I also hugely doubt China’s blustering is as severe as Russia’s. I know all militaries overstate their capabilities but I think one of the biggest factors in Ukraine’s successful defense so far was that Russia was spouting all stars and then it turned out they had more like a junior varsity high school team. I think the delta between the perception and reality of China’s military capabilities is much lower.
That’s absolutely true of China’s military equipment. It is absolutely close to equal to US equipment. The problem China has is it has no soldiers. It has a lot of people they call soldiers, but do not have people actually ready to fight.
India recently sailed both their aircraft carriers and ran sorties on them. This was massive show of force to China. China the country with 3 aircraft carriers, one of them super carrier level. So why is just sailing 2 aircraft carriers a show of force?
China has never sailed more than one aircraft carrier at a time. They simply don’t have enough sailors or pilots to do it. China’s military has a budget just like any other military. They spent all the money on equipment and nothing on training. They have a couple hundred thousand soldiers with full body armor and night vision, and that’s it. US in comparison, this is the most basic level of protection. China simply did not invest enough on training and basics.
This is why you see all the articles about China hiring foreign pilots to train them. China is fully aware of it’s limits and are actively trying to change that. As the US generals have already said, China is moving towards being able to overpower, but not today.
*Edit. And this is also the biggest difference between Russia and China. China is aware of their capabilities, where as Russia believed it’s own propaganda. If and when China attacks, it will be devastating. However, I’m in the camp of believing they will never attack. Because they’ll never feel ready. For all Xi said about being ready for war, they’re no better today with training than they were 10 years ago. Even though today they’re flying 5th gen stealth fighters.
I also hugely doubt China’s blustering is as severe as Russia’s. I know all militaries overstate their capabilities but I think one of the biggest factors in Ukraine’s successful defense so far was that Russia was spouting all stars and then it turned out they had more like a junior varsity high school team. I think the delta between the perception and reality of China’s military capabilities is much lower.
That’s absolutely true of China’s military equipment. It is absolutely close to equal to US equipment. The problem China has is it has no soldiers. It has a lot of people they call soldiers, but do not have people actually ready to fight.
India recently sailed both their aircraft carriers and ran sorties on them. This was massive show of force to China. China the country with 3 aircraft carriers, one of them super carrier level. So why is just sailing 2 aircraft carriers a show of force?
China has never sailed more than one aircraft carrier at a time. They simply don’t have enough sailors or pilots to do it. China’s military has a budget just like any other military. They spent all the money on equipment and nothing on training. They have a couple hundred thousand soldiers with full body armor and night vision, and that’s it. US in comparison, this is the most basic level of protection. China simply did not invest enough on training and basics.
This is why you see all the articles about China hiring foreign pilots to train them. China is fully aware of it’s limits and are actively trying to change that. As the US generals have already said, China is moving towards being able to overpower, but not today.
*Edit. And this is also the biggest difference between Russia and China. China is aware of their capabilities, where as Russia believed it’s own propaganda. If and when China attacks, it will be devastating. However, I’m in the camp of believing they will never attack. Because they’ll never feel ready. For all Xi said about being ready for war, they’re no better today with training than they were 10 years ago. Even though today they’re flying 5th gen stealth fighters.