[CaptainHaplo]

China has been preparing for a regional conflict for over a decade. However, if you look at their development - they are not moving toward force projection capability outside their own theatre.

This gives them a large advantage over the US in any regional conflict, as force projection is costly and difficult even for a country that has been doing it for half a century.

The real goal of China militarily is to be able to strike hard at specific targets (lets say taiwan as an example), and then fight a DEFENSIVE action to hold onto the gains. Its also important to note that while many people see a future china/us conflict as the most likely due to taiwan, the reality is that china has its eye on other resource areas, and make no mistake, the is no great love between the Russians and the Chinese.