[central_va]

Let the Chinese try to launch a naval air force. They won’t be able to crank out state-of-the-art vessels at a great enough pace to keep up with losses.

They are not going to do that now. The time is not right. The ChiComs want to corner the world market on industrial production. They have the manpower and they don't give sh!t about CO2. It may take 50 more years but when they have all of the heavy industry that is when they will kick into military overdrive.

They think in terms of centuries.

[SoCal Pubbie]

A century ago China was a weak democracy that had just thrown off its monarchy. I doubt the rulers then planned for a communist takeover in 1949, followed by a slowly emerging authoritarian capitalist state after the death of Mao.