Keeping and eye on the long game: Part XXV

Why is China growing its military so fast? Why all the new Navy construction and conventional SRMB? Ummmm - simple answer, I'll tell you - real short and sweet like - kind of like this.

China continues its huge military buildup opposite Taiwan, further pushing the balance of power between the two rivals toward the mainland's favor, the U.S. Defense Department says in its annual report on China's military.

Although the Taiwan Strait remains stable, China is adding more than 100 missiles a year to the estimated 1,000 it has targeting the democratic, self-governing island that Beijing claims as its own, the report found. Hundreds of thousands of troops are based opposite Taiwan, it said, and hundreds of planes are ready to make good on China's threat to attack should Taiwan formalize its de-facto independence.

''A potential military confrontation with Taiwan, and the prospect of U.S. military intervention, remain the PLA's most immediate military concerns,'' the report said, referring to the People's Liberation Army, China's military.

They don't have to defeat the US military pound for pound. Just be able to take Taiwan and using the porcupine strategy - make us taking it back too painful to do. .... if they want to. Anyway, they know we have no desire or ability to fight a major land war in Asia.

Either that, or just read their own documents.

“Observe calmly; secure our position; cope with affairs calmly; hide our capacities and bide our time; be good at maintaining a low profile; and never claim leadership.”

– Deng Xiaoping

As we have tracked here, they have also moved away from the traditional Chinese dislike for naval warfare.

China’s emerging local sea denial capabilities – mines, submarines, maritime strike aircraft, and modern surface combatants equipped with advanced ASCMs – provide a supporting layer of defense for its long-range anti-access systems. Acquisition and development of the KILO, SONG, SHANG, and YUAN-class submarines illustrates the importance the PLA places on undersea warfare for sea denial. In the past ten years, China has deployed ten new classes of ships. The purchase of SOVREMENNYY II-class DDGs and indigenous production of the LUYANG I/ LUYANG II DDGs equipped with long-range ASCM and SAM systems, for example, demonstrate a continuing emphasis on improving anti-surface warfare, combined with mobile, wide area air control.

You can read the full report here.