Is China Gearing for War?

China Preparing For Armed Conflict 'In Every Direction'

UK Paper the Telegraph has China is preparing for conflict 'in every direction', the defense minister said in remarks that threaten to overshadow a visit to Beijing by his US counterpart next month.

"In the coming five years, our military will push forward preparations for military conflict in every strategic direction," said Liang Guanglie in an interview published by several state-backed newspapers in China. "We may be living in peaceful times, but we can never forget war, never send the horses south or put the bayonets and guns away," Mr Liang added.

China repeatedly says it is planning a "peaceful rise" but the recent pace and scale of its military modernization has alarmed many of its neighbors in the Asia-Pacific, including Japan which described China's military build-up as a "global concern" this month.

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Sure this looks bad... but the Chinese still have a long way to go before they have the infrastructure to manage the capability to fight wars on multiple fronts and on multiple levels, and that's just on their own borders! Earlier this year was the three week traffic jam, right? (Luckily) they don't have the rail or roads to move the amount of men and - more importantly - the logistics - to carry out whatever dastardly plan they may be cooking up over there.

But their intent is there, and what is more of a concern is that they are committing the necessary resources and personnel to make that possible. And, at least this Blasphemer will note, there is an extra-ordinary amount of young males since the one-child policy was enacted. What to do with all those extra, horny, impressionable, young men?

PS - here's some good analysis on China's military from the Small Wars Journal.

Thanks to our friends at War News Updates for the scoop!