# Okay... China vs. the U.S.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-china-vs-the-u-s/79739>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [September 4, 2001, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-china-vs-the-u-s/79739 "2001-09-04T21:02:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2001, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-china-vs-the-u-s/79739/41 "2001-09-06T03:01:40Z")

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America will not invade China. No way in hell. We’re too soft and sentimental. The first time we saw body bags coming home, all the marys would be screaming bloody murder for us to withdraw.

China, on the other hand, seems to have a society that places much less emphasis upon the sanctity of the individual. I wouldn’t say that thay are, as a society, willing to suffer profligate losses, but I certainly believe that they have a higher tolerance for loss of human life than Americans (read the posts about U.N./Chinese loss ratios in Korea).

Without provocation on the scale of a Pearl Harbor, nothing can sufficiently motivate the American public to engage in a costly war in China, whether the bill comes due in dollars or blood.

OTOH: all of those Vulcan ADA vehicles with 20mm cannons are just sitting around gathering dust.

Overall Militarily: I agree with **Shodan,** in the third or fourth post to this thread.

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**Author:** ![LinoleumInnocence](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f9ae1b/32.png) [@LinoleumInnocence](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LinoleumInnocence)\
**Post date:** [September 6, 2001, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/okay-china-vs-the-u-s/79739/42 "2001-09-06T03:21:44Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by mswas \*
> 
> What does littoral warfare mean?
> 
> Second, China just doesn’t have the naval capability to travel across the sea. They don’t scorch Taiwan because they see it as a rebel province, just as we would not scorch Florida if they chose to rebel.
> 
> As for patriotic zeal, it’s funny that you put it that way as most Americans accuse me of being a communist when I get into these types of discussions. My point is just, that no single country could win in a war of aggression against the Continental US. While the United States would not be capable of occupying China, it would be more able to disable China’s ability to wage war. If that is patriotism, I guess I’ll choke down that insult.
> 
> Erek \*\*

I didn’t mean it as an insult per se. I just thought it sounded like patriotism was overcoming logic. Apologies if that is not the case.

When you say, no single country would be able to win a war of agression against Continental US, do you mean anywhere in the world? Or actually on US soil?

China does not have a blue water navy, they are limited to the coastal regions around their territory. That is what littoral means - coastal/shore. Their ability to wage war on the US is therefore massively limited in a naval sense.

How do you think the US would be able to disable China’s ability to wage war? I mean, if the US were to go to war in China?

I think that the Russian Front during WWII showed that a badly supplied numerically superior force could overcome a larger technologically advanced agressor. I think China has the numbers to defeat the US on Chinese soil.

With regards to the nuke it, I think I shouldn’t make flippant comments and then discuss them. I am suitably chastised by everyone here.

Li

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