China's Emergence as a Superpower (till 2014)

[davidbfpo]

Once more hat tip to the Australian Lowy Institute e-briefing for its maritime dimension. First
















Then imported oil (in 2012).

[davidbfpo]

I am sure holes will be picked in this and it is not clear if the aircraft carrier is fully operational:http://www.lowyinterpreter.org/post/...LCC=454764420&

[Dayuhan]

The maritime trade graphics are interesting, and illustrative.

The the percentage of the world's merchandise and commodity trade passing through SE Asia is often interpreted as a threat from China, on the assumption that China could do great damage by interrupting that trade. What that assumption fails to recognize is that the vast majority of that trade is moving in or out of China, and that China is the party most vulnerable to any trade disruption in the area. The graphics above represent less a threat from China than a threat to China: a trade interruption in the Starais of Malacca, or further abroad in the Indian Ocean, where the PLAN has virtually no capacity to project power, would be a problem of staggering dimensions for China, which depends on trade more than any nation in the world.

[Dayuhan]

Interesting...

https://ph.news.yahoo.com/eu-firms-h...051120343.html

EU firms help power China's military rise

As China boosts its military spending, rattling neighbours over territorial disputes at sea, an AFP investigation shows that European countries have approved billions in transfers of weapons and military-ready technology to the Asian giant.

China's air force relies on French-designed helicopters, while submarines and frigates involved in Beijing's physical assertion of its claim to vast swathes of the South China Sea are powered by German and French engines -- part of a separate trade in "dual use" technology to Beijing's armed forces...

[Dayuhan]

Probably exaggerated to some extent, but worth considering:

https://medium.com/war-is-boring/8a12e8ef7edc

The Chinese Military Is a Paper Dragon

...China’s military buildup, along with an aggressive foreign policy, has inspired a fair amount of alarm in the West. Some American policymakers consider Beijing to be Washington’s only “near-peer competitor”—in other words, the only country with the military might to actually beat the U.S. military in certain circumstances.

But they’re wrong. Even after decades of expensive rearmament, China is a paper dragon—a version of what Mao Zedong wrongly claimed the United States was … in 1956.

China’s military budget has grown by double-digits year after year, but inflation has eaten away at the increases. China’s army, navy, air force and missile command are wracked by corruption—and their weapons are, by and large, still greatly inferior to Western equivalents...

[davidbfpo]

Moderator's Note

This thread is now rather large and it is time for a new thread, with the same title too! The new thread will be in another arena: Global Issues & Threats as China is no longer a regional power (ends).

The new thread is at:http://council.smallwarsjournal.com/...ad.php?t=21618