The coming conflict over Taiwan

If every western Navy in the world were deployed, you still couldn't blockade mainland China

All sea based shipping follows set/planned lanes, which could be intercepted and monitored... and the Chinese navy would be unable to contest it. There's no need to blockade China.. just control the international trade routes. Then use airstrikes on the train links between China and N.Korea or Russia, which would block most of land based transportation. Then there's also the airstrikes on the vulnerable gas piping, or the even more vulnerable linking of electricity (a feat of engineering to do it over the mountains, but so easy to destroy) which is distributed to the main industrial centers outside of the tier 1/2 cites (yes, some have their own power, but that which comes from the nuclear power stations tends to be distributed this way).

It would be relatively easy to demolish a large chunk of China's modern infrastructure and transportation network.

You do realise (although I suspect that you're actually unaware) that South Korea and Japan have been naval skirmishing (violently) over islands for decades? Same with Vietnam and Thailand. In fact, you would be hard pressed to find any nation in SE Asia who hasn't been involved in minor skirmishing (minor because they didn't succeed) about the various Islands, fishing areas, etc. China has done little different from the others, except being more successful at it. Even the creation of artificial Islands with military installations wasn't started by them, they just went two steps further by making bigger ones.

People keep trying to find reasons to be annoyed at China.. which I find interesting because we already have heaps of more important reasons not to trust them. The fact that China consistently breaks agreements should be enough to ensure that people not trust them.. but they need more reasons? It's a strange one.

Meanwhile China pounds the sh1t out of every American base in the immediate region and Guam...while sinking or damaging every American and vassal warship with hypersonic missiles.

You have a rather exaggerated expectation of their arsenal, and the kind of reserves they would have available. I'm not disputing that they have the tech, and the ability to produce them, but... those things are expensive. China has had a lot of demands for their resources... I seriously doubt they have many such missiles that wouldn't be reserved for the actual defense of the mainland.

Those air attacks on China would very quickly become very feeble and sparse...and how would the war end?.there is no way in hell America and pals could ever get to Beijing.

Why do they need to go to Beijing? The existing plans for taking on China consist of destroying the Chinese economy and infrastructure through the use of air power, and missiles. The resulting shock to the economy would generate serious social unrest, due to the inefficiencies of the party system (along with the existing corruption) leading to shortages of food, medicine, and electricity. All of which would affect morale, and create chaos that would be difficult to manage.

China is already suffering as a result of natural weather conditions. The addition of coordinated strikes against infrastructure has the potential to lock down large parts of the country, especially if rail and bridges were hit.

I find it interesting that you elevate China as being experts with missile tech, and having the resources available to demolish others, but don't extend the same opinion of the US. Doesn't make much logical sense to me.

China is no Iraq it is the largest and most industrialised nation on earth with hundreds of millions of people of military age and a nuclear power to boot.

I know exactly what China is like... I've lived there for almost 12 years.. I also know the weaknesses of their society and economy. You're giving them far too much credit.

Its worth remembering that during the Korean war the Chinese volunteers sent the American army on its longest retreat ever.And the Chinese fighters in that conflict had no artillery or air support,even so they came within a hairs breadth of driving the US and its vassals off the peninsula ...that was one hell of a feat for an army composed of only light infantry!

Live in the past much? You'd get along well with many Chinese then. Chinese society has moved on with their Ipods, and easy access to food, along with education made available/compulsory for most people. This is no longer an uneducated society conditioned heavily by communist indoctrination. Oh the indoctrination is still there, but it's a very different thing than what went before. There's probably some morons still in the countryside who might fight for the CCP as you describe, but they'll be a minority. Loyalty and belief in China as a nation, yes. Charging machine guns and forced marches while armed with sweet F all? Not going to be successful with that one anymore.

Besides, Mao is well gone at this stage, and CCP leaders have assumed a very different approach to the power of personality, and leader worship. It's just not the same kind of China.

Most Chinese military forces are poorly equipped, poorly trained, and suffer problems with morale. Yes, there are elite regiments, along with a range of professional forces, but China's military is still mostly a third world army. A large one, but still not equipped enough, with reserves to truly consider itself even remotely comparable with the US. They're a military that hasn't fought a conflict in generations, and it's only really the forces based around Taiwan/Zhuhei, that have gotten much in the way of combined military exercises. Very few forces throughout the remainder of the country have received any kind of realistic "practice" in effective wargaming, beyond parades.

Nope. You're correct and I was wrong. I misremembered a series of documentaries thinking there was violence involved.

Any evidence that they've stopped? Obama widened the scope of their operations both in the US and abroad, but there's been very little to suggest that they've lost any authority (or that they would obey any orders) to reduce their monitoring.

The US intelligence services hide behind "black operations" and off the book malarkey. There's really no way to know if the NSA have stopped, and considering the role the US plays internationally, every indication that they have increased operations. Same with all the scandals and political maneuvering that has happened in the US while Trump was in power. I can't see the NSA being shackled considering the amount of information they could provide a political force.