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The effort to purchase and employ the Sunburn missiles could be a deception ... and with the numbers being discussed, they have absolutely no staying power for a major war scenario that would accomplish their primary mission in such a condition ... negating and holding at bay a truly PO'd US Navy. No, those missiles might be to help insure that they take care of their ROCN adversary after they believe they have negated us. The Chinese DO think outside the box in that regard ... at least from our thinking. It is admittedly a pretty big "if", but it would be foolish to think that they are incapable of it and not to be wary of, vigilant about and prepared for it.

I have spent a lot of time on Taiwan ... there are many beaches there that are not "fortified" at all in the classic sense. They are protected by air assets, naval assets and rapid deployment forces ... but "fortified" as in major fortifications they are not. IN a scenario where ballistic missiles are droping by the hundreds, where air superiority is potentially lost, where sea power shift in balance to the PLAN ... they will have a difficult time fortifying them.

The Chinese, if they can negate our sea capabiity in the area, have the where-with-all to play an attrition game against Taiwan ... and most of SE Asia that does not go along. So, I disagree with the need for any type of major nuclear bombardment of Taiwan given that rather major condition of the US NAvy not being available.

As to what the ROW thinks in the context of such a scenario ... folks who end up going over the edge to enforce their abject will, philosophy, dogma, ideology at the point of the sword seldom do care what the ROW thinks in the end ... they figure that they will get the ROW to come around in the same fashion. That thinking applies in a diplomatic world where sanity flourishes ... it goes out the window in world war where insane tyrants seek to exeret their will through force ... and only returns when it is clear they are going to fail ... usually after a few million dead.

In the series , Russia and China start off as Hitler and Stalin which ends up buying time for major CHinese expansion ... of course given that persnickity major condition of dealing with the US Navy.

The technology presented in the LRASD weaponry is decidedly not a technological "wonder" IMHO ... but is would pose a current logistical nightmare ... and is limited by the PLAN's lack of current platforms to carry such a beheamouth. In the series they spend many years bringing about conditions that overcome those issues ... technical, logistics and platform wise.

That purely fictional tale is meant to provide what is hopefully a exciting read and also to encourage people to think about current policies in this regard.

Anyhow ... good dialog. I believe that the PRC wants and plans for Asian hegonomy ... I also believe they have an almost insurmountable wall to climb to attain it ... us. I want to insure it stays that way. We are not helping ourselves with the current trade and economic policy in that regard IMHO. We are fueling their ambitions.

Fregards.