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Heads up.

China is reportedly massing troops, armor, and aircraft on the Vietnam border in response to what I'm being told has been a popular uprising by the Vietnamese populace against everything and everyone Chinese. A few thousand Chinese nationals have evacuated Vietnam after (unverified) an unknown number of Chinese citizens were killed in Vietnam this past week.

This is partly in response to a Chinese naval force of 40-80 boats and ships who've moved into Vietnamese waters to protect a Chinese drilling rig that has been illegally drilling for oil in Vietnam's territorial waters. The rig is supposed to be less than 15km off shore.

Where the world has been watching Ukraine and Russia it seems that China has been taking the opportunity to seize some resources and now it might be preparing to claim parts of Vietnam just like Russia did with Crimea.

   

Yep, things are cooking.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-1 ... ndoff.html

   

THe vietnamese people have been destroying Taiwanese owned factories and attacking the Chinese workers there. Guess they can't distinguish between China and Taiwan.

I'm not sure Vietnam will still kick China's ass like last time, but they sure won't make it easy for them either.

   

I'm cheering for the Vietnamese. They've defeated the Chinese before. They defeated the United States when she was at the peak of her power.

   

The US wasn't half trying. Doubt if the Chinese have the same compunctions. They'd probably destroy Vietnam to save it no problem. It just depends on what this is worth to them. Note that Vietnam has not taken action against the incursion into it's territorial waters.

   

Bart. do you have some link to the lead on your op opening please?

   

This isn't 40 AD and the Trung sisters have been long dead. The Vietnamese don't have the resources or military to defeat the Chinese, minor border wars not withstanding, same as they didn't have the resources or military to defeat the Americans militarily.

Vietnam has been one of the most conquered countries in the world. They've been conquered by numerous Chinese Dynasties, suffered 3 Mongol invasions, were subjugated by the Cambodians, the French and suffered numerous civil wars. This myth that the Vietnamese are undefeatable is just that, a myth since the truth may be that a certain portion of the Vietnamese population won't stop fighting outsiders or each other while another segment is quite willing to welcome and accommodate any of the myriad of conquerors that have dropped in for a visit.

So, unless they're willing to participate in another guerilla war that could last decades and have a very uncertain outcome, I'd say they're in a very precarious position if the Chinese decide to actually annex part of their country. Given Vietnams history I can see the Chinese action eventually engulfing the whole country especially since much like Russia and the Crimea the Chinese consider Vietnam part of China and have the same historical precedence for their actions that some clowns gave Putin for his.

   

Not exactly sure where you get that the USA was defeated militarily in Vietnam.

Where we "lost the war" was in the willingness to continue to fight it. A peace was actually brokered with the results that the USA pulled out of Vietnam military speaking. Less then a year later N. Vietnam once again invaded S. Vietnam. The US had said that if such a thing would happen we would recommence bombing N. Vietnam. Ford who was president by this time refused to do so and the North conquered the South. The US continued to have a political/diplomatic presence till a few days before the fall of Saigon.

What is interesting is that the North figured it would take about 2 years to beat the South as long as the US did not get involved. In fact it took about 6 months. This shows how much the North over estimated the South's ability to resist with out assistance from the US.

   

"Chatter" is a military term along the lines of 'scuttlebutt'. At the time I posted this it was just content from a phone conversation I had with a friend this morning. He's still active duty but we still talk from time to time. We'll probably talk more when he retires in another couple years.

   

Over-estimating an enemy is never a bad thing. Underestimating them always is.

   

True no one understood how much even the S. Vietnamese army detested the S. Vietnamese Gov. Most units fled at first contact not out of fear but out of the mindset why die for a corrupt and inept Gov.

   

Ah ye olde scuttlebutt chatter. Usually at Corpus we at the USCG get the latest Scuttle from the the Marines as they are our neighbors on base. Guess the Navy Scuttlebutt is hoarding again from us and the Marines, dam squids . The US Army here is too busy down the Road in Brownsville securing the Border, so cant ease drop on the ground pounder's.

   

Ah, you remind me of a vignette from my previous life:

A certain Lt. always knew about parties on base, who was in Dutch with the brass, and the maternal status of the Chief's girlfriend. The question was posed to him how he knew so much about the Chief's girlfriend and he came back that it was something he picked up in Signals.

Naturally, the word got round to the Chief that Signals was monitoring his girlfriends' pregnancy and he was concerned about who was monitoring him and how it would affect his upcoming promotion. In short, he did what most Chiefs do and he went on the warpath.

He caught up with the eltee and threatened him demanding to know who in Signals was monitoring the Chiefs' girlfriend.

"Her sister, she's the section clerk in Signals."

Myself, I found the whole thing to be hilarious!

Our new Petty Officer (the recent Chief) didn't think it so funny.

Lesson: Always disclaim chatter and scuttlebutt.

   

Vietnam will lose in any armed conflict. But they will show the world what the Chinese intend for the future.

   

Not exactly sure where you get that the USA was defeated militarily in Vietnam.

Of course it was a defeat ... a humiliating one. So, an American army would have beaten them if it hadn't been for the American people? How does that work?

You had to invade Grenada (of all places) and hand out 10,000 medals for derring-do to get your mojo back.

   

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