you see straight lines,” said Wang, chief operating officer of ingeniSPACE, which analyses satellite imagery and ship signals data.

“We’ve seen like two, 300, up to a thousand (Chinese fishing boats congregate), but anything exceeding a thousand I thought was unusual.”

Maritime and military experts told AFP the massing of Chinese fishing boats on December 25, about 300 kilometres northeast of Taiwan, was on a scale they had never seen before.

  • scarabic@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    18
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    14 hours ago

    I’ve been waiting for China to do something.

    A year+ ago I learned the Strait of Hormuz existed from a video about China and Taiwan. In that video they claimed that if China were to do something dramatic like invade Taiwan, the US could retaliate by using its naval might to close to Strait of Hormuz.

    China produces little oil and relies on imports for something like 80%. And most of that comes through the Strait of Hormuz. With that closed, China begins ticking through their reserves, which last something like 90 days.

    So closing the Strait was always a card the US could play against China, a formidable opponent to the US (as Trump sees the world anyway).

    Now the US has started a bizarre war against Iran with unclear goals. But surprise surprise, Iran has closed the Strait of Hormuz. So basically the US got one of China’s own partners, Iran, to put a chokehold on China.

    It’s just a matter of time before China responds.

    Do we want World War 3? Because this seems like how we get World War 3.

    • finallymadeanaccount@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      4 hours ago

      Trump knows he hasn’t got too many years left in him. Do you honestly think he’ll accept the idea of people getting to live when he can’t? Yes, he’s that petty and that vindictive.

      • mimavox@piefed.social
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        10 hours ago

        Yes, I heard that as well. What it mean though, is that US doesn’t have control of the strait right now.

      • scarabic@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        8 hours ago

        I don’t understand how they create an effective barrier to the whole rest of the world without at least slowing down Chinese vessels.

        How do their rocket systems even know where all the ships are bound for?

        • tyrant@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          7 hours ago

          Because they have a stockpile of cheap drones that can be launched from anywhere in the country and only need to keep an eye on a choke point that is 39km (24 miles) wide. They aren’t physically blocking it but the threat of drones and now maybe mines are causing insurance companies to exclude these tankers that are worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

          • scarabic@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            arrow-down
            1
            ·
            7 hours ago

            Doesn’t the insurance issue affect Chinese bound ships the same as any others? I’m not yet seeing how this adds up to Iran being able to block just what they want and allow through just what they want. Mines especially aren’t known for being discriminating.

            • tyrant@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              7
              ·
              7 hours ago

              I’m just some dude on the Internet man. I’m parroting what I’ve read elsewhere. You’d have to look around at more reliable sources for the answers to your questions

              • scarabic@lemmy.world
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                3
                arrow-down
                1
                ·
                7 hours ago

                Appreciate the honesty. I do read the news but then Reddit is often good for asking the inevitable follow up questions that haven’t clicked for me.

    • Jax@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      15 hours ago

      It’s China. I think the most they have as far as animal protections are the bans they placed on wet markets and the trade of wildlife.

      This should not be a surprise.

    • Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      13
      ·
      15 hours ago

      Because it’s still ongoing, most recently like a week ago according to the article. And why do you think AI is involved?

    • TheAsianDonKnots@lemmy.zip
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      12
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      15 hours ago

      It’s still happening. Also, claiming something is AI when it’s not and downplaying the potential invasion of Taiwan makes it sound like you’re from a Chinese bot farm.