China's current national defense strategy is offshore defense, which embodies the general scope of China's core interests. Within such a scope, China's military strength is growing rapidly, and its overall security can be guaranteed by this scope.
But if China has further strategic ambitions, it will inevitably face risks which will be difficult to deal with in the coming years. Not only superpowers like the US, but also medium-sized powers may risk confronting China for what they see as their core interests. Therefore, China's assertiveness not only depends on its military strength, but also on where China uses this strength.
Besides military strength, China also needs to develop its soft power and accumulate experience of how to use its power. China is a relatively isolated power. Such isolation is not uncommon for emerging powers. But at the moment, we should clearly recognize that our growth in the global arena cannot simply rely on growing military strength or a few advanced weapons.
China should be patient during its rise. Developing sophisticated weapons is a required course for China. Sophisticated weapons are expensive, but they are not luxuries for China. We have spent a lot of money manufacturing and equipping them, and we will also use special methods to consume them.
It is difficult for us to figure out how powerful we are. Sometimes Chinese people are confident, and sometimes we underestimate ourselves.
Frankly, society does not know clearly which stage of development we're at.
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