Comments by "yop yop" (@yopyop3241) on "Iranian Seizure of Oil Tanker Could Spell Disaster for China || Peter Zeihan" video.

  1. There are very, very few US-flagged vessels out there….
    14
  2. Russia is never going to build pipelines directly from their main oil fields to China. It’s a security issue. The oil has to flow to the main ethnically-Russian centers first. It’s part of how they keep the minority populations under control. If a minority group ever pisses off the ethnic Russians, the ethic Russians shut off the flow, and the uppity minority group freezes in the dark. So if China wants oil pipelines, those pipelines won’t be coming directly from the big oil fields in Siberia. The oil has to go to Moscow first. If China wants a major pipeline, it will have to run from Moscow, across the entirety of the continent of Asia, across thousands and thousands of miles of some of the most hostile-to-infrastructure terrain that exists on planet Earth.
    1
  3. China can’t reach the Middle East in force. No one can, except the US. If the US leaves, the Persian Gulf will become a largely lawless area. Outside the Gulf, if the US leaves, then India will control the sea lanes heading into that lawless region.
    1
  4. Not easy to patrol the Persian Gulf if your navy has to sail all the way back to China to refuel. The challenging part of providing maritime security is the difficulty of acquiring a globe-spanning network of overseas military bases. The US has 800+; China has one. And China’s prospects for acquiring more are not good. Even China’s closest allies don’t trust China enough to allow China to set up military bases on their soil.
    1
  5. The hard part is acquiring overseas bases. “The tyranny of distance.” The US has 800+. China currently has one, and that one was acquired with US sponsorship and almost certainly US security guarantees. Even China’s closest allies don’t trust China enough to allow PLA troops to be permanently stationed on their soil.
    1
  6. Then they need to acquire a globe-spanning network of overseas military bases. That’s going to be tough, because no one trusts China enough to allow China to station Chinese troops permanently on their soil. Even China’s closest allies like Russia, North Korea, Pakistan, Venezuela, and Iran don’t allow Chinese military bases on their soil. The US currently has 800+ overseas military bases. China has one, and that one was only acquired under American sponsorship and almost certainly under American security guarantees.
    1
  7. Climate, mostly. Biggest pieces of arable flat land with a monsoonal climate. Large areas of flat, arable land with reliable, predictable rainfall allow you to build a big population. They also had access to domesticable animals that weren’t available in the New World.
    1
  8. Naval vessels are the easy part. What’s hard is acquiring the necessary global network of overseas military bases. The US has 800+; China has one, and that one was only acquired under US sponsorship and almost with certainly US security guarantees. Even China’s closest allies like Russia, North Korea, Pakistan, Venezuela, and Iran don’t trust China enough to allow Chinese troops to be permanently stationed on their soil.
    1
  9. Damn Democrats! They sold our SPR when prices were high and bought to refill it when prices were low! How dare they keep gas prices from spiking more than they would have while simultaneously earning a profit for the US taxpayer!
    1