Dont wake the dragon
China, long seen as a potential rival to the U.S. on an economic and military level has now made that potential a reality.
With the recent Pentagon annual report on China's military capability, we the U.S. the power of all powers has been caught lagging behind. Never did we think that China would be able to exapnd its military so quickly or efficently. While on face value there is little reason to fear an armed conflict with China, there is one sticking point that looms in the near future. That point is the island nation of taiwan which China merely sees as a rebellious province. For years our naval presence in the area had been enough to deter any possible conflict between china and their friendly neighbor. However at this point with a highly sophisticated navy and 700 missles positioned across the sea from Taiwan that deterent is slipping. On top of that the Chinese have devoted much time and resources to their destroyer fleets now equipped with antiship cruise missles and a newer fleet of subs in the area, the Aegis class cruisers and destroyers which were long dominant still are, but are now operating with much less of a safety net.
With these huge advances in the military we can only expect that it is a matter of time before China which has ties across the globe begins to have its navy involved in all the 7 seas, not just off their border. They much like us have huge interests in the middle east(oil) and have as much of a right to protect their waterways as we do, this is not a case where we can bully an opponent down should they choose to send ships into the region.
While I find it almost impossible to believe that any large scale conflict or conflict at all with china likely, it is most certainly a huge potetntial problem. There need to be decisions made on what is worth defending is Taiwan should the Chinese decide they want it back worth starting a war that would more than likely turn into World War III really worth it? Are they that much of an ally, I think not. It is possible for two juggernauts to exsist, they both must be careful however, not to step on the others toes.
With the recent Pentagon annual report on China's military capability, we the U.S. the power of all powers has been caught lagging behind. Never did we think that China would be able to exapnd its military so quickly or efficently. While on face value there is little reason to fear an armed conflict with China, there is one sticking point that looms in the near future. That point is the island nation of taiwan which China merely sees as a rebellious province. For years our naval presence in the area had been enough to deter any possible conflict between china and their friendly neighbor. However at this point with a highly sophisticated navy and 700 missles positioned across the sea from Taiwan that deterent is slipping. On top of that the Chinese have devoted much time and resources to their destroyer fleets now equipped with antiship cruise missles and a newer fleet of subs in the area, the Aegis class cruisers and destroyers which were long dominant still are, but are now operating with much less of a safety net.
With these huge advances in the military we can only expect that it is a matter of time before China which has ties across the globe begins to have its navy involved in all the 7 seas, not just off their border. They much like us have huge interests in the middle east(oil) and have as much of a right to protect their waterways as we do, this is not a case where we can bully an opponent down should they choose to send ships into the region.
While I find it almost impossible to believe that any large scale conflict or conflict at all with china likely, it is most certainly a huge potetntial problem. There need to be decisions made on what is worth defending is Taiwan should the Chinese decide they want it back worth starting a war that would more than likely turn into World War III really worth it? Are they that much of an ally, I think not. It is possible for two juggernauts to exsist, they both must be careful however, not to step on the others toes.
posted by the meathaus at 9:12 PM
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