China’s Leader, Seeking to Build Its Muscle, Pushes Overhaul of the Military

BEIJING — Driven by ambitions to make China a great power, President Xi Jinping is staking his political authority on a huge task: overhauling the Chinese military, which is still largely organized as it was when a million peasant soldiers mustered under Mao Zedong.

Mr. Xi wants a military that can project power across the Pacific and face regional rivals like Japan in defense of Chinese interests. To get it, he means to strengthen China’s naval and air forces, which have been subordinate to the People’s Liberation Army’s land forces, and to get the military branches to work in close coordination, the way advanced Western militaries do.

China’s military budget has grown to be the second largest in the world, behind that of the United States, and the country has acquired sophisticated weapons systems. But Mr. Xi has told his commanders that is not enough.

None of this is unexpected: There have been many articles on how China wants military parity with the USA by 2020. Their biggest weakness has always been command and control IMO regardless of some antiquated and some new weapons. The world is changing, nothing is static.

www.nytimes.com...

Well this is certainly interesting but definitely no surprise. The tides would turn eventually into the favor of another countries military might. However, I doubt that U.S will allow its self to be surpassed so easily without a fight.

~Sovereign

A bit of old news, but about 15 years ago, China knew it would have to improve the education system, which it did. Now high school admission is for everyone. Japan still lacks that. 9th grade education in Japan is all that is required. China now requires 12 years of education. Now that they have the education in place and for the last 7 years, the new Chinese military is no longer a foot soldier. High tech and highly educated, equal to that of any first class military around the world. Quiet they are, but pushovers, not in this day and age. They currently will go anywhere now and start drilling in the Asian waters, and America won't interfer even if the countries that are affected are liked/backed by the American govt. Latest on the list, Vietnam and Philippines. So much for the might of the US military help. American military is living off of a big mouth and no action, China knows it and so does North Korea. Weak leadership in the White House has been this downfall.

a reply to: 727Sky

Looks like China's headed straight for the broke house as well! Their economy is currently experiencing a "manageable slowdown".

www.reuters.com...

originally posted by: musicismagic
So much for the might of the US military help. American military is living off of a big mouth and no action, China knows it and so does North Korea. Weak leadership in the White House has been this downfall.

Hi, I'm interested in this particular part of your reply. I see you are in Japan. Would you like to elaborate more thoroughly on this, or perhaps share some official links from North Korea and/or China?

Thanks in advance.

Yeah no... It will take a lot more than just money to get the people liberation army to equal the ability if the USA military.

It's not just about size. It's not about copying the look of our gear and confusing the fact it's what's under the hood of our gear that makes a difference. It's not about enthusiasm in their ranks.

China will need combat experience, real life metrics to see what's what with their techniques and machines and to get them adjusted to reality. They can build a aircraft carrier doesn't mean they know how to use an aircraft carrier. Having a million man army with shiny gear does not make up for lack if experience, lack of real life logistical knowledge.

Heck we could still give china exact copies of all of America's latest war gear and they still wouldn't be effective as the USA. The USA has institutional memory and the experience of using our weapons all day and night for the last 200 years nonstop we're the warriors here not china.

Look at it this way. USA got their black belt the hard way, By actually learning and getting good at the fight. We've been out there for 200 years fighting on a real battlefield. Training realistically. China hasn't. China has a bad history of poor warriordom. (Yes I know about all their great generals and the books they wrote about how to win wars within your own territory and against rival dynasty's bucking for emperor and not against foreign enemies , notice they didn't do so good against those foreign real enemies) They have failed to impress anybody ( except the Tibetans maybe) in the last 1000 years. I believe they were commonly called even by other Asians the sick men of Asia cause they were so weak sauce. Except for a few mercenary groups that came from shunned ethnic backgrounds in china, china isn't really a country with fighting spirit. Re hauling your military wont change that cultural defect. Chinas last great military successes were waaaaaaaay back in the day where they were big fish in a little pond where they expanded a little into south east Asia.

So its like china buying their black belt and hoping they will miraculously know how to fight. They were shown the techniques. They can mimic the sensi. They bought the black belt that should make them legitimate right doesn't matter that they didn't actually aquire any skills through hard work ( you know the literal definition of the term Kung fu). America's military has that experience and real world Kung fu. Chinas buying their rank and thinking they can step into the ring with a world class mma fighter that had trained everyday. The results will be not what they deluded themselves into.

See in the real world and this is true for militaries too anyone can throw a punch , have that bomb or weapons system . But without experience almost nobody can land a punch. America has worked hard and combined its 200 years of constant fighting into a deployment system where it can. China can have all the bombs and shiny new gear it wants and it will still have no deployment system to land the punch.

So let china bankrupt themselves building up their military they are too far behind the curve to catch up to the USA. It's the experience level we have that makes a difference.

Also china, even the whole world has no idea about what devious weapons and technologies our military wizards at the top corporations have behind the curtain. Pretty sure we have some aces to checkmate china or anyone else with even stuff that our well informed allies would say " what they have that?!!! That's not fair nobody can win against that! We didn't even know building things like that were even possible!"

Yeah we have some stuff that amazing that nobody is even close to having.

a reply to: musicismagic

While I am happy for the Chinese people to get more education I think you are GROSSLY underestimating the US.

You can continue to do so, it really is to our advantage. Just know that like all things we adapt and change strategies as time changes.

We may not project our force like we have in the last 50 years, but thats only because we no longer need to.

China should worry about improving the living conditions of its citizens. While it is a slightly better military force than before its people are still pretty undereducated, under fed, under represented politically and over worked.

They should try to be even to the west in quality of life as well....just saying.

Spot on !!!!

Good post i completly agree.

reply to: tadaman

Wretched double post.

This is nothing new and has been projected for some time.

I applaud the Chinese for wanting force projection, but attaining the combat ability to do so is another thing.

Like the poster, "Tadaman" points out, One does not simply become a superpower over night, experience and tactics is key.

People call it whatever they want, but the ignorance of some ATS posters views on Afghan an Iraq are appalling, for people to never have traveled out the country, fired weapons and train back to back on combat drills don't really have a clue about things like this.

Afghan, people in caves....Asymetric Warfare was something we had to learn the hard way and we have the experience now, these peoples in caves are some of the most fierce fighters you can come across, DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THEM.

Iraq was a conventional setting, we rolled over them, yes. But that was expected when you stack a (Global) Super Power with a medium yield Regional power. Nonetheless, it was still a fight and current tactics and training accomplished the task relatively quick.

Regardless of how much of a pushover these peoples were, we still employed tactics, learned from the fight, gained knowledge and experience.

When China's time comes, who will they have to fight to graduate to a military super power? the south asian sea? the Russians? the US?

Lets face it, China and the US will never fight, not any time soon, so I think its going to be a Joint effort between the smaller nations who oppose chinese doms or maybe Russians.

Maybe China can send some of their folks in Afghan and get a good ass spanking wake up call. It'll be good for them to get their nose bloodied.

originally posted by: tadaman
a reply to: musicismagic

While I am happy for the Chinese people to get more education I think you are GROSSLY underestimating the US.

You can continue to do so, it really is to our advantage. Just know that like all things we adapt and change strategies as time changes.

We may not project our force like we have in the last 50 years, but thats only because we no longer need to.

China should worry about improving the living conditions of its citizens. While it is a slightly better military force than before its people are still pretty undereducated, under fed, under represented politically and over worked.

They should try to be even to the west in quality of life as well....just saying.

reminds me of British policies in the good old days and look where thats got us, we used up at the time the most powerful navy in the world to survive and are now a 3rd rate military power really and if you follow military history its pretty much guaranteed that it'll happen to you as the cost will at some point become too stupid to maintain

a reply to: Maxatoria

In a sense, what your saying is really a domino effect and if an when china gets their, they too are doomed to failure.

I think the US see's this and has been looking for the right cost at the right edge, we don't employ as many Fleets as we did in the past and as you already know, have been trimming the proverbial fats in the military.

Time will tell.

China's already pushing their neighbors around.Unfortunately they can as they could project their forces that far.Until they can transport those forces globally I'm not to worried.But one day they will challenge the west for world dominance.I hope I'm not around for that.

China has this problem. They Russia in the north and while Russia may no longer have the numbers they once did and they no longer have a big tech advantage over China they do still pose a threat. To the south they have India and also Vietnam both of which have massive Army's. Just from those three states alone China faces a serious numbers problem. To face these the bulk of Chinas military is non mobile ground forces. At sea China has long list of foes, Japan, Taiwan, ASEAN, Australia and of course the US. This is where it gets risky for China, if you want to build a modern mobile force that could challenge the US at sea your going to have get rid of a good part of your massive bloated army to do so. And that would place China under direct threat from all the other massive bloated armies in the region. Ad to that economic problems that are starting and have to come and problems with unrest in the east and China is going to have to figure out what its priorities are.

a reply to: Maxatoria

Good thing we still keep combat ready troops around by always being involved in interventions.

The UK just took a back seat to actual combat on the same scale it once had since the US filled that role quiet well.

No need to spend countless pounds on war when dollars will sufice....

Until the EU army is formed and ready to fill our boots we will continue to fill the role entrusted to us.

a reply to: tadaman

LOL REALLY!!!

I take it you've missed the systematic and escalating obstructionism euro and American regimes are engaging in to stifle domestic innovation outside of the big conglomerates....

Meanwhile in China... yeah certain key technologies are being aggressively pursued there no matter who comes up with the idea.... while in japan, middle America, and the UK people are having their doors kicked down by swat teams in surplus MRAP'S while MSNBC and BBC frantically wring their hands about people making guns, cancer drugs, or sustainable designs all without a single bureaucracy being able to keep the people from innovating!!

... for further information please consult the recent FDA attack on one of the single most important enabling technologies for the maker movement.... and in case you want to blow off the FDA laser heist. Go to hackaday and read about how a key 3d metal printing patent using LASERS expired less than 8 weeks before...

Because god forbid that the open source community actually outperform the likes of Lockheed!!!

Plus ... people might make guns or violate Lockheed's intellectual property... most of which BTW the citizens paid to develop... and or were used as slave labor in college on the development team. Mind you said students also don't get paid or benefit from the IP they developed!

Oh and meanwhile the Chinese are solidly ahead of us in key areas like infantry equipment, amphibious ifv's developed AFTER Apollo 13 landed, a missile arsenal and air defense grid that works, heavy weapons that weighalf as much and hit 40% harder, oh and they don't import a frightening majority of their defense consumables and basically ALL of several strategic raw materials from us.

But yep China should just bow to our superiority.... oh and BTW China's last real demonstration of military badassery was .... THE KOREAN WAR!!!

Chosin reservoir maybe you've heard of it? If you have you may also know that they just about pushed the combined forces into the ocean nowhere near a decade after Mao finished pushing chaing kai shek off the mainland and started recovering from things like the rape of Nanking...

So yup... Chinese suck at life go america **** yeah!!

a reply to: musicismagic

Sorry I didn't know we had to intervene militarily in EVERY single conflict that takes place around the world.

China is a very very long way of the US capabilities... They'll end up going bang economically before they could ever truly level the playing field

I'm pretty sure china have been saying this for at least a decade, they're still a million miles of despite there admirable efforts and overhaul thus far... China is better of spending its money on poverty it still has a very long way to go sorting out its internal affairs it's all smells of the soviet days and we all know how they ended