Why China might be the biggest threat to the U.S.

There are many countries that wouldn’t mind seeing the United States obliterated, but as to which one poses the greatest threat, we have to look far beyond pure hatred and sheer force.

First, let’s take a look at motive. There are some Jihad nations that would love nothing more than to see the U.S. wiped off the map, but what happens after that? It’s always the diabolical billionaire that sneaks up on you and causes the most long term damage. Who has sat in the background buying up securities in the US while their economy, military, and population boomed? China. Why would China be a threat to the United States? Because he who has the most toys wins everything, and we, my friends, have a lot of toys. Even as our economy tanks, everyone in the world still either depends on us for something or wants something we have. China is the guy in the corner of a tower with the bulbous head tapping his fingers together biding his time until he can rule the world.

Now let’s take a look at the sheer size of China. 2 billion people call China home, and according to a 1999 Ethnologue Survey, Chinese is the most widely spoken language in the world. How did that even happen? The plan to let families only keep one child and therefore ensuring more males than females grew the size of the Chinese army to astounding numbers. Still, no one really cared. It was China. According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the Chinese armed forces rank first in size for the entire world. There are 2,255,000 active duty service men and 1,200,000 in the reserves. These numbers are only counting the People's Liberation Army (PLA), which includes all branches of the People's Republic of China's armed forces. They do not include the roughly 1.1 to 1.5 million members of the People's Armed Police, whose stated mission includes supporting the PLA in defense of the country in time of war. If China called all of their forces together there could be nearly 5 million diligently trained men on our hands. The U.S. has about 1.4 million on active duty and 1.5 million on reserves according to defense.gov. That gives us close to three million soldiers. Even though China outmans us, we have a far superior technological advantage.

Some say that China would gain nothing from attacking the U.S., that it would hurt them because of their trade here, but on May 17^th, 2011, China made this statement, “Any attack on Pakistan would be construed as an attack on China”. What does this mean? It means that China has allied itself with countries that could help put us in a check-mate position. Newsweek magazine reported that Chinese national journalists such as Liu Mingfu, author of Chinese Dreams, is encouraging China to move from “peaceful development” to “military rise”. Some journalists are calling the impending stress between the U.S. and China the “duel of the century”. China is spending money to enhance Pakistan’s air force in an effort to reduce Pakistan’s dependence on Western influences. On China.org.cn, Commentator Rashid Ahmad Khan wrote that China "never treated Pakistan as its junior partner,” and, "China replaced the United States as Pakistan's principal source for arms and weapons when Washington imposed military sanctions on Pakistan in 1965 and 1990."

China’s lack of military and space technology may be short lived. The Washington Post reported that China plans to spend more than 100 billion dollars in 2012 on their military, much of which will increase their space program, add nuclear weapons to their arsenal, and build more vessels such as aircraft carriers, Chinese built fighter jets, and submarines. The U.S. aren’t the only ones nervous about China’s military strengthening efforts. Surrounding countries have begun to step up their own militaries.

According to Forbes and Global Research, China is also informally talking with Russia. Vladimir Putin, who hates the United States and calls it, “Comrade Wolf” has just been reelected and is tolerating China at the moment. China and Russia have had difficulties in the past, but there may come a point when they have to decide who to partner with. There is something to be said about being allied forces, but there is also the theory that you keep your friends close and your enemies closer, and there’s worry from Russia that China will try to inhabit sparsely populated Russian territories along their shared border.

The Senate Armed Services Committee considers China the most “significant mortal threat among nation states”, even beating out Russia. The Obama administration has largely ignored this warning stating that Iran and North Korea are bigger threats, even though neither of those countries has the ability to deliver a large scale nuclear attack on the U.S. like China or Russia could.

Will they nuke us? It is unlikely that China would want to launch a nuclear attack on the U.S. simply because they have too many assets here already, and Mr. Clapper of the Senate of Armed Services Committee agrees that there appears to be no current movement towards nuclear war from either Russia or China.

As China moves forward with strengthening its forces, it is also allying with key players, such as Iran, who is the #2 arms dealer for China’s military according to Global Research. Right now, the world is focused on the fight in the Middle East. What will happen if Iran blows up Israel, or visa-versa. Is that the moment China is preparing for?

Remember, China went from poor to world power in only 33 years. It’s considered widely one of the best economic successes of all time. At its rate of growth, it has been projected that China’s economy will be 59% larger than the U.S. economy by 2025 according to Global Insight. Rather than expecting a war with fighting and nuclear explosions, China at some point may be able to strong-arm us into whatever they want economically.

Overall, it is clear that China wants to be the economic world power. It is also clear that it’s willing to fight for it if it has to. It has chosen its team strategically, grown it’s economy astronomically, and is investing in its deficits indefinitely. We need to be aware of China, the kid with the magnifying glass, before we become the ants. A physical attack might be devastating for a moment, but losing an economic arm wrestling match could be devastating for eternity.