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
Not sure the scope of the issue. So just throwing it out there but... not all of our ships can dry dock and get maintenance at the same time.
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.
U.S. Navy upgrades it's ability to re-arm ships at sea to deal with potentially protracted fight with China. With the upgrades, the Navy believes it can increase the number of ships able to sustain themselves at sea indefinitely from 20 to 100. US Navy will get re-arm at sea capability to give it edge in China conflict
We are almost certainly prepared to attempt something similar against our adversaries. It's more of a concern with us as a society because (a) America is extremely dependent on electricity and potable water; and (b) our public utilities are probably not very well protected against cyber attack. Hard to guess how well-protected our adversaries are. With an open society like the U.S., and with things designed for convenience, a lot of utilities' control systems can be accessed from the internet.
Geologists strike gold in NE Hunan Province, China. It could be the world's largest gold ore deposit, representing 0.4% of the world's mined gold with as much as 1100 tons of gold between one and two miles deep. China is the world's leading gold producer, with 10% of the world's production (370 MT in 2023), and the leading consumer of gold in the world (910 MT demand). Most gold in China is used to hoard wealth (as an investment). Geologists Might Have Stumbled Upon the Largest Gold Mine in the World
The U.S. military in Guam has been testing ballistic missile defenses to get ready for a potential war with China. China's missile force has Guam in its sights. The US military just took a big, first-of-its-kind step toward strengthening its defenses.
