Look at the caliber of most Americans in age cohorts younger than the Baby Boomers. Each age cohort is progressively less capable. Look at their educations. These aren't the same type of people who made Uncle Sam wealthy and powerful. What has kept the US ahead militarily has been its technological lead. That lead is disappearing and we are entering a world in which no western power has a qualitative or quantitative advantage militarily. The Chinese have already stolen most of the military technology they need to catch up. It's too late to try and close the barn door as it were because the horse has left the barn. The loss of its technological advantage means that Americans will die in large numbers if they engage in hostilities so far from American shores. This is entirely foreseeable. Americans don't care about national security. They care about foodstamps, disability payments, Section 8 rental assistance, Women Infant Child transfer payments to mostly black and latino people who have no skills and no education. The Americans have chosen butter over guns. I suspect that in the final analysis they will have neither.
The funny thing is that, while everyone is talking about China taking the whole world, Chinese think it is a joke. Do you know the meaning of China in Chinese? It means Central country. It means Chinese simply do not care about the world outside of China. The whole world would had be much more different than it is if Chinese had the minimum intention to conquer the world in history. The biggest problem of China is that, China lack the ambition that has forged west into the most powerful force in this world. China can be rich, China can be strong, China had been the leading runner in history, but China has never been a good leader, and will never be. Look at Korea, Japan, Vietnam, the countries that had been followers of China, these countries may still depend on China, or are fear of China, but none of them follows, or respect China now. Maybe they have never been. That is not surprising. China may have leaded them, helped them, invaded them, and/or mentored them, but China has never cared about them, or tried to transform them into a part of China. Chinese only leaded them, helped them, invaded them, or mentored them to fulfill the peacockery. Face, but not the actual interest, is the most important thing in China. The sad news to Chinese is, peacockery has never, and will never, make China a leading power of this world.
Japan PM Shinzo Abe in US for talks with Obama http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21528834 The West should support Japan’s recovery http://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...a8a498-7c55-11e2-a044-676856536b40_story.html
Vietnam would not support the USA. Likely, they would remain neutral so as not to jeopardize their exports. If not for the trade, there is a good chance they might support China. People keep saying China is nothing to worry about because they will never want to jeopardize their trade with the USA, the main source of their wealth. But what if trade relations go sour? What if China ever dumps all the US Treasury bonds it holds and the USA defaults on its debt? The trade imbalance cannot go on forever. What is going to happen when the American market can no longer continue to import from China? China is already sitting on a pile of saved wealth, there may come a point where China is no longer reliant on trade with the USA.
Clearly China wants to control all the world's recourses to support a growing Chinese economy. That means the US must be pushed out of Asia. Which is probably just fine with Obama.
China does not have anywhere near a large enough navy to go to a full-out war with Japan. They and Japan could have a little border war over the disputed islands (although the proximity to Taiwan makes this an iffy proposition as well), but it would take a much larger shift in relative power before China could seriously contemplate taking Japan out (barring the use of nukes, which the USA would never tolerate).
While we're unable to see the classified versions of the 'estimates' of China's military, I have often wondered exactly how much they have hidden away from plain sight.
Just how do you hide major naval units, Jango? That's got to be one of the most paranoid (I could use other adjectives, but I'll stay polite) statements I have read recently. Ships like cruisers CAN'T be hidden away, not to mention aircraft carriers (the essence of modern naval power). The Chinese may have a few missile batteries hidden away or a few squadrons of fighters or a few more nuclear ICBMs, but that's about the extent of it.
Hey man, like I said, it was a thought I've wondered about. You don't have speculative thoughts? I mean, do you know what's inside China's caves? I don't. I can expect that its things we wouldn't like them having though. And honestly, if the day ever comes that we have a conflict with them, I wouldn't be all that surprised if they pulled a few tricks out of those caves.
A lot of people forget that china lost about 10 million people during ww2 mainly do to the Japanese . Old grudges die hard .
China Accuses Japan of Escalating Tensions Over Disputed Islands http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/01/world/asia/china-accuses-japan-of-provoking-tensions.html
Whatever the reason, over the last several weeks, the argument that war over the Diaoyu Islands -- win or lose -- isn’t in China’s interests has begun to appear in the news media. No doubt, this pullback has been further inspired by Japanese allegations (officially disputed by China) that on Jan. 19 and 30, Chinese ships had locked fire-control radar on a Japanese helicopter and vessel, respectively, near the islands. Online, the pragmatic anti-war case has been paralleled by an emerging, even more unexpected argument: The Communist Party uses the islands dispute to distract Chinese from governance issues. Typically, that argument is made by anonymous, poorly followed individuals. But in recent days, more credible voices have begun to question whether the government’s approach to conflict is in the interest of China’s people or just its rulers. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-14/china-shifts-ever-so-slightly-on-debate-over-islands.html
here is a link on china navy 2012-2013. also i doubt china will want a full scale war with japan, just limited war around the island, that probably wont even happen http://www.jeffhead.com/redseadragon/2013.htm
Let's not forget about the Shanghai Cooporation Organization. That type of war would mean the end of the world.
http://www.france24.com/en/20131123-china-creates-air-defence-zone-over-japan-controlled-islands Yet another escalation.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/23/world/asia/china-japan-disputed-islands/ That's right John Kerry, urge caution in this perilous situation.
