The CPC’s policy towards Taiwan has been for peaceful voluntary integration since the '70s. They don’t want to go to war and kill their own people. The whole thing has always been western projection. They see the world as territory to conquer, so surely China is the same way
On some level I agree with the sentiment that China’s military power aspirations seem to be primarily regional with soft power as we zoom out I would argue for “Don’t listen what leaders say, watch what they do”.
You don’t build giant landing craft unless you consider a marine landing warfare scenario as credible. You don’t build aircraft carriers unless you care about power projection. You don’t need ballistic missiles unless your enemies are far away. All of these things cost money you could otherwise spend on keeping your citizens happy.
There are a lot of verifiable and expensive signals about China’s power posture transitioning towards a more expeditionary one. Now, they might end up carrying the big stick and speaking softly, which is better for everyone – even if the PRC ends up getting their way – but that just means the hard power lever was used in a different way.
The CPC’s policy towards Taiwan has been for peaceful voluntary integration since the '70s. They don’t want to go to war and kill their own people. The whole thing has always been western projection. They see the world as territory to conquer, so surely China is the same way
On some level I agree with the sentiment that China’s military power aspirations seem to be primarily regional with soft power as we zoom out I would argue for “Don’t listen what leaders say, watch what they do”.
You don’t build giant landing craft unless you consider a marine landing warfare scenario as credible. You don’t build aircraft carriers unless you care about power projection. You don’t need ballistic missiles unless your enemies are far away. All of these things cost money you could otherwise spend on keeping your citizens happy.
There are a lot of verifiable and expensive signals about China’s power posture transitioning towards a more expeditionary one. Now, they might end up carrying the big stick and speaking softly, which is better for everyone – even if the PRC ends up getting their way – but that just means the hard power lever was used in a different way.