Top US admiral says China now capable of controlling South China Sea

Yeah... Olongapo needs the income :-)

Sgt Wayne Wood - The only place in the world that can accommodate a whole fleet. lol

Subic or Olongapo? ;-) MAJ Ken Landgren

Olongapo!

Sgt Wayne Wood - The answer is simple: they would lose their ability to project power beyond their shores within weeks. AKA: we'd annihilate their Navy, and the rest is moot because we'd never want to occupy the mainland, so the standing army is useless. Don't be fooled by press talk of their aircraft carriers - they can't even launch jets with a full weapons and fuel load-out. For now, they're nothing but showpieces shouting "LOOK AT ME I'M A BIG BOY TOO!". And don't get me started on their so-called hyper-sonic missile. Every article ever written about it completely ignores our very real and very robust anti-missile warfare capabilities. That, and no one's ever actually seen one in action. Their one viable option relies on our own (very unlikely) stupidity: driving CBG's close enough to shore-based multi-missile batteries that they could launch thousands of them and saturate AEGIS. Presumably, one doesn't become a CBG commander by being stupid.

The bird-cages don’t impress me... as you say, their fighters fly toothless & hungry. The “hypersonic” rockets don’t really impress either (silkworms do tho’)

The reality is neither side can make the other quit.

Too many allies are close enough for China to reach out and touch with non-nukes. China has enough folks to create diversions (Iran? Pakistan?) to make this conventionally ugly.

SN Greg Wright I doubt we will go to war the issues involving China are complicated when it comes down to our involvement neither of us can't go to war without losing China canr afford to go to war with us because we are a valuable trade ally as well as their biggest advertiser. We can't go to war without hurting our economy we got to much investments tied up in one another's well being.

Only problem, is China believes what you wrote is what they believe.

Do they need to? Wake Island became a powerful symbol during the Big Deuce.

Modern war is as much a matter of perceptions as actual logistics or strategy/tactics.

With foreign media willing to bitch-slap the US at every opportunity and domestic media untrustworthy at best it is a very real problem as to who contols the narrative. Are we portrayed as aggressors or champions of freedom?

We could help build up our trading partners and get them to cut off supplies while we secure a larger Ocean perimeter. Then, it's not really us doing it.

That then becomes a matter of geography... for our trade partners China is next door while America is across the street.

I agree, geography is a big issue. I suspect, if we did go to war with China, they would just dump treasuries.