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Post by SA Hunter on Sept 17, 2019 22:52:43 GMT 10
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Post by milspec on Sept 18, 2019 6:46:04 GMT 10
Smart moves by China. Give countries loans and infrastructure they can't afford then offer to ease up the financial pressure in exchange for political support on the world stage. Its a double win when they have deep water ports and operating infrastructure in strategic oceanic sites where they can stand up forward operating bases when they choose. What could possibly go wrong? (Shakes head).
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Post by SA Hunter on Sept 18, 2019 19:52:15 GMT 10
Nothing like blocking the sea route to the US!
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frostbite
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Post by frostbite on Sept 18, 2019 20:45:30 GMT 10
I've heard a lot of people criticize the amount of foreign aid our government grants. But foreign aid buys influence. I guess our Pacific neighbours decided China was offering a better deal than we were.
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Post by SA Hunter on Sept 18, 2019 20:52:26 GMT 10
I've heard a lot of people criticize the amount of foreign aid our government grants. But foreign aid buys influence. I guess our Pacific neighbours decided China was offering a better deal than we were. ..... or more money! I guess all the Peace Keeping and "Hearts & Minds" we did was all for nought!
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frostbite
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Post by frostbite on Sept 19, 2019 5:07:02 GMT 10
It only bought short term influence. I suspect the blood and sweat of our troops in TL was undermined by the underhanded tactics of the scum in Canberra. My daughter risked her life in Timor, spent a lot of time on patrol and in the jungle, and most of her spare time volunteering in an orphanage (well apart from a couple of visits to the pool in the UN compound), but has all that goodwill been lost by our government bugging theirs and screwing them over a gas deal?
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Post by milspec on Sept 19, 2019 8:09:08 GMT 10
I've heard a lot of people criticize the amount of foreign aid our government grants. But foreign aid buys influence. I guess our Pacific neighbours decided China was offering a better deal than we were. I agree, I see foreign aid spending on these regional island chains as a necessary investment to bolster our influence and ultimately improve our security.
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Post by frontsight on Sept 20, 2019 11:29:41 GMT 10
Not much has changed since WW2, guess why US was giving so much aid back in the days? I have recently met a few fellows from African countries during my travel. Their views was "without the chinese, there would be no new highways, Trump said no more aid, Xi would build the road, right here right now we need the roads, so pick one"
If we can't help our buddies next door, someone will.
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