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The Chinese vs Japanese Navy Head To Head: An Infographic -- Zero Hedge
Tomorrow is the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I. Perhaps just as importantly, this weekend is also the 120th anniversary of the first Sino-Japanese war: a war between China's Qing dynasty and Meiji Japan. A war which China lost, and which has been a chip on China's shoulder ever since.
As Hong Kong's SCMP reports "China's loss of the first Sino-Japanese war has been attributed to a disorganised navy. Although the northern fleet equalled, some say exceeded, the Meiji navy in terms of firepower, it was annihilated because it lacked coordination among its military units."
In the context of constant recent flare ups over various contested East China Sea islands, one can see why the anniversary of the war coupled with a sudden spike in nationalistic ambitions of Japan's PM Abe, would be a sensitive issue to China. However, as we can see below, China no longer has an inferiority complex when it comes to its navy compared to that of Japan.
While Japan's navy may still have a qualitative advantage over China's, the People's Liberation Army is catching up, analysts say. In sheer manpower, China has the upper hand, with Beijing putting the PLA Navy's strength at 235,000, or more than five times the number in the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force.
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My Comment: There is no real match .... the Japanese will need to rely on their air assets to assert any authority over a war zone .... and they will definitely need the help of the U.S..
2 comments:
A war which China lost, and which has been a chip on China's shoulder ever since.Beijing Translator
You have to disregard most of the Chinese navy as missile attractors at this point. PLAN had a lot of ships, and some of their new designs based on the Type 54 destroyer and their new stealthy missile boats are interesting designs, but they have little or no operational experience outside their air cover. Although Japan hasn't fought a war in 70 years, they have benefitted from adapting proved US designs and adding to them. Their version of the Burke Class destroyer is probably even better than the Burke itself.
You also have to talk about their submarine force, which (justifiably) scares the ever loving hell out of China. Probably th ebest submarien force outside of the US.
I know that Stalin said that Quantity has a Quality all its own, but that only goes so far.
Until China can prove it can work outside its air and missile umbrella, they will be a 2nd class Navy.
That will almost certainly change int he next ten years, but we will see.
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