I was bored with that article until I got to the end:
“Unlike GPS, which only sends signals, and cannot identify the location of receivers, BeiDou’s communications with the ground are two-way.”
So new smartphones (except Apple) have compatible chips. That makes it possible for China to track anyone. This could be useful in conflict. A smartphone communicating with their GPS could give away positions of soldiers or ships. What a nice feature.
Who actually trusts the Chinese enough to use that system? It’s guaranteed to be equipped with multiple nefarious secret options. You can practically see them rubbing their hands “Mr. Burns” style at the thought of it.
A lot of people are. Mostly as a backup to GPS, which is controlled by a more and more aggressive and unstable US Government. Who knows when there will be an early morning Tweet stating that from tomorrow GPS will be reserved for US use only?
Lots of navigation systems are already able to handle both BeiDou, GPS, Glonass and Galileo to ensure stable signals, even if either one should become unavailable for whatever reason.
Seriously OMBUGGE if you think the US govt is more aggressive and unstable than Chinas communist controlled regime. You should probably stick your head back in the sand and turn off CNN for a while.
Did you really think what you wrote?
Couple words were omitted. Please reread.
If one thinks the US NSA, CIA and DHS is not aggressive in monitoring their citizens every communication one’s head is in the sand. At the end of the day it makes zero difference whether the regime is communist or oligarchic; unstable governments that live in fear of the populace monitor their citizens. The USA differs not one iota in that regard from China. At least in the USA outfits like the Electronic Frontier Foundation are still allowed to exist. For that we should all be grateful but on guard.
Yes I do think that the present US administration is more aggressive and unstable than the present Chinese one. The US administration is presently dysfunctional and run by a far right faction that is not representative of the general US population in my view. The Congress, Senate and Supreme Court and the balance of power is not able to function as intended in the Constitution due to partisan squabbling, institutionalised corruption and money policy that kills off any attempt to improve the situation.
The present Chinese government may be run by a nominally Communist party but it is still operating on VERY old and traditional principles that goes back not just decades or centuries but millenniums. It is based on Confucian principle that is very different from western political principles.
China is NOT going to attack the US or try to dominate the world, but they are NOT going to bow to US leadership and demands. The stated Chinese goal is a multi-polar world with equality between major powers and without interference in internal policy of other nations. That includes US meddling in Chinese affairs, like the handling of how Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan re-integration in the motherland.
Nor do they have any ambitions to take over neigbouring countries militarily, but they do like to dominate trade in the region of Northeast and Southeast Asia, as well a secure their trading routes to the rest of the world from foreign interference.
Anybody that can read a map and have some knowledge of geopolitical affairs, can see why that heavily involve the South China Sea and the island chains around it, as well as free passage into the area for everybody on friendly passage
Any attempt by a hostile nation to such passage will by be opposed, by military force, if necessary.
I guess it all depends … to what level of conspiracy theory you subscribe.
All governments monitor their citizens a activities.
Ombugge … I know better than to enter into a political conversation with someone who is not a citizen of said country. I do appreciate your CNN view of American politics, however I do find it disturbing that outsiders have such a twisted view of our country and its political leaders.
Since the thread has moved to the topics of oppression, CNN & the levels of benevolence comparisons of China & the U.S here is something. If the U.S. were doing this to millions of people based on religion & ecthnicity every country in Europe would have 50,000 protesters surrounding every US embassy. But since it’s only millions of Chinese being detained, tortured & killed who cares? The rest of the world continues to hate the country that gave them freedom & set the first example of a Democratic Republic.
Two way GPS could have real value. Tracking aircraft or ships (or finding them if they crash or sink) would be good. To find a troubled craft requires being able to identify which GPS user it is. That means the information can not be anonymous. Allowing that a system could broadcast a ping that the GPS user’s unit would reply to wouldn’t work. If a plane crashed or ship sank its unit wouldn’t be able to reply to a ping. No, only active transmission would work.
These days most GPS are on phones. Most phones are on people. This means the non-anonymous positions of most people could be known. Positions of domestic dissidents or undesirables would be known. Even traveling without the tell-tale phone would raise suspicion. No reason to hide if you’re not doing anything to hide, right?
Internationally, that positioning combined with other data scraped and combined from other sources means the positions of soldiers, sailors and airmen would be known in real time. All it would take is one sailor out of thousands to take their phone on a weather deck and a warship could be tracked. Or a congressional aid going to the office at an odd hour could be signs of a crisis, political or military.
Orwellian mercantilism is the wave of their future.
Now now now these are just “growing pains” of a third world country/dominant world super power (circle which ever one fits for the point trying to be made at that time).
For those not familiar with this guy, just search the forum for his various posts, particularly the “understanding China” thread. His repeated and BLATANT hypocrisy in all things pro China is hilarious.
I also find it instructive to see a European citizen (especially of his age) feel comfortable using a term like “The mother land” to describe today’s China given all the similarities between their current trajectory and that of Germany in the 30’s. How quickly they forget…
Am I then to conclude that because you are a citizen of the US you know all about it by default?
Likewise, since you are not a citizen of, or living in, a country outside US you cannot possibly know anything about any other country?
I do not have a CNN or Fox News view of American politics, but a nuanced view based on multiple sources of news and information, both US and foreign.
It may surprise you but it is possible to learn things from reading, seeing and hearing different opinions. You just have to have an open mind and be willing to accept that others may be having different opinions than yours, without being hostile, or an idiot. Some people may even have knowledge far superior to your own.
Practice what you preach comrade
I am. Maybe you should try it too. It could be enlightening to think differently for a change.
I have the advantage of having been to China many times, to many different places and over many years. That includes the real bad times. like during the Great leap forward the early 1960’s and the Cultural Revolution.
I have also visited regularly in the years since the opening up started and watch the development there first hand, as well as through news channels, both Chinese and foreign, incl. US sources for what it is worth.
Where do you have your superior knowledge from??