04-27-2015, 03:49 PM
Pam,
"Is it true that China is offering to arm some of the protestors? I hope this is just a scurrilous rumor, which it could be. China is a scary place that you might not want to end up a part of."
This is a rumour that started a couple of months ago regarding the Hawaiian independence movement, nothing to do the TMT as far as I can see, and not something I take very seriously:
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/...-interest/
The National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences is a TMT partner, albeit a relatively minor one. China is learning things that many of the western countries have forgotten, and that's an investment in fundamental science is a good thing for a country in the long term. You'll end up with motivated and well-educated workforce. A foothold for them in international astronomy is important because they will have access to facilities and knowledge they do not yet have, and they have no sites equivalent to places like Mauna Kea or some of the observatory sites in Chile.
"Is it true that China is offering to arm some of the protestors? I hope this is just a scurrilous rumor, which it could be. China is a scary place that you might not want to end up a part of."
This is a rumour that started a couple of months ago regarding the Hawaiian independence movement, nothing to do the TMT as far as I can see, and not something I take very seriously:
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/...-interest/
The National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences is a TMT partner, albeit a relatively minor one. China is learning things that many of the western countries have forgotten, and that's an investment in fundamental science is a good thing for a country in the long term. You'll end up with motivated and well-educated workforce. A foothold for them in international astronomy is important because they will have access to facilities and knowledge they do not yet have, and they have no sites equivalent to places like Mauna Kea or some of the observatory sites in Chile.