On Dec 23, 8:41*am, Gordon wrote:
On Dec 22, 12:40*pm, hcobb wrote:

There seems to be no mention of submarine launched cruise missiles,
which would be the only platform the PLA could use to attack targets
distant enough to make cruise missile attack worthwhile.

-HJC

They only have to get across the straits, not the entire Pacific...
I
imagine their doctrine states, "Ripple fire, in waves numbering in
the
hundeds, on a bearing of 090." *Sucks to be Taiwan as I genuinely
disbelieve that we can protect them indefinitely.

v/r Gordon

They only need to be protected long enough for them to become friends
in some kind of face saving development and for a degree of democracy
to continue creeping into Chinese politics.

There is not a lot of nice things to be said about aging and death but
one of these is that when the occaisional idiots and arseholes who
gain power die and their inappropriate attitudes start to die of as
well and thus make way. Given Chinas' integration in the world
economic order I doubt they would do anything stupid as they would
hurt themselves severely. I'd give it one twenty year generation at
most. A new generation of English speaking and well travelled Chinese
won't give '[two hoots' about the Nationalists vs Maoist nonsense
despite censorship on google.

Given what foreign imperialists have done to China in the recent past
I would expect a fairly strong regional military posture. It's not
like they have dozens of nuclear powered aircraft carriers and a large
specialised blue water amphibious assault forces.