Micheal: Okay, yes I over exaggerated on that, however, the population cap of the world would decrease considerable from 9 billion to... I estimate 7-5 billion of American agriculture vanished, THAT'S what I was getting at.

1. Not necessarily true, that's like saying that the USSR's army, in 1991 the largest in the history of mankind, is still around today. It's not, my point being that even if the Chinese army has a Chinese state to support it, given China's large population and unruly population, such an existance would have trouble lasting, let alone being a threat.

2. Yes, I agree. Many americans are hypocritial wealth-hungry and moderatly greedy, but that's what makes us No.1 Baby.

3. You appear to have selective hearing, I heard no mention of the Republic of China (AKA Taiwan) in that. However, I did fail to take into account land trade routes, especially considering that

----> Here's Western China                                                                               <-- Here's Pacific China

A major issue indeed, however given that at least every 2/3 Chinese citizens live within 150 miles of the Pacific Coast, I'm fairly sure that a naval blockade would impact morale more than trade.

4. What I'm getting it is that Russia is just as much, if not more of, a potential superpower than the EU, India or Brazil, but yet again I iterate that Americans DO. NOT. CARE.  I blame the media for this, but again,  "German and Japanese cars on American streets is more frightening to me than any Soviet missile". The American populous, as blissfully ignorant as it is, may be aware of this...

5. Thank you. I try to be as thorough as I can in debates such as this.

Juletron:

1. IMO, That the PRC is a developing nation means that it has to buy up, or develop, the technology to become oil-free. Yes, the USA has to tear up existing infrastructure, but that's just speeding up the inevitable, and IMO, necessary.

2. You obviously don't either.   We were discussing CHINESE technology, not Russian technology for sale. Good point though.

3. In theory, the SU-47 also rivals the F-22, it's all about whether or not you can manufacture enough for it to be relevant. Rather like the German Jets in WWII, they had them made, but there were so few it didn't matter. (Anyone ever heard of the Komet/Comet made by the Nazi's in late WWII? It was a Rocket-Propelled fighter plane, it could stay in the air for two minutes, I think, and during that time it had to shoot down as many American Bombers as it could. Rather effective, but again, so few it didn't matter)

Xer0 \^/

Good link JuleTron...I would have loved to see the faces of those commanders when they saw that sub...

On the other hand, the Navy is developing a railgun that will in theory, be able to accurately hit a target from 200 nautical miles away at a speed of mach 5.

I'm pretty sure they already have that fully developed...they used it in Transformers 2 to wipe out the Pyramids

Doesn't Tranformers the movie series take place in the future, regardless?

Xer0 \^/

Su-47 is just a technology demonstator. The PAK-FA has technology on par with the Raptor and is significantly cheaper. The Raptor just cannot compete with the PAK-FA on a cost basis. Being roughly equal yet one third of the price is a major advantage.

Xer07, sorry if my quip was a bit harsh, but just because the US has technological superiority to most nations in most areas doesn't mean that others cannot compete.

This is a good comparison, though I don't think China will "willingly" disintegrate like the Soviets did...its a lot easier to maintain a military than it is to expand it or invest in new technology/prototypes...what I'm getting at here is that, though a floundering economy may affect china's ability to increase its military power, a "crash in the stock market" or any economic disaster is not going to make the current military disappear...

I don't really think Taiwan is a major concern, and here is why...

You hit a great point there...lack of resources may not hurt the military too much, but it will affect the people (who already have enough problems as it is)...the regions most likely to revolt or simply give up on supporting the PRC (if that's even possible) will not be on the coast, but more inland...these regions will be low priority for garrison, and the communal farming system means the people don't even need the government to continue living...Taiwan isn't going to be able to do much about inland areas...if low morale causes dissent or revolt on the coast where most of the population is, I don't think Taiwan is going to be able to do much there either...its a lot of people, and a lot of land to cover...Taiwan isn't exactly the greatest military power...my feeling is, the Chinese people are going to either revolt or not...Taiwan may fill the power vacuum, but I don't think its going to be the cause of any revolt, and without the support of the people I doubt Taiwan would amount to much more than a convenient naval/air base for the US...it just doesn't have the resources to do much more than clean up after the PRC is severely beaten...

I never really understood this, but it is true...for whatever reason, Russia is severely overshadowed by China and Iran...if I had to guess why, I'd say because Russia is not a new threat...but that's just a guess...

You do a good job

JuleTron: Didn't say they couldn't compete, just said that as a nation, the USA is ahead, but every other nation can compete in select theatres, the USA can just compete in them all.

Seleucia:

1. Not sure that the USSR "willingly" disintegrated either, but you sad yourself that a bulk of Chinese military power is paramilitary, for one, and for two, given that the "Great Recession" did little to affect Chinese military strength, I reluctantly agree with you here, however, a sustained conflict under harsh economic conditions would prove challenging to the PRC's military to maintain itself. TBH, that they have such a large military confounds me, there's no need for it; their diplomatic relations abroad are quite stable, and they're not in any large, conflicted alliances like NATO...

2. You'd by suprised by the military strength of the RoC. The population is comparable to that of Texas, but it's extremely advanced, up there with Japan, and has quite a large military. Taiwan, I will admit, can't take over mainland China on it's own, but with USA help, will replace the PRC and re-establish China far more quickly than a US-Placed democracy would.

3. Again, blame the media.

4. Bah, tell that to my english teacher. Bastard failed my research paper on globalization because I took both sides on whether it was good or bad.

Xer0 \^/

I agree...I understand them focusing on research/prototypes in order to stay on par with or surpass (technologically) the US, but having a large military for...the sake of having a large military?  I don't know...understandably, they have no reason to trust NATO or the US or Japan, and probably not even Russia...but it seems that they'd be better off making the West dependent on them economically instead of militarizing and threatening their diplomatic relationships....honestly, I'd guess their large military (in manpower, at least) is more the result of fear from their own people...a large military, simply by its existence, prevents dissent from turning into revolt...I don't really think a full revolt is in the least bit likely, but then again, paranoia isn't about what's likely, and any totalitarian government is probably paranoid...

Looked at some things about the Taiwanese military...I was under the impression they had focused solely on defending their islands with land forces/defenses and some air support...apparently they are moving to focus more on navy/air force instead of land capabilities...this actually seems like good news since Taiwan would be able to provide great support to other nations in the area should the need arise...

The only issue is that most countries (including the US, in order to increase diplomatic relations with China) see Taiwan as the 23rd Province of the PRC, so any military action it takes will result in counteraction by the PRC, or reprimandation from whatever nation Taiwan is attacking to the PRC.

As for the Chinese military; along with everything you listed, the only other possible reason for their having such a military is to scare the RoC (the two are still technically at war) and, like their first nuke, scare off other countries.

Richter {^}

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/economy-and-business/China-to-Sanction-US-Companies-That-Sell-Arms-to-Taiwan---83329797.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35065824/ns/world_news-asiapacific/

I disagree.

I'm pretty sure it's one of China's competitors. It mass produces goods, but to a higher quality in order to rival China. That's part of the reason why China is so keen to get its hands on the country.

Alpha, you never heard of the Chinese Civil War and the Communist takeover of China?  Taiwan started off as the government-in-exile of Chiang Kai-Shek's Nationalist government when Mao took over mainland China.  The Chi-Coms haven't forgiven Taiwan for being able to escape their thumb, and they probably never will.

@MichaelCook

Good articles...selling arms to Taiwan, well, that's to be expected...though I'm more interested in how the US is going to help Tibet...I doubt selling them Blackhawk helicopters is the answer...

Blackhawks? No.

APACHE'S!

Richter {^}