# How long would the US last in a war with China?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-the-us-last-in-a-war-with-china/723829>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [June 30, 2015, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-the-us-last-in-a-war-with-china/723829 "2015-06-30T01:34:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 6

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**Author:** ![Latro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a87d85/32.png) [@Latro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Latro)\
**Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-the-us-last-in-a-war-with-china/723829/101 "2015-07-04T13:45:49Z")

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> [@ralph124c](#):
>
> Again, just how do you invade China? If we sent troops there, how would they occupy such a vast country. Face it, the Japanese tried invading China, how did that work out?  
> The whole idea is simply crazy.

The Japanese? That went pretty well, actually.

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**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\
**Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-the-us-last-in-a-war-with-china/723829/102 "2015-07-04T19:59:55Z")

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> [@ralph124c](#):
>
> Again, just how do you invade China? If we sent troops there, how would they occupy such a vast country. Face it, the Japanese tried invading China, how did that work out?  
> The whole idea is simply crazy.

I keep being flabbergasted by the number of people who don’t understand that there’s a VAST difference between **invading** a country and **occupying** a country.

Yes, the two are typically linked–but they are two entirely separate actions.

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**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\
**Post date:** [July 4, 2015, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-the-us-last-in-a-war-with-china/723829/103 "2015-07-04T22:15:55Z")

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> [@Latro](#):
>
> The Japanese? That went pretty well, actually.

This map gives one starting point for thinking about this:

> **[Second Sino-Japanese War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Sino-Japanese_War#/media/File:Second_Sino-Japanese_War_WW2.png)**
>
> China
>  Japan
> 14,000,000 total

In what way did it go better for Japan than, oh, say, the war in Afghanistan has gone for the US?

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**Author:** ![Nelson\_Pike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Nelson\_Pike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nelson_Pike)\
**Post date:** [July 5, 2015, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-would-the-us-last-in-a-war-with-china/723829/104 "2015-07-05T15:44:19Z")

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> [@Latro](#):
>
> The Japanese? That went pretty well, actually.

Japan did not conquer even 25% of the country, and it did not have to start with amphibious landings as the US did throughout the war.

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