China's Offensive Capacity?

China could never go to war with a super power unless forced to. And another superpower is not dumb. They are well aware that conflict between super powers could very well spark a world war. China could reach far across the ocean if needed but you must know that China is a peace loving nation. Though military is tough, it is only for protection. China would never attack any country first unless threatened heavily or attacked by that country. It is a policy. China remains a economical country with intentions to improve the standard living but at the same time, make sure their people are safe. That is what the PLA is for.

Besides, China does not have the capability to take on Russia of the US in a nuclear war. It is a long way behind both countries. It is in the PRCs interest to keep all of its wars conventional, especially one agianst Russia.

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Actually, the PRC could manage to destroy all the urban centers of Russia. While China has a limited number of ICBMs that can strike the US, they possess hundreds of IRBMs that can strike at Russia, and the PLAAF can also deliver nuclear strikes against Russia. In the end both nations would be turned to nuclear waste, so it'd still be better for China to just crush the Russian conventional forces.

All right every one this is not virtual nuclear war:nono: This is about Chinese power not how it would go up against another countryff . So I suggest we lay off the combat.

REad the PLAN chokepoints thread. Until the PRC finds a way around those, the only foregin area it can deploy forces in is Central Asia. However, this should be enough. China's economic power is such that it does not have to do much fighting around the world. Nations are too afraid of upsetting it. One thought I would like to add. The US has both the advantages and disadvantages of being a superpower. China, for now, has only the advantages.

Matt_E said:

I know China has a large and powerful military but does it have any real offensive reach beyond Taiwan and it's immediate region? And does it have what it takes to fight a trans-continental conflict.

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1) Combined arms force, no. The PLAN does not field any aircraft carriers. However in cases where fighter aircraft is not critical, then the PLAN does have limited capability field offensive invasion with marines and PLA divisons, plus some helicopters.

For an example, the US invasion of Panama (1989) deployed over 27,000 men against Panama's 3,000 PDF (Panama Defense Force). It was quite an overkill. If similiar situation existed in Asia and the PRC need to invade a small-ish nation without a real air force, I think they can do it.

2) No.

Actually its best to analyze how wars would go without having to worry about nuclear weapons. So thus they never end up in the equations its obvious no one would dare try to force regime change on any nuclear power but I also have no doubt that both nations would fight to the best of their conventional abilities and give/take territory as per the rules of war.

So thus while there is no doubt that WMD's would make everyone lose leaving no clear winners one can also state that is why should war actually happen no one would use them except in counter attack: "MAD".

Ender Wiggin said:

Actually its best to analyze how wars would go without having to worry about nuclear weapons. So thus they never end up in the equations its obvious no one would dare try to force regime change on any nuclear power but I also have no doubt that both nations would fight to the best of their conventional abilities and give/take territory as per the rules of war.

So thus while there is no doubt that WMD's would make everyone lose leaving no clear winners one can also state that is why should war actually happen no one would use them except in counter attack: "MAD".

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That is true, since nukes would eventually kill everyone and lay waste, no one has the guts to actually use a nuke, but Im no sayin they wont use nukes if they were nuked first. I would also like to point out that the last time a nuclear weapon was used in combat was when it was first used back in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. You can see that every country has realized how devastating these weapons are.ff
All right, I suggest we lay off the war talk or this thread would be closed. Back to Chinese capabilty and I mean Chinese
power.

Oh and MaxTesla, be careful what comes out of your mouth. Use proper language. We do not insult our fellow members.

"Behold, the bringer of Light"

An interesting thought though is that the game C&C Generals: Zero Hour shows a scenario where the US Army withdraws from its bases in europe to tighten continental security, so China is given the go ahead to engage the terrorists and puts an army in Germany to figh the terrorists.

This game is set in 2010, so by what time could we expect China to be able to effectively put miitary units on foreign soil to engage terrorists and particicpate in peace keeping missions on the scale of the Coalition wars in Afghanistan and Iraq?

(Note) I know of China troops in Haiti and other trouble spots(/note)

Ender Wiggin said:

"Behold, the bringer of Light"

An interesting thought though is that the game C&C Generals: Zero Hour shows a scenario where the US Army withdraws from its bases in europe to tighten continental security, so China is given the go ahead to engage the terrorists and puts an army in Germany to figh the terrorists.

This game is set in 2010, so by what time could we expect China to be able to effectively put miitary units on foreign soil to engage terrorists and particicpate in peace keeping missions on the scale of the Coalition wars in Afghanistan and Iraq?

(Note) I know of China troops in Haiti and other trouble spots(/note)

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China not in the teorrist business, thats a war America and other terrorist victims are involved. Zero Hour sets the scene that China was attacked by terrorist thus drawing them in on the war on terror which is a very unlikely situation in present day. Like I said before, China is a peace loving nation and would not like to get into unnecessary conflicts, in this case with terrorist, Think about it. The PRC governtment fight terrorists, then doesnt that anger terrorists and make China a target too like the US and other countries? Terrorist attack a country based on their veiw. Seting the military on foreign soil is very unlikely in current day, plus I dont think the PRC wants to have their military spread across the world. The PLA was found to protect China; not go meddeling in some other country minding other's buisiness.

OK, this entire website is turning into the "Command and Conquer Generals and Cool Military Pictures Forum". I am so dissapointed.

China's offensive capability...Well, right now, China doesn't need much of one. However, as China's economy grows, and it becomes a true superpower, it will inevitably need to maintain a global empire, just as the other superpowers of the modern era, Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States have done. China's empire will be the least noticeable one yet. As time has gone on and globalization has linked the world, it is no longer necessary for a superpower to physically own the territories it requires for economic prosperity, as the British did, or keep them as client states and political lackeys, as the Soviets did. The United States relies on its military and economic power as well as a system of "traditional alliances" forged after WWII to maintain supremacy. The Chinese empire will essentially be a child of globalization and be almost solely economic. Thus, China will have global economic interests across the world. ( No war will start without economic interests involved on some level, no war) The one thing that hasn't changed is that it is necessary to have a big military capable of global deployment to defend a superpower's economic interests. So, basically, what the Chinese need for the future is a powerful navy with carriers, an air force that can bomb anything anywhere in the world, (like the USAF), and a large, well eqipped professional core to the PLA that is capable of fighting a conflict anywhere. On the more political side of the equation, China needs allies to facilitate its global deployment, as well as to provide it with a core of international support and get around the geographical problems it faces. For example, a key link in China's potential core group of allies would be Indonesia, because it controls the Straits of Mallacca and Java, key chokepoints for the PLAN, has large amounts of raw materials, energy supplies and cheap labor, and is a "rising" economy. :china:

Well, there you have it. Sorry if the English is hard for some of you to understand. I used so vocabulary that some non-native speakers might have some trouble with.