The Chinese Military Is A Paper Dragon -- Kyle Mizokami, Real Clear Defense/War Is Boring

Some think China is a near-peer competitor. Wrong.

China’s rise over the past 30 years has been nothing short of spectacular.

After decades of double-digit growth, today China is the world’s second largest economy—and possesses an increasingly sophisticated military that’s among the planet’s most powerful. Despite China bordering a number of unstable countries, its borders are secure.

That wasn’t always the case. In 2,000 years, China has suffered invasions, revolutions and humiliations from the outside world — plus its own internal rebellions. It has been brutalized, conquered and colonized.

No longer. China’s defense spending has increased tenfold in 25 years. Beijing is building a powerful blue-water navy, developing stealth fighters and carefully experimenting with peacekeeping and expeditionary operations.

Read more ....

My Comment: As regular readers of this blog know .... I always look at trends .... trends in economics, politics, international relations, and the military. In the case of China .... I had the opportunity to see what the Chinese military looked like in mid 1980s .... to put it bluntly .... not impressive. On my last trip to China 2 years ago .... a completely different story. And while the Chinese military is nowhere near what a modern state like the U.S., Japan, etc. can deploy into a war zone .... they are light years ahead from where they were 30 years ago .... and more to the point .... they have the will and determination to have a military that can confront the U.S. and Japan on an equal footing 20 to 30 years from now. Paper tiger today .... maybe .... but I am willing to bet that in the Asian arena this will not be the case in 20 or 30 years. This is a long post by Kyle Mizokami .... but it is a must read if studying the Chinese military is your thing.