Commentary
My last column argued China has a 3-to-5-year window of opportunity to deal America a strategic defeat giving the dictatorship uncontested global economic and diplomatic clout and regional military dominance lasting for decades.
China’s modernized military, prolific warship building, and new South China Sea bases give it a military edge on the Asian littoral. The U.S. Navy doesn’t have enough ships to maintain a global presence and fight a dispersed, high-intensity Pacific battle with China.
Focusing on the western Pacific, since 1996 China has made military and diplomatic preparations to break the “first island chain” (Japan-Taiwan-Philippines). China seeks bases beyond the chain where missiles and planes can quickly hit Hawaii. In April China signed a security pact with the Solomon Islands. In August the Solomons denied a U.S. Coast Guard cutter port access. Micro tiff? No—China shapes the battlespace….