Comments by "Tim Trewyn" (@timtrewyn453) on "'How Would You Characterize The Threat?': Tom Cotton Questions Official About China's Nuclear Threat" video.

Just as much as it seeks to deter the United States from interfering in its objectives, China is increasing its arsenal to balance the Russian arsenal on its border. For all their claims of unlimited friendship, there are old turf wars in the region, and China wants to have the nuclear standing to assert its interests. Ukraine and Taiwan are both efforts by the Russian and Chinese empires to increase their strength to deal with their future. It's quite telling to use Google Earth to compare development on each side of the Sino-Russian border. It often looks quite natural for Chinese development to expand into undeveloped territory on the Russian side. Russia actually looks rather negligent and underpopulated given its land area. In China's case, Taiwan and the US serve as a very plausible pretext for a military buildup that is actually intended to strengthen its negotiating position with Russia. I don't dismiss a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, I just see it as risking another humiliation given the logistical difficulties of succeeding in it. I think it more likely that China will feel confident in asserting claims to recover lands previously taken from it by Russia, perhaps land purchases at favorable prices. Russia is always looking for revenue streams. When you are land rich and cash poor, then maybe it's time to sell some land, e.g. Alaska.
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