[jldugger]

> will exceed # of destroyers that US has by 2040

Bear in mind that China has pretty much no oil and these 055 destroyer boats are diesel&gas turbine powered. And the US has been slowly winding down military presence since the Cold War ended basically[1].

And lemme tell you, if Taiwan goes hot, there wont be any USN boats spare to patrol the Middle East -> South China sea route, and nobody would be angry if any oil tankers on that route go missing.

[1]: https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/graph-of-the-week-why-flee...

[Detrytus]

> Bear in mind that China has pretty much no oil and these 055 destroyer boats are diesel&gas turbine powered.

Well, then they are lucky that Russia, now sanctioned by the West, has no choice but to sell all their oil to China, at discount prices.

[jldugger]

By way of one tiny pipeline that has to travel across an entire continent the long way, or via boat through the suez canal?

[dfadsadsf]

There is oil in Sakhalin Island, new pipelines are planned and existing railways are fully capable to transport enough oil to sustain military campaign if China curtains civilian oil consumption (like every country at war did in WW2).

Frankly highlighting China dependence on maritime trade is a cope. It just won’t matter much in hot war.

[CRConrad]

> or via boat through the suez canal?

Nah. Ship.