Towards the end of a broadcast on December 19 on Chinese state television, China Central Television (CCTV), brief but significant fragments of a People's Liberation Army wargaming exercise appeared. Among the simulated scenarios were Cuba, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea, alongside more predictable theaters such as Taiwan, the Sea of Okhotsk, and the Russian Far East. A non-secondary detail: the original video was subsequently removed from the CCTV website, further indication of the sensitivity of the content.From a military perspective, the exercise is not anomalous. Wargames are used to test concepts, train commands, and simulate complex environments in a repeatable and low-cost manner. The same CCTV service clarifies that the goal is to "help commanders learn how to fight without engaging in real battles," through systems that integrate land, maritime, air, space, and electromagnetic domains, using artificial intelligence, big data, and real-time simulations. All the systems shown are developed in China.
Implessive
>A geography that mattersWhat strikes is not the technology, but the choice of scenarios. China maintains a minimal military presence - and more under the radar - in Latin America, despite growing economic ties with the region. In this context, the simulation of potential conflicts in the Caribbean or the Gulf of Mexico does not signal an imminent operational capability, nor a credible military projection plan in the Western Hemisphere.The maps shown suggest rather a conceptual exercise: "red" and "blue" indicators- in the doctrine of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), respectively Chinese and adversarial forces - maneuver between Cuba and Mexico; some blue units are concentrated near Houston, moving southeast into the Gulf, while red forces appear in the Caribbean basin. In a close-up on Cuba, Chinese researchers discuss aircraft and ship trajectories, likely within a tactical simulation. It is abstract planning, not operational prefiguration, but...
>The context matters as much as the contentThe choice (choice?) to make public some PLA wargaming scenarios becomes clearer when read in parallel with recent US military dynamics in the Caribbean basin. Satellite images have indeed shown a US naval group moving towards the southeast Caribbean, composed of the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima, the amphibious transport unit USS Fort Lauderdale, a Henry J. Kaiser-class replenishment ship, and the M/V Ocean Trader, a logistics platform reconfigured for special operations. A device consistent with rapid projection capabilities, amphibious operations, and support for low and medium-intensity missions.Without suggesting a direct causal link, it is plausible that Beijing wanted to signal that it has already modeled on a conceptual level the dynamics and potential effects of a possible US action in the Western Hemisphere. In this light, the simulation does not indicate a Chinese intention to intervene in Latin America, but reflects an exercise in anticipatory planning aimed at understanding vulnerabilities, decision chains, and systemic implications of US initiatives in a strategically sensitive but militarily asymmetric area.The message remains cognitive, not operational: China intends to show that it thinks in global terms, including in its planning models even scenarios far from the Indo-Pacific. A form of strategic awareness signaling aimed more at analysts and decision-makers than at immediate military planning.
>Signaling, not deterringThe hypothesis of a credible deterrence or a direct operational intention seems unconvincing. China does not have the infrastructure, alliances, or posture necessary to sustain military action in the United States' 'backyard.' Precisely for this reason, the decision to show - albeit briefly - such scenarios on state media should be read as a low-cost communication operation.It is therefore a way to: introduce ambiguity about the real global ambitions of thePLA; feed informational noise and stimulate Western strategic debate; signal technological capabilities and conceptual maturity rather than immediate intentions.The fact that, in the same service, simulations of aerial clashes between Chinese J-16s and French Rafales, or maps including Hokkaido, the Kurils, and Taiwan, also appear, reinforces the idea of a message aimed at multiple interlocutors, not limited to a single theater.The value of the episode does not lie in the wargame itself, but in its public staging. It is not an announcement of action, nor a direct threat. It is an exercise in strategic signaling: showing that China not only fights - or prepares to fight - in its immediate spaces, but thinks globally, simulates globally, and also observes American moves far from its borders.In a context of systemic competition, showing that 'one is thinking can be, in itself, part of the game,' suggests a military source confidentially - especially since we are talking about speculation and perhaps it was just a mounting error and that image was not supposed to be published.
How many hours do you think an unsupported chinscpedetionary force survives unsupported in there?
Original articlehttps://formiche.net/2025/12/wargame-cinese-in-sudamerica-e-la-notizia-e-la-sua-esposizione-pubblica/#content
>>64690388Indefinitely, they'll just start razing and pillaging until they're stopped.It's an asian land war. No bars.>>64690377Hey jackass, the talking point is now about the upcoming naval exercises, check pol moron
>>64690391>chinese supermen when they have to face overwhelming fire and air superiority rather than just bullying unarmed hue-huesShame Pooh Bear hasn't got a son, he could continue the proud Chinese tradition of cooking amidst air raid warnings.
>>64690391>Indefinitely, they'll just start razing and pillaging until they're stopped.What if they don't pay off the cartels?
