China's military — more bark than bite

China is hardly renowned for producing high quality goods, as a series of product safety scandals in recent years has shown.

“If you go to the PLA and they show you some fantastic new missile on display at an air show, yes they have a missile system, but does it work? Does it work repeatedly and does it work in combat conditions?” Thompson said.

“Until you know that for sure you simply assume they've got one heck of an interesting platform that might do us some harm ... but the reality might be far different.”

One problem is the U.S. and EU arms embargo against China following the 1989 military crackdown on the pro-democracy Tiananmen protests, and there is little sign they will lift it any time soon.

There's also inexperience.

Unlike the United States, currently engaged in two massive military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, China has not engaged in full battle for three decades.

China's last major confrontation was with Vietnam in 1979, and that was hardly a glorious victory. Chinese forces crossed the border to punish Hanoi for invading its ally Cambodia, but Vietnam's battle-hardened troops gave the Chinese a bloody nose.

China has made some impressive technological advances. The successful missile “kill” of an old satellite in 2007 represented a new level of ability. In January, China successfully tested emerging technology aimed at destroying missiles in mid-air.

Integrating such advances into the country's vast armed forces could be problematic though.

“The (Sichuan) earthquake in 2008 showed their weakness in joint operations,” said Lin Chong-Pin, a strategic studies professor at Taipei's Tamkang University.

After the massive quake, Chinese soldiers involved in rescue efforts struggled with shortages and bottlenecks magnified by poor coordination between forces and units.

China's military edge over tech powerhouse Taiwan, a democratic island Beijing has threatened to eventually bring under its control, is growing though.

Even then, not everyone is convinced China could easily overpower Taiwan, despite its advancing weaponry.

“The point is to make the U.S. military stay at a distance,” said Hsu Yung-ming, a political science professor at Taipei's Soochow University, referring to China's military modernization.

1|2

PrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email