Right, any comparison would need to be done within the context of what they are optimizing for. China's priority right now seems to be securing the S. China Sea

Right, any comparison would need to be done within the context of what they are optimizing for. China's priority right now seems to be securing the S. China Sea. There's also nuclear weapons as a concern. I'm not sure we're quite talking mutually assured destruction, but we wouldn't want to go there. So far, nuclear deterrence has held up. There's a lot of ways to fight a war. Conventional military technology likely wouldn't be involved on any battleground we would find ourselves on with China.