For the first time this decade, a Chinese carrier is burning...

China is one hell of a lot more competent than Russia

We have no real idea whether this is actually true on a military level as their military is even less tested in real world conditions than the Russians were. Even if they are, an amphibious assault on an island with the potential of the world's most powerful navy in the way is a lot more difficult to pull off than a land invasion.

Sure, but Taiwan is also a lot more prepared than Ukraine, is an island, and has the promised backing of the US, who has ships in the area. Oh, and F-35s.

honestly though tsmc is likely much more valuable to western nations than ukraine, China might be competent but there's going to be a lot more western money for their defence

See, this is an interesting question. Are they?

They certainly succeed in giving off that vibe. They seemingly have seen a lot of economic growth while Russia stagnated. I would probably guess that they are, indeed, more competent.

But, they're an even bigger unknown than Russia. They're notoriously opaque and at least sometimes cook the books when showing the outside world their economy growth, or stuff like their rate of fatalities during COVID.

They seem to have a much bigger GDP and a much more loyal citizenship than Russia. We think their technology is better than Russia's, but not as good as ours.

But, we won't really know if they are a paper tiger until we see them in a real conflict. They could, with the advantage of proximity, be unassailable by the west if they invade Taiwan. Or we might see themselves completely blunder trying to stop a rebellion in a small country. I don't think anybody guessed Ukraine would hold up like they have, even with western supply lines.

Assuming the actors are rational

Idk man. I lived there for 4 years. Competent is not the word I would use to describe that place

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