Why is the Chinese military viewed so poorly by the West？

Q: Why is the Chinese military viewed so poorly by Western countries?

A:

There are many reasons. One reason is that China doesn’t want to conquer; however, most Westerners do not comprehend this Chinese mentality. They use Western mentality to speculate on Chinese military maneuvers. For example, the Chinese army beat India in 1962 and retreated to the status quo before the war. Some viewed that as the loss of China and the weakness of the Chinese military.

Another example was the 1978 Sion-Vietnam War. China conquered all the geographic barriers to Hanoi, then retreated. Some Vietnamese view this as China's loss, and the Chinese military is weak.

China prefers to solve conflicts more diplomatically than militarily. That’s the image of militarily weak. China did not bomb Libya but sent ships to pick all the Chinese back. China did not bomb Indonesia when Indonesia had an anti-Chinese riot. China has no military presence in the world as Western powers do.

The Chinese military has been viewed as poor, which is, in part, a cultural misunderstanding. Chinese culture never regards military conquer as a real conquer. Chinese culture considers that people like your governing is the ultimate conquer. One well-known saying in China is “The one who wins the hearts of people conquered the world.”

 

The title of the theme song is 得民心者得天下， or “The one who wins the hearts of people conquered the world” in English. This is the theme song of a top-rated soap opera. This is the Chinese culture: Conquer the world not by military force but by being good to the world.

While the West is concerned with human rights, its political correctness never considers conquering by military force as evil. In Chinese culture, conquering by military force is evil. Cultural misunderstanding gives the West the perception that the Chinese military is weak.

Remember, the US never wins when it wars with Red China. The US supported Chiang in the Chinese civil war and lost China. The US organized armies of 16 countries and lost to China in the Korean War. The US lost to Viet Gong, whom China supported. When the West perceives the Chinese army as weak, it is a miscalculation.