One of the regions of the world where the risk of the outburst of a conflict currently seems high is the Far East. The strongest military power of that region, or rather the second most powerful in the world, is China. Its strength is growing rapidly, because two generations ago it was actually a third world country. However, it has been developing rapidly since around 1980, and the rate of growth of China’s GDP has frequently been in double digits. China’s GDP has increased approximately tenfold since then, and as China is also a huge country – demographically, one of the two most populous countries on Earth, alongside India – the effect of this growth has also been impressive and has globally changed the balance of power, including military power. So what does the actual military potential of the countries of East Asia and the Pacific look like now?