Imo the Chinese military is in the process of rapidly closing the gap militarily between itself and the US. America has no choice but to slash its military budget so that it can pay for entitlements to the nonproductive class. Meanwhile China is undertaking the fastest military buildup since German rearmament in the 1930s. China is a long way from being able to dominate the world. But it is close to being able to dominate East Asia, Central Asia, South East Asia and the Western Pacific. What should America do? The Washington Times Online Edition Pentagon report: China closer to matching modern militaries "China's military buildup has made impressive gains that pushed the Communist Party-controlled Peoples Liberation Army closer to matching modern militaries, according to the Pentagons annual report to Congress made public Wednesday. Militarily, Chinas sustained modernization program is paying visible dividends, the report said. During 2010, China made strides toward fielding an operational anti-ship ballistic missile, continued work on its aircraft carrier program, and finalized the prototype of its first stealth aircraft. While the report cautioned that the Chinese military continues to have gaps in key military capabilities and has large amounts of outdated hardware and a lack of operational experience, it concluded that the Peoples Liberation Army is steadily closing the technological gap with modern armed forces. By the end of this decade, China will be able to project military power and sustain a modest-sized force of naval and ground forces for smaller conflicts far from China, an assessment not included in earlier Pentagon reports. China recently began sea-trials of a refurbished Soviet-era aircraft carrier and is developing a unique anti-ship ballistic missile to target ships at sea, the report said..." Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/aug/24/pentagon-china-closer-matching-modern-militaries/
Summary: We need more money on top of our already unsustainable budget!!! So if where spending 7x what China is spending on the military and "China is closing the gap," our military leadership must suck pretty bad.
China wants to control the Western Pacific. They will use our capital and our metals to accomplish it. _
That is not what I am suggesting. America doesn't have enough money for the military and its other needs. The military budget is going to be slashed one way or the other. Besides, the struggle is here at home between you and me. You won't win no matter what happens. I asked a question out of intellectual curiosity to elicit other perspectives and insights. My fight isn't with the Chinese. It's with you. It's a figurative and ideological struggle. I want to destroy your ideas. Now if you can, address the question I asked or get off my thread.
I think America really has no choice but to withdraw to Guam and hold fast there and points east. We shouldn't engage China militarily unless they take on Japan or India.
You apparently don't know how this works. I only have to address the topic. I don't have to answer your question. In fact, I can completely ignore your question. Further, I don't have to "get off" your thread. You started the thread, yes, but you don't control who answers what on this thread. It is no longer your property but belongs to the forum. The thread itself has become part of the greater community as are the answers. If you don't like it, I suggest that you move to a less open medium.
China has virtually no ability to project power outside of the Asia mainland. The idea of "pulling back" is ridiculous....especially since we're not at war with China.
Can you answer my question? If so, do so. That way I can scrutinize your knowledge and comment on your answer.
The Chinese think they're at war with us. And they think they're winning. China is conducting massive cyberwar operations against America. They have mapped the American electrical grid in preparation for shutting it down in the event of hostilities.
Nah its not that, the Chinese dont do any R&D they just copy others peoples work. R&D costs a fortune because it involves a lot of waste and so all China do is the design and mass manufacture which anyone with money can achieve. The reality is the closure of any gap is not a piece for piece comparison but its more like a quantitative comparison. China has such military mass and manufacturing capability that any demonstrated capacity to bring online near bleeding edge technology is enough to outweigh the US's bleeding edge technology. This though doesnt really translate into an assurance of battlefield outcomes though as its all a bit more complicated then that, but its enough to warrant objective analysis of its impact and possibly changes to acquisitions and strategy.
Sounds like BS to me. There's no question they're engaging in cyberwarfare....but I'd have to see hard evidence that they can somehow shut down the entire U.S. electrical grid. Sounds like something you got from a fanboy site.
Proves nothing. It just shows that they're attempting to gain access. The U.S. electric grid isn't one huge grid that can be brought down from a single point. People hear that China snagged some Pentagon files and automatically assume China could paralyse the entire U.S. military. You've got to use some common sense with these things. Also, who's to say that the U.S. isn't doing the same thing to China and Russia? A computer virus disrupted the Iranian nuclear weapon program a few months ago. Russia, China, and Iran have state run media though and would never advertise such things. In complete contrast U.S. media pays officials off the record for this type of information then trys to turn it into a massive security issue. You seem to have fallen victim to this sensationalism.
Oh silly me! I know the US doesn't have a single grid. So do the Chinese. They are taking their time and mapping the US grid by grid. Much of this work has already been accomplished.
The difference is China produces more cost effective equipment, and their labor cost for production is low because of their tight governmental regulation. Also, the corporations have no power over their government. The laws are strict. On the other hand, the USA has limited governmental regulation, and we have capitalism where the large corporations can buy access to the government for high paying contracts and expensive products. Hence the USA products are the most expensive in the world. It is the highest of tech fo mass destruction with precision. Nevertheless, conventional military is in the power of the Chinese if they say in their country. As the military in the USA has learned over the past 80 years, is that no matter the technology, the ground forces will assume 10% fatality, and 20-30% casualty whenever the USA goes to another land to war. History has also taught the USA that no matter how primitave the people and their technology, they will only win if they annialate/wipeout the entire population including all civilians. China learned from the USA's and other countries conflicts/wars in the past 1000 years. Hence, the Chinese will never invade, and have never invaded another land outside their country. Never in the course of history. They know the odds of success and the only way to success it total wipe out of the opposition. The Chinese are not willing to do that because the cost to them will be to great. The real future of war is cyber war. Because of the inter-relation between the financial power economies of the world, the finacial risk for any large scale war will be at a huge financial/economical loss for any major country involved in a conflict or war. Hence the financial collaps of the USSR (Afganistan), and the USA (Iraq and Afganistan). Some countries in South America, have emerged as superpowers because they have no military (or limited military). They have never been in any of the wars of the modern day. Their last wars were conflicts during the colonialization of the world back in the 16th century. They have small militaries, mailny to meet UN requirements and to use it on their own people in the event of civil unrest. But other than that, they have been free of wars for the past 300 years. With the globe changing, you can bet that these nations without massive militaries will be economic/financial leaders of the future.
This statement alone discredits your entire post. Learn a little about Chinese history and get back to us.
The world is becoming more multilateral. This isn't a bad thing. When it gets to the point that there is no true "superpower" left in the world, wars will likely be more limited, because no single country will view war as being easy or affordable.
Nothing. And by "nothing," I mean close our overseas bases everywhere around the world and get back to using our military to defend our country, instead of to project our ideals, by force, on other people who may or may not have the same ideals. If China wants to be the world's policeman, or even just Asia's, let them.
Ron Paul must be shaking his head... China LOVES US. Their demonic leadership doesn't.. so now we have a NEW boogie man that is only 13 super carriers behind.. and about 20 attack subs.. let their 2 million man army fight nothing.
The complete opposite tends to be true. With one global superpower there tends to be less chance for a major global wars. Look at WWI and WII where you had multiple countries (Germany, France, Russia, Italy,U.S., U.K., Japan) all vying for dominance.
I agree. Times of general peace (and localized war) occur during eras like Pax Romana, Pax Britanica, and Pax Americana. The only exception I can see to that was the end of the Napoleanic Wars achieved at the Congress of Vienna.
Maybe I haven't given you enough credit. Generally, America can't use war as an instrument of foreign policy any longer because the political culture of the country has changed. Foreign wars are now legitimate tools for the political opposition to use for domestic political purposes. This means that America is vastly weakened in the international arena, but it is what it is. Too late to change the political culture now.
Entangling alliances can cause warfare as well as competing powers, but this was also before the nuclear age and the EU. Nowadays, competition is more focused in markets than in military conflicts. Economic imperialism is the name of the game, not military intervention.
