Fingers.

This is coolbert:

First Doklam now Ladakh.

Now rocks. Tomorrow AK?

From The Times of India as seen at Freeper:

"Scuffle between Indian and Chinese troops in Ladakh as two incursion bids by PLA foiled"

PLA = People's Liberation Army. [China].

"Highlights. PLA soldiers tried to enter the Indian side in two areas -- Finger Four and Finger Five -- twice on Tuesday morning. Personnel from both sides received some injuries in stone-pelting. The rival troops pulled back from the confrontation site after banner drills to defuse the situation NEW DELHI: A major scuffle, which included stone-pelting, took place between Indian and Chinese soldiers along the Line of Actual Control at eastern Ladakh in the western sector on Tuesday even as the tense troop stand-off in Doklam area in the eastern sector remains locked in a stalemate."

See previous blog entries the topic was Ladakh:

http://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2013/05/ladakh.html

http://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2014/08/ladakh.html

http://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2017/07/ladakh.html

coolbert.

Stung Treng

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War and rumors of war!

Stung Treng. Ever heard of it? As with Doklam Stung Treng now a flash point. In this case between Cambodia and Laos!

From Sputnik.

"Rumble in the Jungle? Cambodia Threatens War Over Laos Border Dispute"

"A border dispute has the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) and Cambodia edging closing to actual hostilities, with the leader of Cambodia giving his neighbor a deadline for removing troops from what he says is Cambodian territory."

"Hun Sen, prime minister of Cambodia, has demanded that Laos withdraw all troops from Cambodian land, threatening war to 'protect our territory' if Laos does not pull back posthaste"

"Why are we fighting? Why are we fighting? We don't want to fight at all. Who wants to fight, who is it? - - Mick Jagger, Altamont.

coolbert.

Doklam

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"Some damn fool thing in the Balkans"

"Some damn fool thing in Doklam?"

Suddenly and out of nowhere it seems tensions of a geo-political nature between China and India have increased markedly and everyone must sit up and take notice. Yet one more geography lesson for the average-everyday American.

Thanks to the article as seen at Freeper:

"China's warmongery"

"China's warmongery Not an ambassador of peace. The dogs of war are growling and if the India-China-Bhutan standoff in the Doklam plateau escalates, they would soon be upon us. However, even before things come to such a pass, the Chinese media, it seems, is egging on its government to flex its military muscles against India and teach New Delhi 'a bitter lesson'."

Read further the entire issue of Doklam and the potentiality thereof. India/China/Bhutan and an endless border dispute that seems to be without amelioration.

coolbert.

McMahon.

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From the Ron Unz Internet web site we have an article the title of which is somewhat misleading.

"The Myth of the McMahon Line" by Peter Lee

A very long read, but for those interested in such matters, worth perusing.

The McMahon Line, that demarcation between the old British Raj and contiguous nations still in use today as a border line, DISPUTED!

The McMahon Line NOT a myth. Such a demarcation on paper [maps] does exist. DISPUTE as to the validity of the borders as marked however does EXIST.

"This is our land!" "NO, this is our land!"

"The McMahon Line is notorious since India unilaterally—and with some help from the United States and zero agreement from the PRC—asserts that the McMahon Line is the indisputable boundary between India and the PRC in India’s Northeast."

The McMahon Line and those contested territories ALREADY [in 1962] the arena of war between China and India. War on a limited basis that ended much to the detriment of India. Aksai Chin.

Mortal combat and war as fought over territory more or less AMONG THE MOST  GOD-FORSAKEN PIECES OF REAL ESTATE ANYWHERE ON THE PLANET!!

HENRY MCMAHON HAVING NEGOTIATED THE BORDER DEMARCATION WITH THE INDEPENDENT [?] OR AUTONOMOUS [?] NATION OF TIBET AND NOT THE CHINESE! THE CHINESE NOT THEN AND NOT EVEN OVER ONE-HUNDRED YEARS LATER RECOGNIZING THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE RAJ AND TIBET AS BEING VALID!!

See the wiki entry regarding the border dispute. The thing of which wars are fought:

"The foreign secretary of the British Indian government, Henry McMahon, who had drawn up the proposal, decided to bypass the Chinese (although instructed not to by his superiors) and settle the border bilaterally by negotiating directly with Tibet."

Again, the McMahon Line not a myth. Merely a disputed border and territory, but a border nonetheless.

coolbert.

Penalty.

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We have heard of stamps and maps. We have heard of currency.  And we have heard of television weather broadcast insets.

NOW the government of India places legal sanctions on map making and how the issue is seen as regarding BORDER DISPUTES.

As reported:

"India maps out penalties over borders"

"thus, any map of India and its neighbors makes a political statement based on how it depicts their borders. The issue thorny because the border disputes are with India's great rivals Pakistan and China."

"The draft law would define how India's international borders are drawn once and for all, and punish offenders with up to seven years in jail"

Think Jammu/Kashmir [Pakistan] and Aksai Chin [China].

This law too is EXTRATERRITORIAL:

"it would require all individuals and companies producing maps in India, and all Indian citizens doing so globally to procure a license from the government [India]."

SOME NATIONS TAKE THEIR BORDERS AND BORDER DISPUTES WITH THE UTMOST  SERIOUSNESS.

coolbert.

Fifty Peso.

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Thanks to the tip from Peter through Harry:

"Argentina has just released their new 50 Peso note with a map of the Malvinas on it to remind citizens that these islands belong to Argentina"

And is a story as carried by the Daily Mail much to the outrage of some Englishmen:

 "Argentina unveils new bank note which has a picture of the Falklands on one side – and anti-British propaganda on the other"

    * "Map of disputed islands will appear on one side of the 50 peso note"
    * "Back is Argentine folk hero who led 19th century uprising against British"
    * "Aim is to give 'unwavering claim' over Falklands a daily use"

Here it is. Fifty peso for Sister Sarah and as a constant reminder to all Argentinean too.

We have heard of controversial stamps and maps as a declaration of sovereignty and also television weather broadcast insets. NOW we have currency demonstrative of will and resolve and also "as a declaration of sovereignty".

See previous blog entries regarding Argentina and the renewed sense of hostility in the South Atlantic.

http://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2015/06/argentina.html

 http://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2014/12/fencer-fernandez.html

coolbert.

Insets.

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We have heard of the stamp that nearly caused a war.

And too now we are aware of the weather broadcast provocative as seen on CCTV. Chinese international television broadcast.

Insets used to highlight the South China Sea and the Nine Dash Line as integral and sovereign territory of the PRC [Peoples Republic of China].

 

 

Note the inset in the lower central of the image. The South China Sea, that area claimed by China as sovereign territory. All waters the depth 200 meters or greater within the Nine Dash Line.

   

 

A composite weather radar image showing PRC precipitation at that exact moment. Inset lower left the South China Sea. Again, waters of the 200 meter depth or greater within that area of the Nine Dash Line.

"This is OURS!"

And you had better understand it too!

Am I being excessive here? Somehow I don't think so.

coolbert.

Stamps & Maps.

This is coolbert:

Territorio en Litigio 

Here from the web site Big Think we have some items that within the context of my previous blog entry are absolutely so germane:

1. "581 - The Stamp that Almost Caused a War".

"in 1937, Nicaragua and Honduras almost came to blows… over a stamp."

"In August of that year [1937], the Nicaraguan postal service released a new set of Air Mail stamps, centred on a map of Nicaragua. The map also showed part of Honduras, north of the border, in the same shading as Nicaragua proper. Although the accepted border between both countries was also shown, the part of Honduras shaded as Nicaragua was labelled Territorio en Litigio (‘Territory in Dispute’)."

2. "587 - Maps as War by Other Means".

"sometimes, war itself is being continued by other means - cartographic means. Maps are an excellent propaganda weapon against a (geo)political enemy. We trust cartography instinctively to ‘show us the right way’, and thus be truthful; but maps always reflect the mapmakers goals"

Territory in dispute! Contested sovereignty the "mapmakers goals" indicated by stamps, maps, passports, etc. NOT necessarily WAR as that term defined but nonetheless a means to express displeasure at the "other" and make your intentions clear as a bell and FOR ALL TO SEE! Flag raising in a figurative rather than a literal sense. But getting close.

coolbert.

Borderline!

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From the Chicago Tribune this last Sunday:

“Border rift uncovers uncommon ground”

“Latin American neighbors fight but still unite.”

Border disputes - - “From Honduras to Chile, countries are disputing islands, swaths of jungle and deserted patches of land in conflicts that have their roots in the colonial era.”

Border disputes - - Central and South America both, between nations, disputes in some cases going back 150 years or more.

Disputes such as between:

* San Andres Islands. Islands under the control of Colombia but claimed by Nicaragua.

* Bolivia/Chile. Landlocked Bolivia desires access to the Pacific. Land once under the dominion of Bolivia but “lost when Chile took territory in the War of the Pacific in 1883.” [Guano islands]

* Venezuela/Guyana. Venezuela still claims parts of its South American neighbor to the east. Lands rich in mineral wealth? Your reporter not sure about this one.

* Guatemala/Belize. Belize was once known as British Honduras. Only becoming a sovereign nation in 1981. Guatemala asserts “territorial claims on about half of Belize’s current territory.”

It was only recently that the British stationed a battalion of the Gordon’s Highlanders in Belize. Patrol the border with Guatemala, ward off encroachment, and act as a warning for Guatemala to “behave yourself!”

British Honduras was a legacy from the days when British dominion over the oceans was complete and unchallenged. Panama being considered by Jackie Fisher to be a choke point absolutely vital to British interests. An oceanic sea route that must be protected with a known armed presence based in a nearby English colony or protectorate.

Those choke points, as identified by Admiral Fisher, included:

* Panama Canal and the Panama Pipeline (British Honduras)
* Hormuz Strait (Oman)
* Strait of Malacca (Singapore)
* Bab-el-Mandeb (Yemen and Socotra)
* Suez Canal and the Sumed Pipeline (Egypt)
* The Turkish Straits/Bosporus (Cyprus)
* The Strait of Gibraltar (Gibraltar)
* Cape Horn (Falklands)
* The Cape of Good Hope (South Africa)

Today, the fighting and disputes are left to the locals! The imperial powers have left a long time ago.

These “disputes” over borders are quite often more emotional responses than anything else. NO ONE is able to give an inch! Afraid of looking weak or timid?

And to the Latin mentality, punador [point of honor] is more important than life itself?

"punador - - 'notorious Spanish pride in the face of what is perceived as disrespect or dishonor'"

“Emotion clouds reason” - - Michael Corleone.

coolbert.