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China-Japan-Koreas
3dc: Light thoughts on Japan and Russia.
2021-02-10
A crazy little strategic idea I am playing with. Perhaps some political novelist will run with it.
If Musk's Boring Company was to quietly offer Russia and Japan to do short car tunnels between Sakhalin Island and Hokkaido Island and at the same time between Sakhalin and Siberia at the nearest point near the Amur River, both countries could experience a low impact land contact without any sovereignty questions as the third party is doing it for money. The Boring Company's tunnels are too narrow for anything bigger then one Tesla car going one way. They are not a major danger.
Distances are 5 miles to Siberia and 20 to Hokkaido. The Boring Company link shows Tesla going 127 MPH under Las Vegas in their tunnels.
It might be enough of a confidence builder for the two nations to then consider building industrial-sized train, truck and pipeline tunnels afterwards. This would be in the American strategic interest, in Russia's interest and in Japan's.

Think about it being a minor stake in the heart of the ongoing Chinese absorption of Eastern Siberia, giving Japan options of alternative sources of resources that don't transit the South China Sea and new markets for both countries to operate in. They might even help Russia develop Siberia.

Siberia is currently well on its way to being a near-future Chinese colony. This might not stop that, but would begin to open up options for Russia and Japan.

It's much, much cheaper and shorter to build than the expensive idea in the video below that Japan keeps dredging up, and has a lot fewer shortcomings:

Posted by:3dc

#7  Fault lines are a problem for the construction of tunnels due to the cost of support in the fault zones. Shifting is another matter, but San Francisco's BART has crossing fairly active (I think) fault lines.

Engineering challenges!
Posted by: Bobby   2021-02-10 18:31  

#6  Japan’s real tunnels have been going right through the faults already. All their big islands are currently connected. That said the Russian occupied island is a political football hurting both countries in a win for China. If Russia doesn’t want to loose it’s Far East it needs to deal with Japan. Both have too much Face involved so a 3rd party like Musk would be a low face way around it. It doesn’t matter if a quake later takes out Musk’s tunnels.
Japan needs a back door option to the South China Sea and Russia needs help in Siberia. Otherwise, the game ends with a rump Russian client state of China.

A rump Russian client state not in US or Japanese interests.
Posted by: 3dc   2021-02-10 15:29  

#5  This IS a Pipe dream....

Posted by: Albert McGurque4243   2021-02-10 13:12  

#4  There is still The Kuril Islands/Northern Territories dispute.
Posted by: magpie   2021-02-10 12:18  

#3  Tunnels in Earthquake prone areas: (PDF) Seismic behaviour of tunnels: From experiments to ...

Posted by: Gliting Snore9087   2021-02-10 05:45  

#2  Posit : Just a small problem with fault lines

Posted by: Jiggs Snereper5969   2021-02-10 00:52  

#1  Turn Keystone around and use the northwest passage to send oil to JPN
Posted by: Tiny Gloter3718   2021-02-10 00:42  

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