00:00:00.580 - 00:00:17.730

This video was made possible by Squarespace. Build your custom website for 10% off by going to squarespace dot com slash Wendover. China is a country both blessed and cursed by geography. On one hand, it's land has allowed for the country to grow to almost 1.4 billion

00:00:17.730 - 00:00:33.650

people. But on the other hand, it really doesn't have great geographical protection. The beginning of what most people call Chinese history often start with the Yellow River civilization, and there's a good reason why this settlement grew into the most populous country in the world. The flood

00:00:33.650 - 00:00:50.610

plain of the Yellow River is some of the best agricultural land in the world. In fact, the entirety of eastern China is perfectly suited for agriculture. This was, and still is crucial to the country's success. What's more, this area is just warm and wet enough that

00:00:50.610 - 00:01:07.610

farmers conduce what is known as double cropping. Once the main crop of rice is cultivated in June and July, another slightly less productive crop can be planted for October cultivation. This increases rice output by about 25% which means China can make more food using the same

00:01:07.610 - 00:01:24.750

amount of land Europe mostly relies on wheat to feed its population, which Onley outputs four million calories of food per acre of farmland. Rice, on the other hand, grows 11 million calories worth per acre. It's easy to see why there are so many people in China,

00:01:24.840 - 00:01:43.290

but China does have its geographical challenges to the south, a borders three countries Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar. The borders between these three countries and China seem almost arbitrarily set because they sort of were Vietnam's was set after the Sino French war blouses was set following its

00:01:43.290 - 00:02:01.350

involvement in the Vietnam War and Myanmar's was SAT following a small war with China in the sixties. None was naturally set by the environment. All were chosen arbitrarily by humans at war. These countries are not insignificant. Combined, they have nearly one million active military personnel, while

00:02:01.350 - 00:02:18.420

China, the much larger country, has just over two million. Significant conflict with any of these countries would not be a one sided war. While China would have the technological advantage, any of these three countries would have a significant home field advantage. Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar are

00:02:18.430 - 00:02:34.470

all jungle countries, one of most difficult environments for warfare. This was part of the reason why the Vietnam War lasted so long. It's just so hard to move troops in the jungle, so everything slows down without any geographical protection of its borders. It would be significantly

00:02:34.470 - 00:02:52.630

easier for Vietnam, Laos or Myanmar to invade China than the reverse. But China does have an advantage elsewhere. China and India just aren't good friends. They have border disputes, military conflicts, political differences. So it's just hard for them to get along. And that's why Tibet is

00:02:52.630 - 00:03:09.280

so important. Tibet was historically its own empire. It was only in the last 300 years that China took it over. Tibetan people are ethnically different than the Han Chinese inhabiting China's east. They just doesn't make sense for Tibet to be part of China except militarily. Only

00:03:09.280 - 00:03:28.710

0.2% of China's population lives in Tibet, which accounts for nearly 13% of the country's area. More people live in the inner four district of Beijing than the entirety of Tibet. It's just incredibly desolate, but it serves a purpose. If China didn't rule Tibet than India would

00:03:28.890 - 00:03:46.080

maybe not formally. But there's little chance that an independent to bed would not be economically and culturally dominated by either India or China. It just doesn't have enough power economically or militarily to resist. But in China's view, it could not and cannot allow. For an Indian

00:03:46.080 - 00:04:04.560

Tibet, Indian rule of Tibet would mean that there would be no geographical protection between the populated area of China and India, because Tibet is that geographical protection. Not only does Tibet extend China's border to the Himalayas, it's also on unpopulated area without the transportation infrastructure needed

00:04:04.560 - 00:04:20.570

for an invading India to advance a large number of troops towards eastern China. But that also means that there's not the transportation infrastructure necessary for China to advance towards India. But China is trying to change that. They recently opened the world's highest railroad to Tibet. They're

00:04:20.570 - 00:04:36.270

building highways constantly, and they also opened a large airport in Yankee, just miles away from the border. In the near term, the goal of these projects is to further integrate Tibet into China. The government has all but failed at winning over the native Tibetan population, but

00:04:36.270 - 00:04:51.980

they can change who lives in Tibet. Hundreds of thousands of Han Chinese have moved into Tibet, and many more visit each year. The government knows that the bets usefulness is diminished if one of foreign military shows up, the population thinks that means liberation rather than invasion.

00:04:51.990 - 00:05:10.590

But there's another reason China needs Tibet water. The whole eastern zone of agricultural productivity exists because of all the water from Tibet. The yellow and Yangtze rivers, China's two longest rivers both get their water from Tibet, and foreign control of the water supply of the country

00:05:10.590 - 00:05:26.630

would, in the government's mind, strike a catastrophic blow to the country's food security. If there were hypothetically a significant mountain range separating Tibet from eastern China, there's a good chance it would still be independent. The water would still come from China, and the mountains would act

00:05:26.640 - 00:05:43.940

as the geographical protection that China desires. But to the north is another one of China's assets. Mongolia. It's an enormous, sparsely populated, friendly country with the Gobi Desert and other desolate terrain. There's just a little chance that any modern land based army couldn't make it across

00:05:43.940 - 00:05:58.910

with any efficiency. The supply lines would be enormously long, and by the time they got to the Chinese border, there would have been ample warning. But then again, who would want to invade Mongolia's Onley. Other neighbor is Russia, which is a friendly ally of China, both

00:05:58.910 - 00:06:15.140

militarily and economically. China need not worry about its northern border until relations with Russia sour, but that leaves the eastern border now. You would think that this would be China's save his border, the ocean. But you have to consider that powerful states lead just off China

00:06:15.140 - 00:06:34.030

shores. Most powerful, one being the US, the United States has a significant Pacific military presence, with bases in South Korea, Japan and Guam. It's also a close ally with Taiwan, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia, meaning that if a serious dispute with China occurred, the U. S would

00:06:34.030 - 00:06:52.540

have no problem blockading China and cutting off its maritime access. And, of course, China knows this. That's why China has spent so much time, energy and political capital to establish sovereignty in the South China Sea by building military bases and artificial islands. It knows that it

00:06:52.550 - 00:07:08.620

needs these islands, so it has sovereignty over the area so it can reach the Pacific in case of war. But ironically, its actions in the area are souring its relations with the very nations that China needs on its side. The Philippines, for example, doesn't have a

00:07:08.620 - 00:07:24.050

bulletproof relationship with the U. S. While the two countries, our allies, Philippine leadership has attempted to distance themselves from the U. S. If China hadn't ruined its relationship with the Philippines over the South China Sea dispute, it could have won them to their side, which would

00:07:24.050 - 00:07:42.670

allow China crucial access to the Pacific. If the U. S attempted and naval blockade. China's entire economy relies on exports, so restrictions toe access to the oceans would lead to economic ruin. With its enormous population, China also relies on the importation of food, most of which

00:07:42.670 - 00:07:59.490

comes on ships without jobs or food. There's a good chance the population would rise up against the government and end the current regime. China didn't want to be a global power spreading into influence to every continent. Until recently, it wanted to be the dominant power in

00:07:59.490 - 00:08:16.470

its region, Asia. But historically it kept its affairs within the region. It never colonized outside of Asia, and for much of history it didn't have a significant Navy to project its power around the world. But that has changed because China got so big. China is now

00:08:16.480 - 00:08:33.290

of a size where it cannot support its population with its size alone. Self sufficiency and food production was a major aspect of China's domestic policy for decades, but the country has found a way to move past it. As its economy has grown, Africa has emerged almost

00:08:33.300 - 00:08:50.970

as China's China. It supplies the country that supplies the world. China has pumped enormous amounts of money into the continent. In what some describe as a form of neocolonialism, Chinese state backed corporations have bought huge amounts of land in Africa to mine minerals, drill for oil

00:08:50.980 - 00:09:05.730

and grow food. China now imports more food and oil than it exports. While that is a sign of the development of its economy, it also means that it is now reliant on foreign powers, which is a vulnerable position for a country that is often at odds

00:09:05.730 - 00:09:19.240

with some of those foreign powers. China doesn't have bad geography, it has some of the best in the world, which has allowed for it to grow into the largest country in the world. But as it grows into a more and more powerful and developed country, it

00:09:19.240 - 00:09:33.760

needs to be cognizant of its vulnerabilities. If the current regime wishes to continue, it's clear that because of its geography, the country is in a more precarious position than some may think. If there were ever a reason to go to war with China, the country is

00:09:33.760 - 00:09:49.140

surrounded to the south and east by countries that would likely side with NATO powers to the west and north. China is surrounded by countries and regions without the infrastructure to support China in a war. China is a nuclear power, which means formal war with other superpowers

00:09:49.150 - 00:10:04.800

is unlikely. But if it ever were to happen, it's hard to deny that its major disadvantage is its geography. I just went through the process of building the new website for my other channel. Half is interesting all in. It took me about an hour to make

00:10:04.800 - 00:10:21.630

this simple website, and the hosting fees are very reasonable for whatever you do, whether it's a YouTube channel, a business or anything else. Having a professional Web presence is incredibly important because that's how people find you. Squarespace makes this easy with their beautiful templates created by

00:10:21.630 - 00:10:38.860

world class designers, powerful website builder and 24 7 award winning customer service no matter what you do, build your Web presence for 10% off with squarespace by going to squarespace dot com slash Wendover. Squarespace makes this show possible, so please, at least go check them out

00:10:38.870 - 00:10:46.550

over at squarespace dot com slash Wendover. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you in two weeks for another Wendover Productions video.