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Geography has a profound and extensive impact on a country, shaping its security, prosperity and international standing. Many envied America's geography as an inevitable consequence of international hegemony. But in reality, China's geographical location has unparalleled advantages that are often overlooked in the face of America's current strength. So, what is the geographical disadvantage of the United States? Where are China's geographical advantages?
Topographically, China has many similarities with the United States. China has a land area of about 9.6 million square kilometers, while the United States has 9.37 million square kilometers, ranking third and fourth in the world, respectively. China's terrain is higher in the west and gradually decreasing in the southeast, while the topography of the United States is also diverse. The western United States is covered by thousands of miles of the Rocky Mountains, the slightly lower Appalachian Mountains in the northeast, and vast plains in the central and southeastern regions. In terms of arable land conditions, the United States surpasses China, with 1.669 million square kilometers of arable land, while China has only 1.433 million square kilometers, and its output is far lower than that of the United States. In addition, the United States is located in North America and has relatively few land neighbors, so it is not vulnerable to external threats.
However, if we dig deeper into the geographical characteristics of these two countries, we can find that China's layout in the terrain is more strategic. China's plateau and mountains are almost distributed around the plains, such as the Changbai Mountains, the Greater Xing'an Mountains, the Mongolian Plateau, the Altai Mountains, the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Himalayas, which constitute the periphery of China, while the interior includes the Qilian Mountains, the Loess Plateau, the Hengduan Mountains and the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. These two layers of protective barriers form two internal and external escort lines, providing effective defense opportunities for China's inland areas.
The terrain of the United States is relatively open, and the mountains are mainly distributed in the west. However, these mountains are concentrated in areas west of cities such as Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, etc., facing the sea. This makes these cities relatively isolated and lacks a natural defensive barrier. In contrast, China's inner and outer mountain ranges guard the plains and hilly areas of the interior, providing solid protection for homeland security.
Another key aspect of China's geographical advantage is the combination of two inner and outer plateaus and mountains, which provides China with ideal geographical conditions for defense and counterattack. Once its national strength weakens, China can rely on these high ground for a strong defense. As long as the plains remain stable, China can basically hold its territory. When national strength is restored, China can launch a counteroffensive from these high ground and regain lost territory. This means that as long as the enemy cannot break through China's alpine terrain, he cannot easily defeat China.
In contrast, the United States lacks this all-round geographical environment, and once its national strength declines, it will face internal and external threats, and the situation is extremely complicated. Alaska, the western coastal plains, the central and southeastern plains and other regions will be isolated and separated, which means that if the United States is weakened, it will be difficult to make a difference.
Moreover, if we shake off the stereotype of a strong American navy, we can find that China's coastal areas are actually safer. China's southeast coast also has two internal and external escort lines, including the Korean Peninsula, Ryukyu, Nansha Islands, etc., and when strong, it can even regard Japan's four islands, Sakhalin, and the Philippine Islands as peripheral defense lines. The inner perimeter is the Liaodong Peninsula, Shandong Peninsula, Zhoushan Islands, and two islands, Taiwan and Hainan. These two lines of defense give China a strong strategic depth, whether it is offensive or retreating, it can rely on the coastal island chain to fortify layer by layer, with a high degree of freedom.
China's waters are interconnected and do not require a large naval fleet to defend them. This provides great convenience for naval operations. In contrast, both Russia and the United States face the challenge of fragmentation of their seas. Russia has access to the Baltic Sea in the west, the Pacific Ocean in the east, the Black Sea in the south, and the White Sea in the north. In order to protect these scattered seas, Russia had to disperse its military and set up four separate large fleets, facing huge problems in coordinated operations and coordination. Similarly, the difficulty of communication between the U.S. naval fleets on the east and west coasts and off the coast of Alaska, which requires bypassing the Arctic or passing the Panama Canal to get to the east coast, is not ideal.
In conclusion, geography plays a vital role in shaping a country's destiny and security. China's geographical location gives it unique advantages in defending its homeland and implementing international cooperation. However, regardless of geographical location, the country's strength is the fundamental guarantee of homeland security.
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