CIA chief says China's rapid military buildup troubling

[RedRalph]

Get real.

China may not even win against Taiwan.

well, thats not clear. If the Us intervened, thats one thing, if it was China vs Taiwan on its own, thats noather... but in any case, the US saying this is troubling is laughable. they arent in the least bnit roubled by it, but they want to the public to be.

 

[Winner]

China is getting ever closer to its goal of destroying our democracy!

Yeah, chinks are coming, you better run

Get real, the pie chart kinda explains it all.

 

[RedRalph]

well spending on its own dosent tell the full story, but tis laughable to claim that the US feels threatened.

 

[Winner]

well spending on its own dosent tell the full story, but tis laughable to claim that the US feels threatened.

Agreed. Even if China had 3x bigger budget than the US, it would still be unable to directly threaten the US.

 

[RedRalph]

Agreed. Even if China had 3x bigger budget than the US, it would still be unable to directly threaten the US.

I dont know about that Winner, if they has three times as much to spend they could get a pretty decent navy together in time.... but other factors matter like how decent an arms industry they have, geography, politics, public attitude (for example the Chinese public could probably stomach many, many more casualties than the American one) population, nuclear weapons etc... the US isnt in the least bit threatened.

 

[Winner]

I dont know about that Winner, if they has three times as much to spend they could get a pretty decent navy together in time.... but other factors matter like how decent an arms industry they have, geography, politics, public attitude (for example the Chinese public could probably stomach many, many more casualties than the American one) population, nuclear weapons etc... the US isnt in the least bit threatened.

Doesn't matter at all. I said "threaten directly", which means "being able to successfully invade and destroy the country".

China will, sooner or later, become a dominant power in East Asia and perhaps in certain parts of Pacific too, but the US won't be directly threatened (let's forget about nuclear weapons).

This "China is going to destroy us" talk is totally insane.

 

[Patroklos]

It is all a matter of degrees.

Of course the military is "concerned" about any errosion of its tech/material/positioning edge, whether that be 1% of 20% in relative strength. They are going to be the ones putting their necks out in the case of conflict, so they want evern advantage possible.

As it is, the bombing of a few pipelines and blockading the Straits of Malacca for a few weeks would bring China to it's knees in no time. That is of course, if food shortages don't do so first. Like RRW said, there is more than just who has what toys, in China's case geography will keep it the US's . .. .. .. .. . in any war for a long time to come.

 

[RedRalph]

Well that depends on what the war was about Patroklos. and allies. but yeah in almost all cases of conventional war the US would easily win.

 

[BirraImperial]

I guess that if they had a democracy, with their huge population and their growing economy, they would become a superpower in a short time.

 

[Dida]

I guess that if they had a democracy, with their huge population and their growing economy, they would become a superpower in a short time.

Beware, China is going the way of Nazi Germany. They are setting up concentration camps for Tibetans and other racial minorities as we speak.

 

[mrt144]

Don't you guys see what is happening?!

They are poisoning us with shoddy merchandise, waiting and watching as we all become fat and sick. But they realize that not everybody is going to get fat and sick... there are certain people who will carefully monitor their health and make sure that they are in peak physical condition... these people are called Olympic athletes and they are the only barrier between us and a Chinese invasion. As soon as all our athletes are gone off in Beijing they're going to strike... don't say I didn't warn you!

this sounds like an awesome plot for a movie where the Olympiads needs to break world records to defeat the Chinese. like high jumping out of a window or running really fast from machine gun fire.

 

[DNK]

Unless our military is tossing cash away and spending inefficiently, we should keep our edge.

S---! We're screwed...

 

[RedRalph]

Yeah, chinks are coming, you better run
.

Winner you may not be aware, English not being your first language but thats considered pretty racist over here

 

[Patroklos]

I guess that if they had a democracy, with their huge population and their growing economy, they would become a superpower in a short time.

It will be a different sort of super power though, namely one that will never be able to achieve anything even approaching resourse independance like Russia or the US (or the EU for that matter). Then there is food. China will become a power, but it will look and fit into the world in a much different fashion.

 

[Abaddon]

I hope China kicks your asses.

 

[Sharwood]

Beware, China is going the way of Nazi Germany. They are setting up concentration camps for Tibetans and other racial minorities as we speak.

No they're not! They're just putting the Tibetans into reservations, where they can open up casinos, to make up for all the genocide they suffered a while back.

 

[Den Valdron]

I don't see any possibility of a direct conventional war with China. That just seems nonsensical.

Any direct conflict that seriously threatens the core interests of either country would almost certainly invoke the threat of a nuclear exchange.

The Chinese don't have nearly as many nuclear weapons as the United States. But arguably, they have enough, and enough nuclear capability, to deliver pain and suffering on a level beyond anything the US has known. Certainly, they have the power to end the United States as a world power, and quite likely to end the United States as a functioning nation.

The United States could, in turn, obliterate the Chinese population without effort.

But is the Chinese willingness to take losses balanced by an American reluctance to suffer? The only way to find that out is to go for brinksmanship. And frankly, neither country is really prepared to go there.

I assume that the Chinese defense expenditures are concentrating on modernizing, expanding and upgrading their nuclear fleet... or a significant portion of them are.

Apart from that, I think we're probably looking at assymetric response intended to cancel out American power under some circumstances.

 

[RedRalph]

youre looking at a five page argument with Patroklos about how China would under no circumstances (more or less) use nukes on the USA, Dev Valdron. I've had it with him many times.

 

[Den Valdron]

I'd rather not have that argument, and I don't think I will trouble myself to engage it.

I spent more than enough University time studying MAD theory and Cold War history. I don't recall those days with especial pleasure.

 

[Patroklos]

youre looking at a five page argument with Patroklos about how China would under no circumstances (more or less) use nukes on the USA, Dev Valdron. I've had it with him many times.

I think I specifically mentioned a successful mainland invasion (as unlikely as that is) and US first use (even more unlikely) as a triger for a Chinese nuclear response.

That was a fun discussion though, I don't know if I have the energy for it again