Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Chinese Demonstrate Ability to Destroy Satellites, Is it Time to Destroy China Yet?

jorgelito · 01-19-2007, 02:03 PM

Jazz, one main difference between the US-USSR binary and the US-China one is that the economies of US-China are much more closely tied. US action in China would yield a Pyrrhic victory in that the US could potentially destroy much of it's own and allies' factories, companies etc. Likewise, disrupting US economy is NOT beneficial to China either so they have even less incentive to attack.

No, I think one has to look at the regional context first. What is China most concerned with?

Mostly, to not be attacked so it takes on a mostly defensive posture.

Second, to make sure Taiwan does not declare independence nor have any other country interfere there. Most of China's military strategy involves national defense and the Taiwan Scenario.

Thirdly, China wants to reclaim its former glory and prestige by being recognized as the dominant regional power and a global power as well.

While it is true that China is actively seeking to modernize and improve its military capability, one has to look at it's function to understand the motive.
a. China wants a better navy, a "blue water" navy rather than be the coast guard that it is now. Why the projection of naval power? To protect its shipping lanes, specifically the Straights of Malacca where most of China's imported oil flows through. China is concerned because of the large US naval presence there. Basically, China is trying to protect it's resources. Secondly, to better "deal" with the Taiwan issue. Until China improves its navy, especially amphibious assault and landing, invading Taiwan is just a pipe dream.

b. China knows that it is 50 years behind in military power. At best, it may reach 20 years behind. So China has to develop a different strategy. Recent defensive white papers show that China is looking to reduce its standing army and traditional formation in favor of more slim, sleek and flexible fighting units. Cyber warfare and other "assassin" style tactics are now the goal. So updating computer command and control is the Chinese goal for updating its military.

The context of a post Cold war, Post-9/11 globalized economy is also different than the Cold War era. I don't think there is much of a parallel there.

01-19-2007, 02:03 PM	#14 (permalink)
jorgelito All important elusive independent swing voter... Location: People's Republic of KKKalifornia	Jazz, one main difference between the US-USSR binary and the US-China one is that the economies of US-China are much more closely tied. US action in China would yield a Pyrrhic victory in that the US could potentially destroy much of it's own and allies' factories, companies etc. Likewise, disrupting US economy is NOT beneficial to China either so they have even less incentive to attack. No, I think one has to look at the regional context first. What is China most concerned with? Mostly, to not be attacked so it takes on a mostly defensive posture. Second, to make sure Taiwan does not declare independence nor have any other country interfere there. Most of China's military strategy involves national defense and the Taiwan Scenario. Thirdly, China wants to reclaim its former glory and prestige by being recognized as the dominant regional power and a global power as well. While it is true that China is actively seeking to modernize and improve its military capability, one has to look at it's function to understand the motive. a. China wants a better navy, a "blue water" navy rather than be the coast guard that it is now. Why the projection of naval power? To protect its shipping lanes, specifically the Straights of Malacca where most of China's imported oil flows through. China is concerned because of the large US naval presence there. Basically, China is trying to protect it's resources. Secondly, to better "deal" with the Taiwan issue. Until China improves its navy, especially amphibious assault and landing, invading Taiwan is just a pipe dream. b. China knows that it is 50 years behind in military power. At best, it may reach 20 years behind. So China has to develop a different strategy. Recent defensive white papers show that China is looking to reduce its standing army and traditional formation in favor of more slim, sleek and flexible fighting units. Cyber warfare and other "assassin" style tactics are now the goal. So updating computer command and control is the Chinese goal for updating its military. The context of a post Cold war, Post-9/11 globalized economy is also different than the Cold War era. I don't think there is much of a parallel there.