https://www.businessinsider.com/japan-pl...ic-2018-12


I have been saying for sometime the way to keep China in check is to let Japan build offensive capabilities. Well here it is.

Peter Zeihan has some interesting commentary on this.

China is utterly dependent on Middle Eastern oil. Without it, the economy craters and there is widespread famine. They are attempting to find new sources. That is one reason for their stepped-up activity in the China Sea. But those are a long way from flowing. Until someone can figure out how to run a pipeline across the Himalayas, that means dependence on the sea route through the Straits of Hormuz, around India, through the Straits of Malacca, and through the South China Sea. India, Japan, and Korea also depend on that oil supply. At this point, China does not really have a blue water navy. Both India and Japan are probably better able to protect their own sea lines of communication (SLOCs) from China than China is able to protect its SLOCs from India and Japan. For one thing, the sea route to India is much shorter, and for another, the sea route to Japan can go outside the First Island Chain and thereby dodge the Straits of Malacca choke point and the South China Sea.