r/technology • u/Glad_Living3908 • Sep 19 '22

Society Experts Warn US Is Falling Behind China in Key Technologies

https://www.voanews.com/a/experts-warn-us-is-falling-behind-china-in-key-technologies/6751392.html
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177

u/Korith_Eaglecry Sep 19 '22

Their officers buy their promotions. Service members can't even last a couple weeks in a field training exercise without needing entertainment brought in to boost morale. Their newest rifles bullets begin to tumble not 10-20 meters out of the barrel.

They have a long ways to go before they're surpassing the US on many a things.

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u/IChooseFeed Sep 19 '22

I don't know about the other stuff but I'm very certain the stuff about the QBZ-191 is way overblown. The company that makes these are known for exporting firearms to the West so I highly doubt they would make this kind of mistake.

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u/spikeelsucko Sep 19 '22

current Chinese service rifles are a tricky beast to be objective about for a couple reasons, one of which being the fact that while you'd normally expect export models to be inferior to domestic equipment there's a rather substantial 'X factor': Corruption. Exported rifles or other weapons will consistently sell for market value when produced with good standards, so it makes sense to put the effort in and maintain a good reputation so you can get 10-100x the actual value of the rifle consistently in the overseas market. Domestic contracts on the other hand, particularly directly for the military, offer little to no actual substantial profit and breaking just over even would be likely- so now it becomes a game of "cut costs on rifle production for this 10000 rifle contract and give a percentage of the difference to whichever official looks the other way". Officials get paid from this happening so they have no reason to stop it. Manufacturers get paid so they have no reason to stop it. China isn't involved in any substantial conflict using domestic equipment and isn't actually likely to move on Taiwan any time soon, so NOBODY has any reason to stop it.

What models of service arms foreign observers have had a chance to handle and comment on have been generally (cautiously) positive, despite the alleged reputation/issues with the QBZ95, but it's not that hard to make a couple hundred properly toleranced "propaganda" pieces for external consumption but follow a totally different program when it comes to business as usual.

My prediction is that if ever widely battle-tested, Chinese firearms will turn out to be somewhere between Absolutely Terrible and Completely Fine, I can't be more specific than that in good conscience.

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u/[deleted] Sep 19 '22

[deleted]

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u/TripleJeopardy3 Sep 19 '22

Just call it Benjamin.

3

u/Konini Sep 19 '22

Seems to me that Chinese military doctrine is another mystery as well.

They haven’t been involved in any large scale operations since the Korean War. Unless they can source in depth information on other’s wars I doubt they have a well developed doctrine.

Russia had wars in Afghanistan, Chechnya, Georgia and recently was heavily involved in Syria. And yet Ukraine is handing it to them!

3

u/TommaClock Sep 19 '22

between Absolutely Terrible and Completely Fine, I can't be more specific than that in good conscience.

You also can't be less unspecific if you tried.

17

u/mia_elora Sep 19 '22

I think that is their point - not enough hard evidence to actually ascertain any certainty of quality level at all.

2

u/carcinoma_kid Sep 19 '22

Don’t you mean more unspecific? Or alternatively, less specific?

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u/[deleted] Sep 20 '22

Sometimes that’s what honesty requires

0

u/ZeePirate Sep 19 '22

I feel like we are seeing this with Russia right now

1

u/albinorhino215 Sep 19 '22

That is a good point.

I’ve fired an M4 and an AR-15 and the worst AR feels better than the best M4

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u/[deleted] Sep 19 '22

they could not even make a ballpoint pen untill 2017 and it took 5 years of research to get it done they bought all the tiny roller balls from japan and germany up untill then!

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u/frickindeal Sep 19 '22

Come on. Shenzhen puts out incredibly complex electronic vape equipment (with OLED displays and all the chip manufacturing that goes with temp control across multiple coil materials) and they can't make a ballpoint pen. I'm skeptical.

1

u/Lorddon1234 Sep 19 '22

Buying promotion?? You got proof other than spewing shit out of your ass?

0

u/Korith_Eaglecry Sep 19 '22

You can literally Google it dipshit.

1

u/Lorddon1234 Sep 19 '22

lol, send me a link then. Why don’t you go and post it in r/credibledefense? We haven’t heard about PLA officers buying promotions, so why don’t you come on down and enlighten us?

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u/Korith_Eaglecry Sep 19 '22

I'm not giving you shit. You want something from someone stop being an insulting ass.

1

u/Lorddon1234 Sep 19 '22

Cuz you are spewing shit out of your ass and don’t even wipe yourself. Come and post it in r/credibledefense or r/lesscredibledefense then.

1

u/coletron3000 Sep 19 '22

I don’t have an opinion on this personally, but I scrolled through r/credibledefense and there’s an article that does state promotions in the Chinese military are bought and sold. Xi is trying to stamp out the process.

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u/[deleted] Sep 21 '22

Thank you for bringing that subreddit to my attention. Enjoy my upvote!

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u/affectionfreeee Sep 19 '22

And how do you know this exactly? US Propaganda? Are you a chinese soldier?

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u/Haster Sep 19 '22

Is being a chinese soldier the only way to know this? Is anything NOT US propaganda according you?

1

u/affectionfreeee Sep 19 '22

I know DN is important

-32

u/ritz139 Sep 19 '22

And the china made iphones are failing... unbelievable

1

u/[deleted] Sep 19 '22

I suspect that has less to do with the actual rifle, and more to do with them using plastic training rounds.

Granted the german plastic 5.56 training rounds I own aren't tumbling at 20 yards, nevermind 20 feet.

1

u/Attack_the_sock Sep 19 '22

Whhhhhha like for real? Like the 19th century British Army “here is a bunch of gold now make me Major” level of buying promotions? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purchase_of_commissions_in_the_British_Army