India, Feb. 19 -- For all the swagger of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA), with its state-of-the-art aircraft carriers, cutting-edge stealth fighters, and expanding cyber and space warfare capabilities, an uncomfortable truth lurks beneath the surface: its military leadership remains untested, politically constrained, and deeply insecure about its own readiness for war.

The last time China fought a significant conflict was in 1979, during its brief and disastrous war with Vietnam. The PLA suffered severe losses, struggling against a battle-hardened Vietnamese force. Unlike the United States, Russia, Israel, and India-whose militaries have gained valuable combat experience in recent decades-the PLA has remained insulated from the re...