Chinese military power?

Question

Looking at responses to other questions I have to ask if people really believe that China is that big a threat already? Their navy is a joke, the air force has only a hadful of modern fighters and they had to buy those. They have only just started to produce a tank even close to modern. They just started production of the J-10 and that is only comparable to an F-16 we started producing almost 30 years ago. They are making headway but please, someone explain to me, how they are a threat even within the next 10 years?

One of the biggest drivin forces for the improvement of the PLAAN (Chinese Navy) is because they want to be able to escort oil tankers from the middle east to china during potential turmoil.
Nukes are a weapon of last resort and I do not consider them in the equation. not to mention they have very few compared to us.
The ground forces are horribly equipped and inexperienced to boot.
The Chinese AF (PLAAF) force bought its first AWACS plane from Israel but it will be a while before it is even operational. The Mig-29 is a modern aircraft but it has to be supported to be worth a damn. An AMRAAM launched from beyond visual range against a target that has no support acquisition is not even fair.
China could defend its mainland from a US invasion but that is a factor of huge population. Not a result of military capability.
Yes the economy is growing and they have a lot of bonds. I can discuss that too. Guess what? don't pay them back during the war.

Answer 1

I agree with you. China is making a bid to be a regional power. But they do no have the force projection to be a world threat for a good number of years. Without a decent Air Force and a blue water Navy they are not going to be a big threat. And as far as economics they need the world as much as the world needs them. I do think that China is on the way up and the other great powers should keep a close eye on her.

Answer 2

China's population is a squating population. There is such a vast empy interior of Asia that 300 million Chinese can squat wherever they want. Then those 300 million turn into 1.6 billion and then some of them move on.

Tiawan is just a small deterent that might last 100 or so years, before the Chinese just take it (Tiawan's population is decreasing).

So in a sense, China that's already been around for 6,000 years, understands patients and time. They have seen empires grow and die right before their eyes.

Here are some unexpected developments though. China will have the stealth fighter by 2020. They have developed their own super computer, they plan on visiting the moon at some point and they have proven they can hit satellites in space.

China isn't a 10 year threat and probably not a 20 year threat, but look 100 to 200 years in the future and they will probably own 70% of Asia and parts of Africa. 500 Years in the future Europe will be filled with Chinese along with Africa. It's that slow creep that's going to do it.

Answer 3

They alreday have the capability with their long range surface to surface ballistic missles and long range cruise missles to put our aircraft carriers at risk should they invade tawain. They have bought more than a handful of mig 29's which are a front line fighter...you do not want to get in a land battle in china...of course that is not our objective, just to keep the sea lanes open and if things get hostile to close them to chinese oil traffic, taht is the end game right now. But you are right, without super carriers china cannot project power very far...some of there subs are world class so they could do some damage in sea battles but for now we have a huge advantage in being able to protect (or stop) the flow of oil on the high seas...when china builds up it's navy then we will be in a different situation...but thst will take a while...I suspect they will have their first carrier within 6 or 7 years...deployed in maybe 10.

Answer 4

Don't forget a few months ago they (china) shot a satellite out of orbit. But I agree, at the moment they are not a serious military threat but they will be soon. Keep this in mind, if china and the US went to war with one another it would be one of the bloodiest wars in human history. The reason I say this is because (except for oil) both countries have almost unlimited natural resources, therefore both countries could fight a long and drawn out war resulting in massive casualties for both sides. Also, china has a long coast line which would make it difficult for the US to launch a land assault from the sea. And besides in any conflict china had with the US russia and north korea would be on china's side.

Answer 5

The reason China is a threat is because they are such a big economic power!!! If the U.S.A. went to war with China think about all the goods that will stop coming to the U.S. Business's would be ruined and we would suffer a humiliating defeat. Plus no one else would help us for the fear of not getting all the stuff that is made in China. Also remember when the Chinese economy suffered so did the U.S.A. economy!! That shows how much influence they have!

Answer 6

China poses a real threat to Taiwan, just due to the closeness of the Island to the Chinese mainland, and its distance from the west coast of America. They could be there very quickly, overwhelm the Taiwanese military, and then sit there and wait for us to have to travel over 3000 miles to respond. Can you see us trying to maintain supply lines over that distance, with all the mining of the ocean, and the Chinese subs that will form a picket line or two between us and Taiwan? It would be a logistical nightmare!

And how many ships could we lose, and men could we see killed before the American people got tired of the sacrifices we were making to defend a country that we know little about, and care even less about, which is practically a piece of China, anyhow (the way the Confederacy was a part of the US during the Civil War.)?

I think all they would have to do is just fight us until we got tired of the fight. They wouldn't win through military superiority, but through sheer determination to lose as many of their own men as it took to drain our will to lose any more of our own.

Answer 7

Ten years can go by fast, and with the wealth China has we need to counter balance their build up with a build up of our own. The best way, in my opinion, to slow down their rapid military expansion, is to stop buying crap from this country. We need to fire up our own industrial complex, once again, and start making our own widgets.

The only thing we have accomplished by letting the Chinese take over our industrial complex, is the creation of a wealthy monster that has bad intentions. The sooner we can dry up their coffers, the safer we will be.

Some people would say we can't do this to China, it will piss them off even more, and then they will want to retaliate. It's like the guy who feeds the alligator, he can't afford to stop feeding him, or he will be the alligators next meal. The longer we wait, the harder it will be to resolve the China issue.

Answer 8

Yes China may have a weak navy but the have A hell of alot of men on their side, who are all brutally trained.You may think america has the strongest military power, but its not.We lost Vietnam and Korean wars because of china.Sure thier weapons arent strong but they have many men to spare.And soon they could have acess to nuclear weapons if north Korea offers them, so we best leave china alone unless we wanna eat hot dogs through a mechanical straw.

Answer 9

A lot of truth in what you say, but obviously any force intent on causing trouble can do so. Their biggest problem is probably that they lack the power to PROJECT their force, to move it, which keeps them at this point from being a world power.

Answer 10

Just as we buried the USSR with the dynamism of our economy, the Chinese have the POTENTIAL to overpower us with the sheer scale of their potential production. I agree that its a far way off, but you can't deny that there is almost the inevitability of an adversarial relationship.

Theyre shooting down satellites now - why? Spending millions to find a cool way to retire sattelites?!?