First we examine why China is not afraid of the US cutting off China’s economic and commerce lifeline - because the last window of opportunity for the US to do this has been closed since 2016.
The year 2016? Didn't former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon said that the US had a 5 year-window of opportunity to contain or defeat China from 2017 till 2021?[1] Unfortunately he failed to take into account the strategic significance of the Fiery Cross Reef Island base in the middle of the South China Seas, which completed reclamation in January 2016….[2]
…and welcomed the island's first commercial flight shortly.
Before Jan 2016, 60 per cent of China's crude oil and 80 per cent of China's maritime imports need to traverse through the Malacca Straits, and the US Navy can easily blockade this choke point in any US-China conflict.... But it is no longer the case now, as China is able to defend this crucial trade route with an unsinkable "aircraft carrier" (Fiery Cross Reef Island base) within striking distance of US military bases and US naval warships operating near the Malacca Straits.
The Fiery Cross Reef Island's 3,140-meter runway is as long as 10 US aircraft carrier lined up front-and-back with each other, and able to land fighter jets and heavy bombers with long range anti-ship missiles[3] . China has 3 such island bases (Fiery Cross Reef, Mischief Reef and Subi Reef) in the Nansha district of the South China Seas and can readily upgrade these island bases to be equipped with the combined fighting capability of all 10 US aircraft carrier battle groups.
Furthermore with the Belt and Road Initiative steadily gaining traction across the Eurasian and African continent, China already has an alternative trade route if the need arise to fully switch from seaborne trade(controlled by the US) to overland trade.
Next we examine why China is not afraid of the US militarily. Since both China and the US maintain nuclear deterrence, we shall focus on conventional weapon systems. During the 1st october 2019 National Day parade, a new hypersonic ballistic glider missile DF-17 was showcased for the first time :[4]
....so what's special about this weapon system? The DF-17 is the first operational weapon in the world utilising the T. S. Tsien/Qian Xuesen[5] trajectory[6] . The path of the missile looks like this :
The DF-17 warhead's haphazard gliding path in near space renders all existing US interceptors or air defence system obsolete, due to its hypersonic-speed and unpredictability of its trajectory. The DF-17 can only be intercepted by EM pulse or laser, and the US is at least 10 years away from fielding a credible EM/laser ballistic defence system. The official specifications quoted for the DF-17 range is 2,500km, but the near-space gliding helps to extend its range by another 1,000km. There are rumours that the DF-17 warhead is modified to mount on the DF-26 series rocket boosters, which means the range of this missile can be between 3,500 to 7,500km. The DF-17's stand-off distance alters the balance of power in the Western Pacific. All US bases and air defence systems in the first, second and third island chains encircling China are now within striking range from a near-impossible-to-intercept missile in the next decade.
This is also the reason why China is not afraid of a potential confrontation with the US over reunification of Taiwan. China will most likely use the Korean War and Hong Kong riots approach - to draw in all foreign forces supporting the separatists and secessionists , and then give a final warning to all before commencing reunification.
Let's move on to look at why China is not afraid of the US in this ongoing tech war in the 5G infocomms sector. If you recall, the US does not have any company that can rival Huawei, after the demise of Lucent Technologies and Motorola 20 years ago. China is poised to lead the 5G or 4th industrial revolution...and if you step back and ponder about it, the ongoing tech War is actually win-win for both China and the US. China is able to speed up its transition to hi-tech industries and chipset independence by cutting reliance on US technology(Huawei's P40 series cellphone does not have any US chipset), shortening the timeline to achieve this from 2049 to 2025. As for the US, or rather the Trump administration, they are able to restructure America's industrial base and economy using whatever edge the US has currently in hi-tech,and guarantee Trump's re-election in 2020 (laying the foundation for Ivanka Trump's election as first female US president in history from 2025 onwards)
In summary, China has reached or is going to reach peer status with the US, with some areas exceeding the US, across all fields of endeavour you can think of. Hence China is not afraid of the US and will hit back whenever China's core interests are concerned.
Both China and the US are going to lead the world together in a multilateralism framework and we wish them all the best and God bless.
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