On September 3, China showcased its power in a military parade aimed not at Western leaders, but at its own circle of pariah states. Flanked by the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, proudly watched as troops marched with precision and high-technology missiles and drones on trucks rolled into the infamous Tiananmen Square.
Fighter jets and helicopters flew overhead as more than 20 other world leaders, including Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, gazed in amazement at China’s military might. However, it was just nothing but a show. China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is an untested fighting machine. It’s like a dog that only barks but does not bite. It can only bully its much smaller and weaker neighbors, like the Philippines and other Southeast Asian states.
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In the last major war it had with another country, Vietnam, it was humiliated, losing in 1979 and again in 1984, losing some territories to a smaller Southeast Asian state. Vietnam has more experience on the battlefield, having defeated two Western powers: France in the 1950s and the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. China was also humiliated in its border skirmishes with India, a nuclear-weapon state, in the Himalayas It is not enough that a state has awesome military equipment and armaments; the real test is in the skills of its soldiers.
In chasing a small Philippine Coast Guard vessel, China’s destroyer rammed a Chinese Coast Guard cutter near Bajo de Masinloc. It says a lot about the seamanship skills and training of China’s maritime units. The Philippines has more navigational skills and professionalism by calmly avoiding confrontation with Chinese vessels, making dangerous maneuvers, and disregarding international maritime rules.
The Philippines knows its rights, sailing within its maritime zones. China has no right to be where it is, and no one has recognized its excessive and illegal claim in the West Philippine Sea. There were also times when the Chinese Navy would point its powerful lasers and big naval guns at the Philippine Navy ships on patrol in the West Philippine Sea.
Back in the early 2000s, Chinese frigates threatened the BRP Sierra Madre that ran aground on Ayunging Shoal, training their guns at the World War II-vintage naval transport. Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro has criticied China’s military parade in Beijing which sought to intimidate its neighbors. "That's intimidation,” Teodoro said during the commemoration of the Philippines’ 80th anniversary of the Victory Day that marked the surrender of Japanese forces in the Philippines, and the National Celebration of Philippine-American Friendship in Baguio City.
“To me, thats intimidation directed especially to small nations. What about us? Should we just give in? Is that what they want? That we agree to their revisionist history?" Teodoro also took a swipe at other world leaders watching the parade. "Now, let's look at the three leaders who do not follow and go against international Law, together in the parade," he added. Putin crossed into Ukraine in 2022 on the pretext that it was protecting its interests, and Kim continued to defy international rules to conduct tests on its nuclear weapons. All three states - China, North Korea, and Russia - have been attempting to change the status quo and impose their own will on weaker states.
But they are not succeeding. Ukraine stood defiant, resisting the Russians who had incurred huge military losses. North Korea’s people are starving as its leader tries to project strength, China’s own attempt to expand its sphere of influence in the region has been thwarted by the collective actions of the United States, its allies, and weaker neighboring states. China’s military, despite its display of power, remained decades behind the United States in terms of the quality of weaponry and warfighting equipment.
China stole and copied through reverse engineering the Western military technology. It bought into American companies, like Singer sewing machines, with defense contracts to learn how things are done to build missiles, aircraft, and other equipment. Stealing and copying Western military technology cuts China’s investment in money, time, and efforts in tedious research and development, but will its home-grown equipment work.
What it lacks in quality, China makes up in quantity. It could swarm an American nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with cheap drones and missiles. China has a grand plan to overtake the US as the world’s number one in military and economic power by 2049, the finish line for its 100th year marathon that began when the Chinese Communist Party rose to power in China in the ashes of World War II and its war with Imperial Japan, which began a decade earlier.
China’s humiliation all began in the 19th century when European powers - Germany, Portugal, France, and the United Kingdom - carved out China’s coastal region, taking advantage of the weak Qing dynasty. China is still weak, but projected strength through a military parade. Let China dream on ruling the world, reliving the glory of the Ming dynasty. sending a column
The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of this publication.
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