How China's Military Views the United States

If we have a D2, it could be an R2D2, which should be terrifying for China if it works! (I think my daughter may have an R2D2, but we've kept it from killing anyone by not replacing the batteries.)

 

The U.S. has a new air-to-air missile that could change the battlefield in a China-Taiwan conflict. The new AIM-174B has a range of 250 miles, which is much further than anything the U.S. Navy had before.

Analysis-U.S. Navy's newest air-to-air missile could tilt balance in South China Sea

 

Steel markets worldwide are collapsing due to China's dumping steel globally, another indication of how bad China's economy is doing. No construction = no steel needed domestically. If the U.S. goes into a mild recession in the next year, the effect will be amplified.

World’s Top Steel Producer Warns of ‘Severe’ Industry Crisis

 

The effects of China's population decline are already being felt in China. Weddings, diamond sales, and retail spending are all dropping like a rock.

China's population decline is having a big impact as marriages, diamond sales, and retail spending drop

 

Everything is going fine in China . . . unless China's economy shows new signs of weakness.

No respite for Chinese officials as economy shows new signs of weakness

DOH!

 

China's salvation was supposed to come from exports, but so many countries have tariffs on Chinese goods and are not excited about buying Chinese goods that Chinese companies have had to drastically lower prices (and profits) to unload their products. Not much relief from exports. Certainly not enough to bail them out for the real estate disaster. Which followed four years of Covid-induced economic calamity.

 

China is now dumping copper and nickel on the world markets. China is usually an importer of copper, so it is very unusual that they become an exporter. That almost certainly means that few people in China are using copper, which goes into wiring for housing and motors and air conditioning units.

Wave of Chinese Copper Fills Warehouses Abroad as Demand Weakens

 

China does have a new dual-tower solar thermal power plant in Gansu, China (near the center of the country, on the eastern edge of the Gobi Desert). It will make 2 billion kW-h annually. It is the first one in the world with two towers.

China constructs world's first dual-tower solar thermal plant — and it will help generate nearly 2 billion kWh annually

 

China gets "dramatic" when informed of a new U.S. missile that will be stationed in the western Pacific.

China got 'very dramatic' after the US military flew a new missile system out to the Western Pacific, ally says

 

China's navy has a new accomplishment: burning an aircraft carrier to the bottom of a lagoon. This seems to symbolize the future of China-Russian relations--highly flammable and ready to go up in smoke. It was originally a Russian carrier, but China had improved it enough to make it a tourist attraction. No doubt, a problem with using the ship's fuel to make hot pot gone awry.

Soviet Aircraft Carrier Turned Failed Chinese Tourist Attraction Is On Fire (Updated)

 

^ Ironically, the location of the Minsk, at 50 miles northwest of Shanghai, puts it fairly close to a chemical plant startup I worked in the Nanjing/Yangzhou area. I could be watching the fire from my hotel room right now if the startup were a decade or so later.

 

The horrible economy in China drives many desperate people to look for economic opportunity from scammers, losing a small fortune.

Scammers prey on young Chinese desperate for jobs in bleak economy

 

More bad news for China's economy: their exploitative mining operation in Ghana was robbed of $900,000 in gold by armed bandits.

Chinese firm says US$900,000 of gold stolen in armed attack on mine in Ghana

 

Iron ore continues to take a beating, as China is consuming very little steel with their economy shattered.

Iron Ore Battered to 2022 Low as China’s Steel Crisis Hits Home

 

^A fast military buildup and a smart military buildup are often two different things. And in warfare, like in many other things in life, experience matters. China has not won a naval battle in over 400 years. Their last actual land war was a humiliating defeat to Vietnam in 1979. If the U.S. fights a smart limited war, China has no chance. Their technology and level of training is not up to the task of defeating the U.S. Navy. They have no answer for the F-35. Their carrier aircraft are weak and under-powered. They have lots of destroyer-sized ships with lots of missiles, but what good will that do them if they cannot locate targets?

China's navy is designed to bully nations like the Philippines and Vietnam. They might have a halfway decent chance against Japan if they caught Japan off-guard with the initial attack. They have no business fighting the U.S.

Obviously, you are using a goodly number (5) of brain cells thinking about this. If you could engage a few more brain cells, you would realize that the U.S. has little to fear from China.