Hong Kong, Nov. 10 -- The People's Liberation Army (PLA), the party-controlled armed force of China, has made tremendous progress in modernising itself in recent years. Much of this credit must be given to Chairman Xi Jinping, who has personally and relentlessly dragged the PLA up by its bootstraps.

Even just a couple of decades ago, the PLA was an outdated behemoth. It was oversized, operated quite antiquated equipment and was primarily designed to protect Chinese borders. Now, as the recent military parade on 3 September demonstrated, flush with modern weapons and a beneficiary of steadily increased defence budgets, the PLA is a force to be reckoned with not only by Asia but also by the USA.

Indeed, the USA regards China as its major ...