Why the Strong lose

crazyinsane105 said:

Taking in increased defence spending as a result of the war, veterans' disability payments and demobilisation costs, the economists predict the budgetary costs of the war alone could approach $1 trillion.

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I doubt taking care of a few thousand injured vets will cost half a trillion dollars. Demobalization simply means bringing the troops and equipment home. It won't cost more than 10 billion. If we get out by the end of next year the total cost will be half a trillion. These alarmist editorials are rather absurd. 2-3 trillion :roll:

swimmerXC said:

WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH CHINA?

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Hmm I would say the communist victory in Chinese civil war was a very serious case of the strong losing, in fact of the strong being annihilated :china: ..nearly.

It's easy to focus on material or military strength, but in an unconventional war, it isn't always the kind of strength that matters. Chinese communists ultimately won by their emotional strength with the people. Vietnamese won by the strength of their nationalism and strength of "out-suffering" the Americans. Against the Iraq insurgency, if you brought back the baath party army, they'd probably be stronger than Americans in the ability to control the mood of the people.

Perhaps this thread should be "What We Mistake for Strength".

Dear contributors, I am impressed by the seriousness of this discussion and since we are on Sinodefence forum, I would like to redirect the attention back to the Chinese military's future rather than tedious discussion of the past.

New hypothesis:
Given the current massive expansion of Chinese military budget, it is impossible for the Chinese military to rely on the Mao‘s doctrine of "revolutionary warfare" or "people's war".

Motivation:
The Chinese army is no longer a guerrilla force that easily melts into the population.
Also, the doctrine of "people's war" was developed for defensive purposes alone and most definitely NOT for offensive purposes.

Points of discussion:
How should the Chinese military proceed in
1) unifying the country,
2) countering the Japanese threat and
3) most important of them all, how to realize point 1) and 2) under the constant supervision and interference of U.S.A?

In order to share ideas and visions clearly. Please keep your reply concise and direct to the point. Thank you in advance for your cooperation and inputs.

First idea to get the discussion going:

To kill two tigers with one sword slash, one must allow the tigers to fight for the last piece of meat. If the meat is abundant, decreases it.

August First said:

How should the Chinese military proceed in
1) unifying the country,
2) countering the Japanese threat and
3) most important of them all, how to realize point 1) and 2) under the constant supervision and interference of U.S.A?

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1. Reunification with Taiwan is not a task for the military; the results of a full-scale military confrontation with Taiwan would be disasterous.

2. There is no Japanese threat.

3. The only logical path for China to take is to gradually build up its military in proportion to its economic strength. By 2050, when the Chinese economy matches the US's in size, its military strength too will be comparable to that of the US. Military conflict with its neighbors and the US must be assiduously avoided for the next few decades to allow for uninterrupted economic development.