In article ,
ess (phil hunt) wrote:

On Tue, 17 Feb 2004 20:26:09 -0500, Kevin Brooks
wrote:

If China attacked one of its neighbours, that country would very
likely allow the USAF to base there.

If the PRC attacked one of its neighbors, none of which have exactly a lot
of geographic space to trade for the time

None? Not even Russia,

Russia's got some room, but the parts of Russia that China would be
interested in are close to the border.

India

New Delhi is just a couple of hundred miles from the closest Chinese
border. Having your capital city a half hour away by bomber or
transport plane is hardly a problem nowadays.

or Kazakhstan?

About 400 miles. In modern terms, that's not far. Again, planes.

Come to think of it, a Chinese invasion of Vietnam, Laos or Burma
would have to cross some rough terrain.

But not much of it to get to the important parts of those countries, and
the whole "airplane" thing gets into the mix again.

And then we get to those of China's near enghbours
separated by water...

....as China gets ready to launch four new aircraft carriers...

--
cirby at cfl.rr.com

Remember: Objects in rearview mirror may be hallucinations.
Slam on brakes accordingly.