A modern day Commodore Perry on Chinese shores

The arrival of the flagship US super-carrier, the USS Nimitz in Hong Kong today has the unmistakable mark of the many show-of-force missions sent abroad since the days of Commodore Perry and his "black ships."  In the 1850's Commodore Perry's naval flotilla convinced the Imperial Japanese to open their shores to US trade and in recent times, whenever, our military/economic dominance is questioned, a US strike carrier group tends to show up on foreign shores to remind people what US power looks like in heavy metal.

Amid increasingly tenuous Sino-US relations, the arrival of the cream of the US military crop is clearly no coincidence.The Nimitz class super-carrier is the finest war machine ever created. Her deck measures as long as the Empire State Building is tall, she is capable of sailing without refueling her nuclear reactor for 20-30 years, and of carrying enough food, fuel and ammunition to fight for 3 months. The Nimitz class, carries up to 90 fixed wing jets and helicopters and is accompanied by an equally imposing carrier strike group of 9-12 destroyers, subs and cruisers. This is a tremendous, awe inspiring, display of power, even for the increasingly ambitious Chinese. Remember, they are still working on their first carrier of any sort.

Another "friendly" reminder from Uncle Sam, that although the Chinese have taken to showing off their burgeoning economic and military power, they are a long way off from confronting the incomparable US ability to project military power.