How China's Military Views the United States

A good article on why China would be defeated if they tried to invade Taiwan. The U.S. seriously considered invading Taiwan during WWII, but concluded it would be suicidal and would take hundreds of thousands more troops than the U.S. had available at the time. The Japanese built extensive fortifications around the island in addition to military facilities, many of which are still used by Taiwan's military.

A US invasion of Taiwan in WWII would have been a disaster. A Chinese operation faces similar dangers.

 

Chinese young people have so little faith in the Chinese economy that they have stopped flying long distances in airplanes. Instead, they take buses and trains for their long-distance trips. They refer to themselves as "iron-butt travelers".

https://www.cnn.com/travel/iron-butt-traveler-trend-china-intl-hnk/index.html

 

Mexico bails on being an intermediary for U.S. trade with China after pressure from the U.S.

Mexico fears loss of US-Canada trade, scrambles to replace Chinese parts

 

China has the new record: largest hack into U.S. communications systems. And its currently on-going, with no way to stop it.

It Appears That Chinese Hackers Have Stolen Your Naughty Texts

 

China's hackers are preparing for war with the U.S. First Step: disable all servers in the U.S. by changing the temperature setpoints on the buildings that house them until the servers overheat. No doubt, there are probably other steps involving shutting down electricity plants and water treatment plants.

Chinese hackers preparing for conflict, US cyber official says

 

I'm not sure rust (or shiny paint job) is a great indicator of who is going to win in a naval battle. I would have to guess that a lot of the U.S. ships in the Pacific in WWII were fairly rusty by the time the smoke cleared, but the vast majority of them were still floating. I don't think Japan's ships fared so well, especially their carriers and battleships.

It may be an indicator that the U.S. Navy spends more actual time at sea, getting the sailors experience and improving readiness, while China's navy spends more time in parades and in dry dock being prepared for the next parade.