[LS]

By the way, a good read on the "other" side of China---why it's a paper tiger---is by Guy Sorman, "Empire of Lies." He's a French journalist who has traveled extensively in China, and argues they do not have any originality or inventiveness; that they are copies and assemblers; that the AIDs epidemic is about to blow up; that all the glass and steel of Shanghai is a facade, when it can't even compete with Hong Kong.

Agree or not, it's worth the read.

[Jeff Head]

There's a lot of truth to it. The example of this supposed "Carrier Killer" system is one of them. Pure deception...no meat.

Part of Sun Tsu's way with any warfare...deception.

Now, however, having studied what their Navy is doing for a number of years I can say that there is a lot of meat there. More and more systems are their own and they are not that bad. Not up to US standards or capabilities by a long shot...but growing none the less and worthy of taking note of and being prepared for...particularly in the waters within the 1st island chain.

[Citizen of the Savage Nation]

Take the two extremes, and the truth is usually somewhere in the middle. Also, no one can maintain an economy at 10%+ growth for decade on end, uninterruptible. It’s very artificial...look at our past, filled with boom and bust cycles, those busts were probably beneficial long term, to clean house. The Chinese, by artificially propping up their economy (building dozens empty cities etc) only delay e inevitable and make it more painful.