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 - mercenaries are the defence companies. Chinese conscripts have a very strong sense of national identity. 
- US’s power is primarily derived from commerce, whereas China has immense man-power
- China is a rising superpower, while the US is established 
- China just copies everything the US does in defence lol 
 Twenty years ago, yes, but trendlines for both have changed for the worse.

US today does more fiat-printing than profitable commerce, and centrally-planned policy-lag is crushing China's manpower advantage,

And China is way beyond copying - other than the USA on a good day no Western country can innovate for sh_t compared to China. Of course, in an ideological one-party state that could get shut down tomorrow, but it hasn't. 
 yes i think the funny thing abt central planning is that one bad policy decision can fuck everything