A short while ago, I raised the spectre of China lashing out against an old enemy - Japan - if things got tough for its own leadership and economy. Could the trouble over the Senkaku Islands be a lead up to such a worrying event?

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Nah. The US have an alliance with Japan. Despite China's large military the Americans could blow them to pieces and the Chinese know this. They don't want a conflict with the US for both economic and military reasons.

But haven't China got close to Russia recently? The only way the USA could deal with China is via nuclear weapons. That would be an extremely poor option for everyone.

I hope not, not until after the weekend anyway.

I've just ordered an in-car mp3 transmitter thingy for £4 thats coming from China.

£4 !!!

the child labour that actually made your 'thingy' probably only got paid about 5p in wages !!!

don't you have a conscience JC ?

Not close enough to warrant a 3rd world war no. And no it's not the only way at all. The US Navy is monumentally huge and incredibly powerful. They could quite easily IMO destroy the PLAN and hold the waters around China, which rules out an attack against Japan.

But it's massively unlikely anyway because politically and economically the Chinese are coming closer to, and are dependent on the West and especially the US.

Yes but you can buy a Big Mac supersized with giant Coke and a McFluury for 5p in China, those kids dine out well on my extravagence.

Complete economic melt down to the point of anarchy didn't quite happen so now we've moved onto thermonuclear war?

Close? They actually are touching, in the Manchuria area. But I don't think it's moved much lately.

If it's owt like the last one I had, you've just wasted four quid.

yes, there is that I suppose.....

thanks on their behalf, the world needs more caring folk such as yourself

And don't forget, its not like they have a mortgage or council tax or electricity bills to pay is it, a family of four can live quite cheaply on the streets in China I've heard...

I only bought it because I queue all the way down Kirkstall Road for half an hour every morning and I want to see if the transmitter will send my choice of MP3's to the car in the lane next to me - cue the puzzled look on the face and pressing of radio buttons to see what the hell sort of radio station is playing Rolf Harris on a constant loop this morning.

Bluetooth should manage that. My Nokia CK-200 kit will pick up any unsecured adjacent mobile, including their contact list. It's great fun making calls on their behalf.

It will only do that if you happen to have chosen exactly the same frequency they have their radio tuned into. The odds are kinda long, I would have thought.

89.3 it is then.

You won't overpower Radio 2 with one of those things! You'll barely get it to register in your own car, never mind someone else's. They really are a pile of sh*t.

She's going to kill me when she finds out.

yeah but think about the good you did in China - feeding a family and boosting thier economy which is keeping the rest of the world afloat

There is that I suppose, I'll have to emphasis the charity angle to her - like the shirt I bought in Primark this week, there will be a family in Bangladesh who haven't had to raid the tip once this week because of me.

you're a credit to society, a rôle model thanks to your altruistic approach to life



sadly i'm not in to this charity thing on the basis that i'm a tight old git who always puts himself first....

It's an impossibility that you could be tighter than JC/McF.

Surely?

and [ithat[/i from a man from Arbroath !



problem is when I try to save money it actually ends up costing me twice as much !

I recall taking my Pools coupon into the newsagents once - he asked me "if you did actually win Littlewoods jackpot, how would you handle the begging letters ?"

" easy" I said " I would stop sending them..."

Ooh its just arrived today, plugged it in and...

...it works !

Bit of fine tuning for the sound quality needed but, erm, it works anyway, my £4 investment in hi-tech audio stock seems to be justified