If, as I suspect, the pressure for the dangerous recklessness sometimes shown by Chinese pilots (& also captains of ships, & even diplomats) comes from the very top, it's not a lack of discipline. The consular staff (including diplomats) who dragged a peaceful protestor off the street into the grounds of the consulate in Manchester to beat him up were doing what their superiors wanted. That's atrocious behaviour, but not indiscipline. Same with the PLAN & PLAF. They can be dangerously aggressive while doing precisely what Xi Jinping expects of them. Their aggression has a political point, & one which isn't at all subtle.
Discipline doesn't mean caution, or good sense. It means acting in accordance with the standards & procedures set out by superiors, & obeying their orders. If their orders are to strip naked, dance manically & scream insults, then obedience to those orders is discipline, whatever it looks like to outsiders.
You (& I) may consider the behaviour of the Chinese armed forces to be reckless, but that isn't what undisciplined means. Words matter.
"So if a senior PLAF commander is giving orders to it's pilots to perform dangerous manoeuvres in international air space then that demonstrates a lack of restraintdiscipline and professionalism which creates an inherently dangerous risk to global military operations. This is how real shooting wars start and the reason why we haven't slipped into global conflagrations is partly due to sensibleprofessional standards of military conduct."
I agree with you entirely, except in the choice of words. You're assuming that what constitutes professionalism & discipline for our armed forces (mostly - but see below) is what constitutes professionalism & discipline for the Chinese armed forces. Unfortunately, that's not the case.
BTW, the USN has recently started sinking civilian boats in international waters & perhaps territorial waters of other countries, on suspicion of drug smuggling, in clear breach of international law. That saddens me, & as I understand it American troops have a duty to refuse to obey illegal orders. An exception to discipline & professionalism which I hope stops.
Discipline doesn't mean caution, or good sense. It means acting in accordance with the standards & procedures set out by superiors, & obeying their orders. If their orders are to strip naked, dance manically & scream insults, then obedience to those orders is discipline, whatever it looks like to outsiders.
You (& I) may consider the behaviour of the Chinese armed forces to be reckless, but that isn't what undisciplined means. Words matter.
"So if a senior PLAF commander is giving orders to it's pilots to perform dangerous manoeuvres in international air space then that demonstrates a lack of restraint
I agree with you entirely, except in the choice of words. You're assuming that what constitutes professionalism & discipline for our armed forces (mostly - but see below) is what constitutes professionalism & discipline for the Chinese armed forces. Unfortunately, that's not the case.
BTW, the USN has recently started sinking civilian boats in international waters & perhaps territorial waters of other countries, on suspicion of drug smuggling, in clear breach of international law. That saddens me, & as I understand it American troops have a duty to refuse to obey illegal orders. An exception to discipline & professionalism which I hope stops.
