China’s air force is rapidly modernizing, with advanced fighters, long-range missiles, and a growing drone fleet. But can the PLAAF truly challenge the USAF in a future conflict?
China had little difficulty defeating the USA in 1951 and would have much less difficulty today. Its sophisticated detection system, coupled with massive missile superiority, ensures that.
And corruption is far more pervasive in the US military-industrial complex than in China's, btw, as results demonstrate.
There is a certain irony here, as the US funds its own military spending with treasury bills sold to China which they buy using the proceeds of the same trade surplus with us.
We give them dollars and they give us stuff. Then they give us the dollars back and we give them treasury notes. Then they hold the treasury notes and we spend the dollars, again. Rinse and repeat, to the tune of $750b, currently ... down from $1.3t several years ago, but that's still a lot of free stuff.
They may eventually ask for something more in return than more paper for all the material prosperity they have been shipping us for decades ... and then we will have bigger problems than what happens to an island off the coast of China (even if it is home to TSMC).
I recommend Michael Hudson's Superimperialism for the definitive take.
"Over the past two decades, the PLAAF has evolved from a Soviet-style force, focused on defending Chinese airspace, into a modern air power capable of projecting strength beyond its borders. More than just an extension of national defense, China’s air force is now a central pillar of its strategy to deter U.S. intervention in the Taiwan Strait".
With the apparent inference that Taiwan is beyond China's borders.
Not so. Taiwan is legally an integral part of China, as even the US government accepts.
The shortest distance between China and the continental USA is about 10,000 km. Thus, a fair division of the Pacific area would be a line right down the middle of that ocean. Yet the USA presumes to meddle in Taiwan, which is actually a province of China itself! Astonishing.
The Chinese government has done wisely to build up its military, naval and aerial strength to a point where it can easily give the USA a bloody nose if Uncle Sam starts any trouble. As has so often been pointed out, last time they clashed over 70 years ago, the Chinese peasant army routed and nearly destroyed the "UN" (actually US) forces and chased them ignominiously back into South Korea. They were saved only by superior air power - an advantage they no longer have.
This is the typical Western arrogance. What is China's population compared to us and our allies? Who controls the raw materials for weapons system manufacturing? We can't even replace the ammunition we sent to Ukraine. Any country that allows our forces to operate from will be targeted. Any attack on mainland China will be match with attack on our mainland.
Any talk about corruption should start with our huge defense budget that is barely keeping our ships at see. We can't even recruit people to fill the ranks. Don't be like the Japanese or Germans in WW2.
China had little difficulty defeating the USA in 1951 and would have much less difficulty today. Its sophisticated detection system, coupled with massive missile superiority, ensures that.
And corruption is far more pervasive in the US military-industrial complex than in China's, btw, as results demonstrate.
And the best part is, China funded military from trade surplus from western countries.
There is a certain irony here, as the US funds its own military spending with treasury bills sold to China which they buy using the proceeds of the same trade surplus with us.
We give them dollars and they give us stuff. Then they give us the dollars back and we give them treasury notes. Then they hold the treasury notes and we spend the dollars, again. Rinse and repeat, to the tune of $750b, currently ... down from $1.3t several years ago, but that's still a lot of free stuff.
They may eventually ask for something more in return than more paper for all the material prosperity they have been shipping us for decades ... and then we will have bigger problems than what happens to an island off the coast of China (even if it is home to TSMC).
I recommend Michael Hudson's Superimperialism for the definitive take.
"Over the past two decades, the PLAAF has evolved from a Soviet-style force, focused on defending Chinese airspace, into a modern air power capable of projecting strength beyond its borders. More than just an extension of national defense, China’s air force is now a central pillar of its strategy to deter U.S. intervention in the Taiwan Strait".
With the apparent inference that Taiwan is beyond China's borders.
Not so. Taiwan is legally an integral part of China, as even the US government accepts.
The shortest distance between China and the continental USA is about 10,000 km. Thus, a fair division of the Pacific area would be a line right down the middle of that ocean. Yet the USA presumes to meddle in Taiwan, which is actually a province of China itself! Astonishing.
The Chinese government has done wisely to build up its military, naval and aerial strength to a point where it can easily give the USA a bloody nose if Uncle Sam starts any trouble. As has so often been pointed out, last time they clashed over 70 years ago, the Chinese peasant army routed and nearly destroyed the "UN" (actually US) forces and chased them ignominiously back into South Korea. They were saved only by superior air power - an advantage they no longer have.
This is the typical Western arrogance. What is China's population compared to us and our allies? Who controls the raw materials for weapons system manufacturing? We can't even replace the ammunition we sent to Ukraine. Any country that allows our forces to operate from will be targeted. Any attack on mainland China will be match with attack on our mainland.
Any talk about corruption should start with our huge defense budget that is barely keeping our ships at see. We can't even recruit people to fill the ranks. Don't be like the Japanese or Germans in WW2.