I am sure many of you have heard in recent years that the rise of China could put the
United States in serious trouble. There have even been some reputable analysts,
such as Graham Allison of Harvard University, who have suggested that the rise of China
and the consequent fall of the United States would lead to an inevitable war.
However, looking at China's current situation and its increasingly poor growth projections,
many analysts are already beginning to set Allison's theory aside.
Today, these analysts have begun to embrace another theory:
China is reaching its peak, which is still below the United States,
and once it reaches that point, it will begin its decline. Well, according to them,
this scenario is the truly worrisome one for the US and for the rest of the world. But why is that?
For one simple reason: because, just as there is no animal more dangerous than one that is wounded,
there is no country more dangerous than one that is in decline. When,
in order to try to prevent their fall, they often resort to violence.
And, do you know what China has been doing all these years? Well... Take a look
Indeed, it has been increasing its defense budget: by 9% per year since
the Armed Forces modernization announced in the 1990s was launched. In this way,
China has reached a military budget of $224 billion by 2023, the second largest in the world.
With all this money, China has been progressively modernizing its military capabilities and
facilities. For example, it now has 1,700 combat aircraft, including J-11s and Su-30s,
comparable to the American F-16 or F-18. In fact, China now has the largest air force in Asia.
But can you guess in which branch of the armed forces they have made the largest investment? 3,
2,1... Yes, you guessed it, the Navy. China's naval modernization began in the 1990s
and has resulted in the Chinese navy becoming the largest in the world, at least in numbers,
with 351 ships in 2022, ahead of even the US Navy, which had 294 ships that same year.
What’s more, not only does it have more ships, but their capabilities
have also improved substantially since the 1990s. Among other features, thanks to the
inclusion of ballistic missiles and anti-ship cruise missiles, along with other equipment.
And not only that, China also has a large fleet of submarines, destroyers and cruisers. On top
of that, it has even managed to establish itself as the second strongest power in
terms of having the most aircraft carriers: in 2012 and in 2019 it presented its first two,
and in 2022 it presented its third aircraft carrier, the Fujian. A ship that already has
capabilities such as the use of catapults and an electromagnetic design used for launching jets.
But, do you think that with this large fleet China could defeat the US Navy? Well,
at the moment, it doesn't seem to be the case. You see,
it is true that China has a larger number of military vessels. In fact,
it is expected that by 2030 its navy will be even 50% larger than that of the United States.
Also, keep in mind that the United States has more militarily crucial vessels such as aircraft
carriers, cruisers and destroyers, which would give them a clear advantage in a war scenario.
Even so, regardless of whether China is preparing to peak and start falling or not,
what is clear is that China has become a formidable military, and particularly naval,
power. There is no doubt about that. But why so much investment in the navy? Well,
we are going to take a look at that right now.
Xi has already achieved China having the largest international military naval fleet,
now the only question is: when will China show its full naval capability to the world? Is it
true that China really won’t catch up with the United States as the world's leading power?
You can leave me your answer in the comments. As always,
don't forget that here on VisualPolitik we release new videos every week so subscribe
to this channel and hit the little bell so you don't miss any of our updates. If
you liked this video, LIKE it and see you in the next one. All the best and see you soon.