strengths and weaknesses
Strengths
Manpower |
With over one billion people in the country, China is the largest country in the world by population. Along with this, nearly 20 million people reach military age each year. This ability to have such a giant population that is available for military involvement makes their country one of the most powerful in the world, and that is before including equipment and technology.
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People Fit for Military Participation |
619,000,000 |
# Active in the Frontline |
2,335,000 |
# Currently in Reserves |
2,300,000 |
As for creating military involvement, china has a two-year service obligation, and there is no minimum age for voluntary service.
With this, the size of China's military is clearly an advantage. Not many countries have the sheet manpower that China has, which makes their military very versatile.
With their impressive amount of equipment and technology, China is well-suited for "limited warfare," where a country decides to limit their usage of certain resources. This will allow them to participate fully in a war without using a large percentage of their items at their disposal.
Also, their numbers make for a tough opponent in a "War of Attrition," or a war that is more focused on wearing down the other side. Although this type of war does not use as much equipment, these wars focus on having lots of soldiers ready for battle. China has a very large military, which allows them to continuously put new men at the front lines.
For more information on the weapons possessed by China, click here.
With their impressive amount of equipment and technology, China is well-suited for "limited warfare," where a country decides to limit their usage of certain resources. This will allow them to participate fully in a war without using a large percentage of their items at their disposal.
Also, their numbers make for a tough opponent in a "War of Attrition," or a war that is more focused on wearing down the other side. Although this type of war does not use as much equipment, these wars focus on having lots of soldiers ready for battle. China has a very large military, which allows them to continuously put new men at the front lines.
For more information on the weapons possessed by China, click here.
geography |
In addition to manpower, geography plays a large factor in war. In the noted Chinese work, The Art of War, written by Sun Tzu, it is stated that, "next is the terrain. It can be distant or near. It can be difficult or easy. It can be open or narrow. It also determines your life or death." With this, military power often depends on the battle in question and where it is located, either on land, water, or in the air.
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If a country was to begin a land assault on China, it would be very difficult. Not only is china immense in size, but the terrain and climate is very difficult to cross.
First off, there are three major rivers that run throughout this giant country: the Yellow River, the Yangzi River, and the Pearl River (Columbia University). Even though there are tons of different ways to cross water in this day and age, a large land assault on any country would make crossing these large rivers a somewhat daunting task.
On top of the major rivers, the Great Wall of China still exists. This massive man-made wall, despite being somewhat out-of-date, is still an incredible obstacle. When originally built, the Great Wall was used to protect the nation from invasion, and it could still do that to an extent today.
As far as statistics go for the geography of China, let's take a look:
The CIA World Factbook lists China's terrain as "mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and hills in east."
However, in the today's age, it is much less common for invasions to occur, and even less common for those invasions to be conquests to take over more land. For example, in the technological age of today, it is highly unlikely that a cross-country invasion like Napolean's invasion of Russia is going to happen. With this being said, the geographical advantages of China are much less important than that of their manpower.
First off, there are three major rivers that run throughout this giant country: the Yellow River, the Yangzi River, and the Pearl River (Columbia University). Even though there are tons of different ways to cross water in this day and age, a large land assault on any country would make crossing these large rivers a somewhat daunting task.
On top of the major rivers, the Great Wall of China still exists. This massive man-made wall, despite being somewhat out-of-date, is still an incredible obstacle. When originally built, the Great Wall was used to protect the nation from invasion, and it could still do that to an extent today.
As far as statistics go for the geography of China, let's take a look:
- Land Area: 3,600,945 sq. miles or 9,326,410 sq. km
- Water Area: 104,460 sq. miles or 270,550 sq. km
- Total Area: 3,704,405 sq. miles or 9,596,960 sq. km
- 14 Bordering Countries
- Coastline: 9,009 miles or 14,500 kilometers. (Statistics are found via World Atlas.)
The CIA World Factbook lists China's terrain as "mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains, deltas, and hills in east."
However, in the today's age, it is much less common for invasions to occur, and even less common for those invasions to be conquests to take over more land. For example, in the technological age of today, it is highly unlikely that a cross-country invasion like Napolean's invasion of Russia is going to happen. With this being said, the geographical advantages of China are much less important than that of their manpower.
Weaknesses
NeighBors |
Internally the Chinese military seems to be solid, it is externally where it could struggle. Even though China has plenty of manpower, there are several neighboring nations with enough technology to threaten them, especially considering that China does not have positive relations with many of their bordering countries.
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Not only does China tie Russia for the most bordering countries (14), but not all of them have positive reputations. As quoted in an article in The Week, "Not only does it [North Korea] practice diplomacy through spontaneous violence, it has nukes. Nobody knows when -- or if -- the North Korean government will collapse, but the idea of 24 million starving people suddenly finding themselves without a government is a frightening one for Beijing."
China doesn't have a ton of help either. When it comes to the Pacific, China only has one true ally in Russia. And although they have bilateral relations with North Korea, these relations only extend to politics, social matters, and economics. This does not mean that they are military allies. In contrast to the United States, which is located an entire ocean way, the USA has six close allies to go along with three more countries that they can consider to be "on good terms with." On a global scale, China has a few more allies, although many of them are also unstable and deal with several of human rights issues. |
Chinese Allies Russia Pakistan Zimbabwe Venezula Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan Uzbekistan |
Lack of Modern Weapons |
Despite their incredibly large inventory of equipment, China is not the most advanced nation in the world. In fact, their technology is not even close to what someone might expect when considering their total defense budget.
Their weaponry is still very impressive, as it is a major reason that it is ranked among the top militaries in the world, but it is their main weakness as a military when compared against nations like the United States. |
In order to get a better idea of where Chinese weapons are currently at, let's take a look at some numbers:
- 7,580 total main battle tanks
- 450 modern tanks (with 125-millimeter guns, composite armor, modern suspension, and advanced fire control systems)
- 5.9% of their tanks are considered to be "modern." 100% of the United States' tanks are "modern."
- 1,321 total fighter planes
- 502 modern fighter planes.
- 38.0% of their planes are "modern." (Statistics were found through The Week.)
Header Image: Retrieved via Wikimedia Commons under CC.
Great Wall of China via Wikimedia Commons under CC.
References
China Military Strength. (n.d.). Retrieved December 5, 2016, from http://www.globalfirepower.com/country-military-strength-detail.asp?country_id=china
Chinese Geography: Readings and Maps | Asia for Educators | Columbia University. (n.d.). Retrieved December 05, 2016, from http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/china/geog/maps.html
Geography Statistics of China. (2015). Retrieved December 05, 2016, from http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/asia/china/cnlandst.htm
Why the Chinese military is only a paper dragon. (2014). Retrieved December 05, 2016, from http://theweek.com/articles/445300/why-chinese-military-only-paper-dragon
The World Factbook: CHINA. (n.d.). Retrieved December 05, 2016, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html
Tzu, S. (1964). The Art of War. Clarendon Press.
Great Wall of China via Wikimedia Commons under CC.
References
China Military Strength. (n.d.). Retrieved December 5, 2016, from http://www.globalfirepower.com/country-military-strength-detail.asp?country_id=china
Chinese Geography: Readings and Maps | Asia for Educators | Columbia University. (n.d.). Retrieved December 05, 2016, from http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/china/geog/maps.html
Geography Statistics of China. (2015). Retrieved December 05, 2016, from http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/asia/china/cnlandst.htm
Why the Chinese military is only a paper dragon. (2014). Retrieved December 05, 2016, from http://theweek.com/articles/445300/why-chinese-military-only-paper-dragon
The World Factbook: CHINA. (n.d.). Retrieved December 05, 2016, from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html
Tzu, S. (1964). The Art of War. Clarendon Press.