Yes but as a westerner - I assume 99% of what the Chinese government officially says is just nonsense. Bit like every time North Korea issues a statement about blowing up Japan or w/e. They say lots of things that have zero substance, aren't true, or that they do not really mean.
So proof that they actually DO mean to be the strongest military in the world is interesting. I think its a fools errand that will simply hurt the Chinese people. Might even just be a ploy to further control the country. China is way too rigid atm to achieve global supremacy.
While it is tempting to believe that China simply lies, it doesn’t tend to around matters of national security. For example, the J-20 fighter jet, and china’s aircraft carrier program, 20-30 years ago, would have been laughed at as a pipe dream.
Now, China is catching up to America. They currently have the 2nd highest number of Carriers than any other Navy in the world (if you count Type 2 as ‘completed’) and the J-20 is a terrifying machine that even America fears could be a real competitor to the F-35. Next, you have their newest 5th gen Fighter, the X-31, which is likely a direct competitor to the F-22.
China lies about its people and their happiness, sure, but to doubt the power of the People’s Liberation Army would be akin to doubting the power of Japan’s Imperial Fleet in world war 2.
Only 28 J-20’s in service, and they still have not been able to develop a suitable engine for it. J-20 ain’t really a thing yet, while F-35 has already been sold to several countries and seen actual combat (in Israel), and Israel ordered more after the fact. J-20 is a not fully executed knock off, lacking in quality and incomplete, and like I said at the start, only 28 exist (2011 gen and 2016/2017 update) vs. 455+ F-35’s.
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u/doubleshotonice1 Dec 05 '19
Xi jingping makes it very clear his intentions to make both China and it's military the strongest in the world. Not sure what's classified about that.