plawolf
Lieutenant General
I don't know about that Jeff, since the discussion has moved on to Japan's ridiculous identification zones at that point. But let's have the original posters make their positions clear before we put more words in their mouthes.
But even in that context those drones still won't be flying in Japanese airspace as far as China as concerned, since that is the core of the entire dispute.
But in all honesty, I think that if China was going to go down the route of flying planes through disputed airspace to prove a point they won't be doing it with drones as that gives Japan an easy escalation step of shooting them down with relatively little consequence and little room for China to respond that won't run a serious risk of starting a full scale shooting war.
If China wants to make a point, they will do so with manned, unarmed civilian planes like they had before. That takes the easy option off the table for Japan, because if they want to shoot, they will have to kill unarmed civilians and then it will be all but impossible for even the most biased media to spin China as the aggressor.
However, contrary to Japanese and American propaganda, China is not the one making waves on this dispute. China's robust response to the current Japanese moves to purchase the islands and the Japanese breaking with protocol and arresting Chinese fishermen in disputed waters is a direct result of past Western bias and shortsightness.
If the Americans honestly think China wasn't going to chance things up after they used China's maturity and restraint on the islands dispute in the past as 'evidence' that China somehow acquiesced to Japanese claims, then that is just plain silly.
The message America sent to China was that if you don't make serious noise, we are just going to assume you are ok with what we are doing. Well, message received.
However, all China has done thus far was a measured and proportionate response to counter Japanese moves. There has been no real attempt by Beijing to actively provoke Japan and escalate tensions.
Thus far every single flare up of tensions have followed the exact same pattern of Japan doing something to up the anti and then China pushing back. Weeks and months go by without incident and then Japan does something else and China responds. Every Chinese move has been made shortly after a provocative move by Japan first. There has never been any instances where China was the one to start something new after a period of relative calm.
But even in that context those drones still won't be flying in Japanese airspace as far as China as concerned, since that is the core of the entire dispute.
But in all honesty, I think that if China was going to go down the route of flying planes through disputed airspace to prove a point they won't be doing it with drones as that gives Japan an easy escalation step of shooting them down with relatively little consequence and little room for China to respond that won't run a serious risk of starting a full scale shooting war.
If China wants to make a point, they will do so with manned, unarmed civilian planes like they had before. That takes the easy option off the table for Japan, because if they want to shoot, they will have to kill unarmed civilians and then it will be all but impossible for even the most biased media to spin China as the aggressor.
However, contrary to Japanese and American propaganda, China is not the one making waves on this dispute. China's robust response to the current Japanese moves to purchase the islands and the Japanese breaking with protocol and arresting Chinese fishermen in disputed waters is a direct result of past Western bias and shortsightness.
If the Americans honestly think China wasn't going to chance things up after they used China's maturity and restraint on the islands dispute in the past as 'evidence' that China somehow acquiesced to Japanese claims, then that is just plain silly.
The message America sent to China was that if you don't make serious noise, we are just going to assume you are ok with what we are doing. Well, message received.
However, all China has done thus far was a measured and proportionate response to counter Japanese moves. There has been no real attempt by Beijing to actively provoke Japan and escalate tensions.
Thus far every single flare up of tensions have followed the exact same pattern of Japan doing something to up the anti and then China pushing back. Weeks and months go by without incident and then Japan does something else and China responds. Every Chinese move has been made shortly after a provocative move by Japan first. There has never been any instances where China was the one to start something new after a period of relative calm.
