What is strategic depth? It is how much space/time a nation needs to hold off an invading foreign force. Chinese are no strangers to this concept of defense. In 1937, Japan estimated that it could finish off China in three months. China’s vastness, plus undying patriotism, effectively doomed the Japanese invaders in the wake of the Pearl Harbor attack which cemented a Sino-American alliance. Japan misunderstood---and therefore miscalculated---the strategic depth enjoyed by China.

Time changes. So does China’s strategic depth.

China has become an export-led economy, producing more than it consumes. Export finances China’s all-important techno-military modernization and feeds its forever hungry job market. To run its global export operation, China needs sea routes. Its fear of blockade can’t be exaggerated because America, while being Beijing’s major customer, is today’s global naval power which rules the waves (see the map below). 

Truth be told, China does not have much strategic depth, Pacific-wise,  to speak of. No wonder it keeps speaking loudly of its beefed-up coastal defense in the name and shape of the DF-41 missile. I think the US top brass welcome Beijing’s tough talk which backs up their argument for ballooning defense budgets. 

With its defense budgets well ballooned, the US Navy is humored enough to tango with Beijing in the South China Sea. Taiwan, meanwhile, is more than happy to play the dance music. What a show!  Let there be “war scares.” Taiwan chip maker TSMC stays put. Taiwan people are still going about their business, inconvenienced, though, by the drought and COVID rather than flyby Chinese jet fighters. 

In the PRC, netizens, as usual, are much more obsessed with tabloid news than jingoism. Chinese are not stupid. They know that the status quo is there for a reason---indeed, for a good reason.

--- Lingyang Jiang

United States Naval Institute (USNI) News---Fleet & Marine Tracker: June 21, 2021

“These are the approximate positions of the U.S. Navy’s deployed carrier strike groups and amphibious ready groups throughout the world as of June 21, 2021, based on Navy and public data. In cases where a CSG or ARG is conducting disaggregated operations, the chart reflects the location of the capital ship.”

CSG --- Carrier Strike Group

ARG --- Amphibious Ready Group