who do think would if such a war took place? if it did, north korea and possible russia would join china while the us might be backed by the EU. I would probably be the bloodiest thing anyone would ever see; similar to the korean war. One of the only probable reasons a war like this would take place is if north korea continues being the sneaky rat it is and work on its nuclear program.... nuff said.... wat say u? images/smilies/default/cool.gif
There will be no conflict between the US and China for the at least the forseeable future. China has to much to loose as it's economy is based on export if they go into conflict with America, they have in one stroke cut of the main money maker in their economy which will cost them millions of jobs and probably cause an economic collapse as well as alienating the whole world from them (maybe not North Korea). The end result would be the destruction of the Chinese economy and in the end the Chinese would loose as their people would not want a war and so rise up against the ruling party and so ends the war, with China ruined economically and unlikely ever to become strong again. China has too much to loose so this conflict will not happen (at least not yet and hopefully never).
(minut2 @ Jan 24 2006, 02:52 PM) [post=44801]then china wouldnt have anywhere to sell its cheapy produced rubbish to!!! [/b] Your a hoot minut2! I sort of agree with you Gnomey. The primary difference between the Russia of the pre-Glasnost (sic?) era is that China is not an expansionist nation as Russia was. However the issue with what is happening with the Senkaku Islands is a bit disturbing because the Japanese will "unquestionably" protect those islands (they have huge gas and oil reserves below them) and the US will "unquestionably" protect the Japanese from attack as I am guessing the other UN nations would. I don't know if it would become a NATO issue or not. That's kind of a gray area since Japan is not a member. Perhaps we should make them one since they have (post WWII) stood up and done their part in the defense of the free world (economically) as they are bound by law to not have an offensive army. Anyone who has ever stood up for freedom deserves to keep their own. But Gnomey is right that China has too much to lose. To me a bigger problem is North Korea. They are a flashpoint to SE Asia. They have nothing to lose. They could stomped like a flea but they do have the capability to take out some of the friendly nations around them like Japan or South Korea before the world could react. Nuclear proliferation in rouge states like "Iran" and "North Korea" is a serious issue. At least Hussein is out of the equation. Let's hope the EU can do something there but quite frankly folks I am not very optimistic. Nothing against the EU but their is only one way to deal with extremists. History has told us that over and over in many diverse and expensive lessons.
At World War II, China and US all are the ally, is impossible to be able to go to war, future could not, to be Japan, will always set people provocate inconsistency, did not know will have any intentionprovocate?!
Hussein's Nuclear capability was destroyed by the Israelis in 1982 and was overrestimated by the west after that. I agree that North Korea and Iran pose a threat.
China is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Up until the 90s it could not keep pace with the west in terms of the latest millitary hardware, but with its new wealth it now can. Very soon it will be a major superpower and capable of owning (and potentially using) its strength. China has long had an expansionist mentality, viz its seizure of Tibet, border disputes with Russia, Japan and India, and its long standing claim over Taiwan. There is also "Maoist" activity in Nepal which is destabilising the country. There are other countries with borders with China that may also look attractive to the Chinese rulers such as Mongolia and Kazhakstan. It is the latter that has vast mineral and petrochemical resources together with a huge land mass as big as western Europe. However Kazhakstan has a population smaller than Scotland, so it would not be able to defend itself if China eyed that massive space for its own huge population and economic (oil and gas) needs. So which countries would stand against China? Probably Russia and the US (if its oil and gas sources were threatened) North Korea would join China out of friendship, and India would remain neutral unless its borders were threatened. That is one scenario. Another is that the population of China could move slowly, by natural migration, out across the world in suficient numbers, that eventually it would be able to attain world domination peacefully simply by the power of the womb.
