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Post by Woonsocket on Dec 24, 2010 12:35:54 GMT -5
China is number 2 with a bullet. They have their sights set on being number one, supplanting the US militarily and economically. They think longer term than just one election cycle...unlike US politicians.
Guy
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They are spending on all kinds of weapons and modernizing their army. They have 5 times the number of people as the US. They are working on space launch capability (which any good student of military history can tell you is a code word for ICBM development.) They have nukes. They are loaning the US all kinds of money, and we are "running up our credit card" until the whole house of cards might collapse - and then where does the money for the US military come from?
Why do you think "no"?
Last Edit: Dec 24, 2010 13:11:06 GMT -5 by Woonsocket
So, the US government has to have proof that this classified information would bring damage in order to prosecute them... but would that apply to an online, international organization?
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XKI Generation: The Great Quake Generation XKI Map Nation Color: Top Left XKI NS Join Year: 140 - Sunday, 28 November 2010 Historical XKI Political Party: TIP - The Islands Party Ancient House of: Ananke
They are spending on all kinds of weapons and modernizing their army. They have 5 times the number of people as the US. They are working on space launch capability (which any good student of military history can tell you is a code word for ICBM development.) They have nukes. They are loaning the US all kinds of money, and we are "running up our credit card" until the whole house of cards might collapse - and then where does the money for the US military come from?
Why do you think "no"?
China has a huge military, but:
a) The People's Liberation Army Ground Force is poorly trained (conscripts), poorly led (political appointees), and poorly equipped (except for a few show units.) The PLA Navy is even worse, while the PLA Air Force is a little better.
b) The PLA is designed primarily for suppression of internal dissent rather than actual war. When faced with actual war, the only play in their book is "Human Wave". Look up the Sino-Vietnamese War to see how a smaller but more capable force could hold off the PLA.
c) The PLA lacks power projection... America can strike anywhere on Earth with more conventional firepower than all the bombs dropped in World War II. The PLA would be hard pressed to defeat Taiwan without American involvement.
This is not to say China will not someday be a greater military power, but it will likely be a long time before that happens. (If ever.) Of course a ground war with China would be a long, bloody, and pointless mess. But neither could China actually invade anyone. (India has almost as large a military, the Russian bear is still relatively mighty, and the American alliance is strong and globe-spanning.)
"No one starts a war; or rather, no one in his senses ought to do so; without first being clear in his mind what he intends to achieve by that war and how he intends to conduct it." - Carl Philipp Gottfried von Clausewitz
Post by Woonsocket on Dec 24, 2010 17:39:31 GMT -5
Well, that holds for now. I hope we don't turn a blind eye to the sleeping tiger as it may wake up. Look what they did with their economy - if they do the same with their military...
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Post by Tsim Sha Tsui on Dec 24, 2010 18:50:28 GMT -5
I'm of the belief that their economy is on shakier ground that the CPC would have everyone believe. Inflation is getting out of control, the domestic market is poorly developed, the overall economy is based almost solely on exports, and there is no transparency allowing outsiders to know where the government ends and private enterprise begins.
I hope I'm wrong, honestly, because if China goes bust it would effect the whole world.
"No one starts a war; or rather, no one in his senses ought to do so; without first being clear in his mind what he intends to achieve by that war and how he intends to conduct it." - Carl Philipp Gottfried von Clausewitz
Well, the Communist Party doesn't always lie. Indeed, sometimes they do tell the truth with nice, honey-covered words.
Speakiing of which, China's one of the countries that is pledging to permanently block Wikileaks.
I think the governments should be glad that Wikileaks is leaking all these classified documents! The public loves to read about these, especially if there's a scandal or two involved. It distracts the public from reading about other things, such as the Afghanistan War or the failing economy.