Could China defeat the US in a non-nuclear war?

Question

Could China defeat the US in a non-nuclear war?

Answer 1

Probably. They have 1.3 billion people. We have 303 million. They are Communists, meaning their government can draft as many people as needed. If we fought (which will happen) our well trained soldiers would kill at least 5-10 times more Chinese soldiers than they kill of ours. But in the end, we may lose due to being dramatically outnumbered. But realistically, if a WWIII broke out, there would be nukes flying all over the place. ***** China. And Russia. And Iran.

Answer 2

China has a lot more people to put int their army but the US has a lot more fire power.

it's hard to say, and depends on the details of the war.

where are we fighting, etc.

Answer 3

if we were of the offensive it would be a tough call.  while they have many people we have better training and technology (though they are catching up).  if they were of the offensive they would get wiped out.  we have the best navy and air force.  how would they try to get over here? plus you don't give enough credit to the USMC and USA, i mean look at the Chosen Reservoir.  500,000 marines held off millions of chinese.  Any odds are this would never happen.  Both economies would be destroyed.  while we buy a ton from china its a double edged sword.  its simple economics.  they stop selling to us, we lose products and they lose cash.  if we both went to war everyone would be screwed.  thats why the USSR and USA never fought directly.  no body is dumb enough to want to see this war happen.

Answer 4

Probably not.  China has the quantity, but the U.S has the quality.  Also, the U.S is battle hardened right now.   China hasn't been in a war in a while.  It would be a tough battle though.  Another thing you have to put in account is our allies.

Answer 5

Yes, if you mean by making the US financial system fall in an instant.

Answer 6

This is to larryJ7 first of all if china went to war with us yes all trading would be cut off and yes that would hurt us. Now look at china where are they going to make the money now that the trading between us has been cut off. It comes down to who can suck it up through the finacial issues. Im not trying to be a jerk just saying china would be crippled also. I would also say good luck china on trying to get to american soil!

Answer 7

Yes for 2 reasons.

1. China has as many military personnel as the US has citizens.

2.The US haven't been successful on their own in a military campaign since the civil war,with the exception of Grenada who,by the way,don't even have an army.

Answer 8

Absolutely not. Aside from numbers, they're woefully behind us. They wouldn't be able send troops across the Pacific without having their navy obliterated. Their air force doesn't even have precision guided bombers.  

Answer 9

Define "defeat". It could unify the billion Chinese behind their communist government and then they'd be extremely difficult to defeat in the sense that the military gets defeated and the people accept occupation.

Japan very nearly succeeded taking over china in WW2 so it is possible. Currently, China is building up its navy and has a massive land force, however to get those troops anywhere outside of china and support them is another issue.

I would say China would win if they were fighting close to their boarders. In 10 years, they could wage war anywhere and be unstoppable. Thankfully India is bubbling along and like the soviets, China will probably ultimately be revealed to be more paint and propaganda then substance.

Of course, if Taiwan, Japan, India, the EU, Russia and America and her allies got together then China would be gone (or nuke us all). The fact is china feels surrounded because they are. I think America should become close friends with Russia and India, we'll need them soon enough.

Also, the next world war before it goes nuclear will be largely robotic and remote controlled.... America could produce billions of remote units faster then the chinese could copy them, that is if america still can make things itself... it could always outsouce to china... oh wait....plus they own trillions of usa treasury bonds

Answer 10

This is almost a 'for sure thing'.

The first action of the Chinese would be to pull trillions of dollars out of the US economy which would almost certainly cripple the markets and calapse hundreds of key businesses. An already dangerously close-to-the-edge economy would falter, then fail.  

The supply lines to the American homeland on such items as food, and other essentials would almost certainly calapse, and with it would go the composure of the American people who are not geared to deal with any shortages at all in their consistant and unrelenting need to have absolutely everything at their fingertips on demand.

Then would come the impossible task of rallying the American Armed Forces from their ice thin coverage of the entire earth to a central defense of any kind at all.  This would take literally months on end.

Next is the genuine fact that the Chinese would be able to throw absolute millions of military personnel into the fray almost immediately.

And, these individuals would not be governed by any cumpunction to fight a war based on civility and correctness.  They would be driven by a central desire to take out a power seen as being loaded with all kinds of assets ripe for the taking.  While the Americans would only be driven to survive the fray.

Once the bloodshed hit American soil, hundreds of thousands of the American people would flee to where ever they could go.  For if fifteen men and  four planes could cause the entire nation to get down on its knees and beg Uncle Sugar to take the Consititution apart for their "safety", six or eight million Chinese on the American streets in a slaughterhouse confrontation would have people literally killing themselves.

We have come to a time where the manner in which we do business in the world is catching up to us. And, it is long overdue for the country to realize that the Overlord statis in which we have placed ourselves within the world, is a place that we are unqualified to fill, and one that is going to cost us dearly in the future. For the rest of the world will not sit quietly by and accept this for long.  Our biggest need for our attention and efforts is within our own borders.  And, until this job is undertaken with serious focus, we are expending efforts all over the world that will eventually cost us our country, and, our very lives.

Answer 11

No the US has laser weapons never used yet because of there destructive power. And we have other weapons and war planes that are still top secret