The Economist reports on the American reaction to China’s upgrading of its military:
American global supremacy is not about to be challenged by China’s tinkering with aircraft-carriers. Even if China were to commission one”which analysts think unlikely before at least 2015″it would be useless in the most probable area of potential conflict between China and America, the Taiwan Strait. China could far more easily launch its jets from shore. But it would be widely seen as a potent symbol of China’s rise as a military power. Some Chinese officers want to fly the flag ever farther afield as a demonstration of China’s rise. As China emerges as a trading giant (one increasingly dependent on imported oil), a few of its military analysts talk about the need to protect distant sea lanes in the Malacca Strait and beyond. [Full text]
[Image: China’s major air-force and naval units, from U.S. Dept. of Defense, via The Economist]
