China raises defense budget by 7.2% to $232 billion

China, which is the second highest spender on defense after the US, has allocated 1.67 trillion yuan (about $232 billion) for defence spending. With the largest navy on earth and developing naval capabilities on a fast pace, China is focussed on attaining its objective of incorporating democratic Taiwan into its fold as well as dominate the South China Sea at the expense of its neighbors. It also have territorial disputes with India, Japan, Vietnam and Bhutan.

China raises defence budget 7.2% as it pushes for global heft and regional tensions continue - The Economic Times

 

China's military rise makes reshoring of manufacturing crucial to avoid blackmail, but reshoring takes a lot of time:

Harry Moser: “The problem is the people, the biggest problem is convincing the high schools to go from measuring their success based on the percentage of their kids that go on to university to rather measuring their success on the lifetime income and the lifetime job satisfaction of the people that they graduate. … It's going to take certainly 20 or 30 years to rebuild, it's not going to happen this year, it's not gonna completely happen this decade, but I'd be delighted if I could be sure that it would happen in the next 15 years.”

Harry Moser once says “the Ukraine”: It’s ‘Ukraine,’ not ‘the Ukraine’ – here’s why

 

If only reason would work...

 

The only comforting thought is that their ships would probably sink, long before they reached the west. Knowing China's software, they have probably not taken into account that ships don't sail over land.

 

China needs to prioritize domestic issues first. They want Taiwan cause their own economy is crapping out. A war would lift their economy, like Russia's did, and detract from their domestic problems.

What gets me is that nobody is threatening China militarily, so why the big build up? Because they WANT MORE!

 

Perhaps I should go out there and offer to design them some ships and aircraft that run on lithium ion batteries.
After all, China did invent fireworks all on their own, without copying them from the west.

PS. Have you seen pictures of their training aircraft carrier. The one they built out in the desert, because it could not possibly float.

In answer to the point you made about war, perhaps they could go to war with Russia and solve two world problems at once.