China is not anywhere near to being our peer and in any war where we get a chance to gather our strength, we will wipe up the Chinese fleet without probably breaking a sweat. Indeed, if the Japanese massed their naval forces, they could trounce China's navy on their own without too much difficulty.
So here is Strategypage's latest offering on this subject addressing severe leadership problems of the People's Liberation Army Navy:
As a result of all these problems, the navy is heading for a future where it may have brilliantly designed ships, commanded by morons. That's nothing new in Chinese history, and there are commanders in the navy, and in more senior positions, that are trying to avoid this fate. So far, progress is more theoretical than real.
Quite. I agree. And if the question was whether China could beat America at sea or in the air, I'd say this settles the question of China's rising power for several decades at least.
But this is not the question that matters. The question is whether China can beat Taiwan in the time it takes for us to mass our consdirably superior military power to beat China.
Anybody want to place bets on whether the leadership of the Taiwanese armed forces is collectively above moron status to the degree necessary to hold off the Chinese for the several weeks at minimum it would presumably be required for us to debate intervention and then actually get in the fight with significant power?
The PLAN leadership may be as moronic as Strategypage writes. The question is whether they are moronic enough.
