为什么中国军队被西方国家看得这么弱？ [美国媒体]

Why is the Chinese military viewed so poorly by western countries?

为什么中国军队被西方国家看得这么弱？




Pascal Barre
I don’t know where you take that question, but that might have been true a few decades ago when the US was considering Chinese sub as more or less underwater washing machines

我不知道你是在什么情况下问的这个问题，但是在几十年前，那时美国或多或少地把中国的潜艇当做是水下的洗衣机，这个情况可能是真的。

Now, it's a completely different matter. Chinese military has shrunk in size from almost 20 million to 2 million. And it will shrink even more to become more like the US, a professional army. In the past, the PLA couldn’t afford to provide guns to every soldier (way too many), and the cost of equipment per soldiers was minimal compared to western standards.

现在，这完全是另外一回事了。中国军队的规模从快2000万人缩减到了200万人。而且它还将进一步缩减规模，变得更像是美国这样的专业军队。在过去，中国人民解放军无法为每个士兵提供枪支（太多人了），而且每个士兵的装备成本与西方的标准相比微乎其微。

A few decades ago, Chinese soldiers wore the equivalent of a WWII US soldier in equipment value. Now it is almost on par with the current US forces.

几十年前，中国士兵的装备相当于二战时期的美国士兵。现在中国军队几乎可以跟目前的美国军队不相上下了。

On the logistic side, the US too is getting nervous with China rapid advancements. A few years ago (2007), China destroyed one of their satellites with a missile, prompting the US to send a counter signal to China by shooting one of their own satellites from a moving Navy ship (in 2008)… Like 2 cocks fighting to prove who’s the best…

在后勤方面，美国也对中国的快速发展感到越来越紧张。几年前（2007年），中国用导弹摧毁了他们的一颗卫星，促使了美国在2008年从一艘移动的海军舰艇上击落一颗美国卫星，以示回应。就像两只公鸡，通过打斗来证明谁是最厉害的。。。。。。

Also China has made more promising gains in new technological fields, like hypersonic flights (reaching Mach 6). Things the US has failed miserably so far (failing at Mach 10, but succeeding at Mach 5.1)…

而且，中国也在新技术领域取得了更有前景的收获，如高超声速飞机（速度达到6马赫）。到目前为止，美国在这方面惨败（速度10马赫的失败了，但马赫5.1的成功了）。

The US is also scared of their carrier killer ballistic missile technology. So much so that they develop a drone tanker plane to refuel airplanes in midair and increase their range beyond the capability of Chinese carrier killer weapon.

美国也害怕中国的航母杀手弹道导弹技术。以至于他们开发出了一架可以在空中为飞机加油的无人机，而且增加了射程来超出中国航母杀手的打击范围。

Josh Petty
There are two main reasons:

有两个主要原因：

Comparison. Many people who look at the Chinese armed forces and contrast them to the US, which isnt a fair comparison. The Chinese military has a vastly different composition, and has been rapidly modernized.

比较。
许多人把中国军队跟美国作比较，这种比较是不公平的。中国军队的结构跟美国的有很大不同，而且已经迅速实现了现代化。

Lack of expertise or exposure. As several answers pointed out, alot of the knowledge is from old war movies, propaganda, and other such sources that are far from unbiased. For example, having learned about the Korean war in part from Marine corps vets, the Chinese “Human wave” tactic was far different than what is ofter portrayed in media. The Chinese forces compensated for thw better range of American weapons and the artillery support and air cover by using a move and shoot tactics that the US military calls shoot and scoot. 

缺乏专业认识或者曝光。
正如其他答案所指出来的，西方很多认识都来自于旧战争电影、宣传以及其它一些带偏见、不公正的来源。例如，美国海军陆战队老兵口中的朝鲜战争，中国的“人海”战术就跟西方媒体常常有的描述大为不同。美国军队有更强大的枪支、炮火支援和空中掩护，而中国军队利用快速移动并攻击的策略弥补了自己的不足，美国军队把这种策略成为“打了就跑”。

The simple truth is that the Chinese Military has had few chances to flex its metephorical muscles since those days, and few people bother to stay informed of the changes.

事实很简单，中国军队自从朝鲜战争以来鲜少有机会能展示自己的军事实力，而且西方国家也很少有人费心去了解这种变化。

Kam Chuanhui
Because of stuff like this:
The Korean War of the 1950s was the first time Western forces had encountered Chinese forces since the Boxer Rebellion.

1950年代的朝鲜战争是西方势力从义和团运动以来第一次接触到中国军队。

One of the tactics used was the “human wave” assault. The term was used by Western media and alludes to the idea that Chinese forces lacked the tactical sophistication of their Western counterparts and relies on sheer weight of numbers.

中国使用的其中一个战术是“人海战术”。这个词被西方媒体用来暗示中国的军队缺乏西方军队所拥有的复杂战术，而仅仅是依靠人多势众。

注释：按照美军的提法，尤其是按照美国将军李奇微的说法，人海战术就是：共军以密集的战斗队形，采取波浪式的冲锋方法，连续不断地冲击美军阵地，直至被美军密集的火力击退。

That impression has stuck till now and propagated in the media (evidence above), even though it might not be true. PLA’s modernization has made it comparable to Western military as far as tactics and equipping is concerned (especially for Tier 1 units such as PLA Marine Corp and the Airborne forces)

直到现在，这种印象还没有改变，而且在西方媒体中大行其道，即便它可能不是真实的。就战术和装备而言，中国人民解放军的现代化使得中国军队（尤其是解放军海军陆战队和空降部队等1级单位）可以与西方军队匹敌。

Edit:
Dear Chinese readers, please re-read the title of the question again and stop feeling so indignant about the answer. It is about Western perception and the answer tries to explain that perception.

编辑：
亲爱的中国读者们，请再读一遍这个问题，不要对答案感到如此愤慨。这是西方国家的看法，这个答案是要试着解释这种看法而已。

Those perceptions are may well be factually wrong but people still believe it. Since the point of this question is perception, I answered to the point.

事实上，这些看法可能是错误的，但是人们依然相信它。因为这个问题的重点是要问看法，所有我就回答了这个问题。