Australia's military is concerned about a potential war with China.

 

The Australian Flag. The Hill/Getty.

Australia's military is concerned about a potential war with China, cording to a leaked briefing by an Australian general. The Hill. Major General Adam Findlay, now retired, told a group of Australian special forces last year that China was already involved in "grey zone" warfare against the country including cyber attacks and a misinformation campaign. He also said that the situation had a high likely hood of spiraling into an all out war. The report comes during high tensions in the region with China looking at trying to take back Taiwan. Australia is investing in their military in response.

My Comment:

I agree with this former general, the chances of war breaking out in the South China sea is getting larger. China has been throwing their weight around now for quite some time and they have made it very clear that they want to take back Taiwan.

This is a major threat for Australia as they understand that if Taiwan falls then they could be next. China needs a lot of the things that Australia has and I could see them invading several decades in the future if they manage to take over the rest of their targets in the South China Sea. They have resources and most importantly, space for colonists. 

I am guessing that any war over Taiwan will likely involve Australia. They have a major reason to defend Taiwan as they know they are next if something happens. They have major military interests in defending the island nation and they will want to help.

Australia can contribute quite a bit to any defense of Taiwan. They could deploy ground troops there as they have a lot of very good soldiers, some of whom were battle tested in Afghanistan. They also have a decent navy and air force with modern weapons mostly supplied by the United States. 

Remember, I am not sure that China could take over Taiwan even if the country got no help from foreign governments. An amphibious landing is one of the more difficult things to do and it's not like Taiwan doesn't have their own impressive military force. And even if China does manage to gain a foothold they would have to endure some major urban fighting that would probably bleed their military dry. 

If other countries jump into the fight for Taiwan? I think China can't win then. Even if it was some of China's smaller regional enemies, it might be just enough to stop them. And if the United States helps? They are really screwed then, even though they could inflict a lot of damage before they failed. 

The problem is that any conflict with China could devolve into a nuclear conflict. Nobody would actually want that but things could spiral out of control. China would lose a nuclear exchange as well, but nobody really does win an nuclear war. 

Even a conventional conflict would be devastating to the world economy. China's trade with the rest of the world would stop, cutting off many critical goods and services. Even if China were to win the war it's very possible they could destroy their economy, along with the economies of the trade partners they need. 

Still, war is possible to avoid. The only reason China wants Taiwan is for national pride and to save face. That's a very dumb reason to go to war and I hope that cooler heads prevail. But if they don't China should not expect an easy time of it...