Dear GMS
I believe your fears are overblown. Firstly if the Chinese were to fight with the USA , as it stands it would be over Taiwan and not the South China Sea. Japan would be the logical target as the US Seventh Fleet PACAF, Marines, PACOM, all have major basing facilities there which are owned by the USA. You can't replicate that sort of infrastructure skill and personal set overnite and you certainly can't hide it. There is a world of difference between offering a port of call to a US Carrier and offering a Home Port to a US Nimitz carrier.
Secondly for what its worth the Chinese have developed the ability to knock out key infrastructure from space without the use of Nukes. ICBMs IRBMs with near cruise missile accuracy would be enough to conventionally destroy the logistics infrastructure without the use of Nukes. T he US are worried about Chinese Conventional Ship Killing ICBMs so a sitting infrastructure target would be no problem indeed.
For what its worth we offer a FOB to the US with an ability to support and sustain a surge capability, much like the US in Saudi Arabia or UAE or Bharian all rolled into one. But an FOB cannot the infrastructural support that a permanent operating base like Japan can. SUBIC was such an operating base but the silly Filipinos threw it out in a nationalistic frenzy and well they are now getting PUSHED around and are paying the price.
Locke
You don't seem to understand what is meant by invading and liberate Taiwan vs attacking Singapore as US Navy supporting base! These are two different military objective. You don't just nuke the place you want to invade, conquer and occupy. But you can just nuke out your enemy's logistic supply line. And it is a well known fact that it is easier to nuke or just bomb your way instead of invading, conquering and occupying enemy's territory. This is why Desert Storm I is so successful (just bomb Iraq army all the way) while Desert Storm II where they try to conquer and occupy Iraq proved to be disastrous... Arabic version of Vietnam.
If the communist can just massacred thousands of students and civilians at Tiananmen Square just like that, do you think they care about 1 million of PRC who have left its soil? Wake up!
Goh Meng Seng