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China's massive military spending and rapid modernization of its armed forces has made it a formidable military power in the world. The country's nuclear arsena

China's massive military spending and rapid modernization of its armed forces has made it a formidable military power in the world. The country's nuclear arsenal, advanced missile technology, and expanding naval capabilities have given it a significant military advantage in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. Additionally, China has been expanding its presence and influence through strategic investments and development initiatives like the Belt and Road Initiative, which aims to create a network of infrastructure and trade routes across Asia, Africa, and Europe. This expansionist strategy has allowed China to increase its economic and political influence globally, and some experts argue that it reflects an imperialist mindset

4gotunameagain 4y ago
Yes, but they do not have military bases sprinkled all over the world like the US does.
- hammock 4y ago
  They have police stations all over the world instead. Different strategy https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/04/world/china-overseas-police-stations-intl-cmd/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/04/world/china-overseas-police-s...
pphysch 4y ago
[flagged]
- hammock 4y ago
  Military power is not just about the number of bases. The simplest example is cyber warfare, where China has invested heavily and is arguably the world's most formidable power in that area
  - KRAKRISMOTT 4y ago
    Scale isn't the same as capability though, and cyber talent isn't exactly hard to find, just ask the Israelis (or maybe HN readers can do a bit of navel gazing). It's not fair to compare script kiddie levels tools like ransomware and cryptominer bots in the same breath as the toys from NSO group and Stuxnet. If we are counting cyber warfare capability by quantity of malware released, I would expect Africa to become a cyber "power" too in the next decade or so, because they have a large somewhat educated population and no good opportunities. I don't think most HN software engineering folks realize how easy it is to train script kiddies. Most of the big "cybersecurity" consultancies (yes even the big IPOed ones) are primarily staffed by people who basically went through a bootcamp and gained a few certifications. Corporate "security" especially is more about checklists and compliance. You are not getting any real talent like the ICs' blogs that get posted here on HN. The typical staff at cybersecurity companies won't be able to subvert broken branch predictors and post networking stacks exploits on twitter. Those sort of low level application security engineers are a lot rarer and more expensive. Many of the "cybersecurity" companies provide script kiddies and consultants without a STEM background. Forget about fizzbuzz, they are closer to McKinsey than Accenture.
  - pphysch 4y ago
    [flagged]
    - hammock 4y ago
      Many reports that China has surveillance embedded in cell tower equipment across the US and in container cranes in every major port. Who knows if they have been behind past cyber attacks on our oil infrastructure and electric grid. We don't hear about it because it's classified/ not diplomatically wise to share that info all the time
      - pphysch 4y ago
        [flagged]
        SoylentYellow 4y ago
        I'm amazed anyone still buys China's "weather balloon" lie. A weather balloon that large and expensive is a major project. It would have a project leader, project webpage, articles and conference papers, sharing of data, government permits for operation, and all kinds of other artifacts that China could trivially point out proving it was a weather balloon. Instead, China has consistently refused to even give a single name or company associated with it. It is the most secretive "weather balloon" I have ever seen.
        pphysch 4y ago
        [flagged]
        SoylentYellow 4y ago
        Buddy, I never said anything about the subsequent balloons. Don’t try to deflect from the point you know I’m making: the first balloon was clearly not a weather balloon.
    - SoylentYellow 4y ago
- JorikTheBird 4y ago
  The majority of those "bases" are like a gym and a barrack
KRAKRISMOTT 4y ago
Have they actually been to war or tested? The last time they were close to actual war was the border skirmish in the late 70s with Vietnam when they were fighting for influence over Laos (or was that Cambodia?). It's been almost half a century without any real action. The wooden stick and stones border disputes with India do not count. What are their actual capabilities?

4gotunameagain 4y ago

Yes, but they do not have military bases sprinkled all over the world like the US does.

hammock 4y ago
They have police stations all over the world instead. Different strategy https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/04/world/china-overseas-police-stations-intl-cmd/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/04/world/china-overseas-police-s...

pphysch 4y ago

[flagged]

hammock 4y ago
Military power is not just about the number of bases. The simplest example is cyber warfare, where China has invested heavily and is arguably the world's most formidable power in that area
- KRAKRISMOTT 4y ago
  Scale isn't the same as capability though, and cyber talent isn't exactly hard to find, just ask the Israelis (or maybe HN readers can do a bit of navel gazing). It's not fair to compare script kiddie levels tools like ransomware and cryptominer bots in the same breath as the toys from NSO group and Stuxnet. If we are counting cyber warfare capability by quantity of malware released, I would expect Africa to become a cyber "power" too in the next decade or so, because they have a large somewhat educated population and no good opportunities. I don't think most HN software engineering folks realize how easy it is to train script kiddies. Most of the big "cybersecurity" consultancies (yes even the big IPOed ones) are primarily staffed by people who basically went through a bootcamp and gained a few certifications. Corporate "security" especially is more about checklists and compliance. You are not getting any real talent like the ICs' blogs that get posted here on HN. The typical staff at cybersecurity companies won't be able to subvert broken branch predictors and post networking stacks exploits on twitter. Those sort of low level application security engineers are a lot rarer and more expensive. Many of the "cybersecurity" companies provide script kiddies and consultants without a STEM background. Forget about fizzbuzz, they are closer to McKinsey than Accenture.
- pphysch 4y ago
  [flagged]
  - hammock 4y ago
    Many reports that China has surveillance embedded in cell tower equipment across the US and in container cranes in every major port. Who knows if they have been behind past cyber attacks on our oil infrastructure and electric grid. We don't hear about it because it's classified/ not diplomatically wise to share that info all the time
    - pphysch 4y ago
      [flagged]
      - SoylentYellow 4y ago
        I'm amazed anyone still buys China's "weather balloon" lie. A weather balloon that large and expensive is a major project. It would have a project leader, project webpage, articles and conference papers, sharing of data, government permits for operation, and all kinds of other artifacts that China could trivially point out proving it was a weather balloon. Instead, China has consistently refused to even give a single name or company associated with it. It is the most secretive "weather balloon" I have ever seen.
        pphysch 4y ago
        [flagged]
        SoylentYellow 4y ago
        Buddy, I never said anything about the subsequent balloons. Don’t try to deflect from the point you know I’m making: the first balloon was clearly not a weather balloon.
  - SoylentYellow 4y ago
JorikTheBird 4y ago
The majority of those "bases" are like a gym and a barrack

KRAKRISMOTT 4y ago

Have they actually been to war or tested? The last time they were close to actual war was the border skirmish in the late 70s with Vietnam when they were fighting for influence over Laos (or was that Cambodia?). It's been almost half a century without any real action. The wooden stick and stones border disputes with India do not count. What are their actual capabilities?