Has PLAN exceeded Qing Beiyang fleet vis-a-vis- her contemporary neighbors?

30 years after the Meiji restoration was when Japan defeated Russia in the Russo-Japanese war of 1905, and now it's coming to the anniversary of 30 years of Chinese industrialization (quicker in magnitude and scale than Japans) so I was wondering how present day PLAN compared to Qing Beiyang fleet vis-a-vis it's contemporary neighbors.

Edit: I re-read the title and I wanted to make sure I wrote it correct: As in Qing Beiyang's contemporary neighbors versus PLAN's contemporary neighbors fleet comparison. If PLAN pre-Beiyang or post-Beiyang? That Japan detail was superflous btw.

Phead128 said:

30 years after the Meiji restoration was when Japan defeated Russia in the Russo-Japanese war of 1905, and now it's coming to the anniversary of 30 years of Chinese industrialization (quicker in magnitude and scale than Japans) so I was wondering how present day PLAN compared to Qing Beiyang fleet vis-a-vis it's contemporary neighbors.

Edit: I re-read the title and I wanted to make sure I wrote it correct: As in Qing Beiyang's contemporary neighbors versus PLAN's contemporary neighbors fleet comparison. If PLAN pre-Beiyang or post-Beiyang? That Japan detail was superflous btw.

Click to expand...

Why is japan detail superfluous? Now as then japan is the strongest naval adversary amongst China's neighbors. To say how Chinese navy is doing now relative to beiyang is essentially to say how Chinese navy is doing relative to japan now and at the time of beiyang.

The Beiyang fleet was strong only on paper. In reality, it was poorly supplied, poorly trained, and had little political support. Li Hongzhang was propping the fleet up single-handedly against much opposition in court.

Furthermore, the PLAN does not operate alone. Its combat effectiveness relies on the capabilities of the 2nd Artillery Corps as well as land-based air assets. Thus, it is rather misleading to look only at the ships.

While we should always learn from history, we should not read history so literally. No two situations are ever the same, and we need to evaluate each situation independently.

This is my personal opinion and pure conjecture...

Beiyang's first Chinese naval system of foreign design even approaching modern standards was Dingyuan and Zhenyuan flagships that altered the balance of power in East Asia, which were among the most powerful warships in the world. In terms of displacement, armor, and armament would raise the Beiyang Fleet to an equal status with the fleets of the European powers stationed in the Far East.

So powerful was Dingyuan and Zhenyuan flagships (upgraded based on German ship Sachsen class frigates) that France requested Germany to delay the delivery of the ships until 1885, when the Sino-French war was over, because the flagships would have DRASTICALLY altered the balance of power in China's favor had they been present in the Sino-French conflict (in which the Nanyang fleet was smashed).

Arguably, PLAN's first Chinese naval system of foreign design even approaching modern standards that could alter the balance of power among its neighbors in the Asia-Pacific, most especially Taiwan, regarded by Beijing as a renegade province was the Hangzhou (1999) /Fuzhou (2000) Sovremenny class destroyers and subsequent improved 956-EM versions in 2005/2006.

In retrospect, the Sovremenny acquisition was in response to the 1996 incident, in which, the U.S. dispatched two aircraft carriers to the Taiwan Strait after China fired live missiles off Taiwan's coast in an attempt to influence the outcome of its first presidential election, triggering the worst crisis in decades in U.S.-Chinese relations. The Sovremenny acquisition arguably gave China the first credible capability to deter U.S. aircraft traffic in the Taiwan strait in future. Had Russia delivered Sovremenny to China earlier, the 1996 incident would have arguably resulted in a different outcome with such a robust deterrent like Moskit anti-ship missiles in the Taiwan strait.

I would argue that the 2000-2006 period of PLAN development can be likened to the 1880-1885 period of Beiyang fleet in terms of first Chinese naval system of foreign design even approaching modern standards that meaningfully altered the balance of power in Pacific sea region. Dingyuan/Zhenying for Beiyang (1885), and Sovremenny class for PLAN (1999-2006).

In a ten years shift forwards since foreign built warship acquisition, the 2010-2016 period of PLAN develop (NOW) can be likened to the 1890-1900 period of Beiyang fleet, in which there was a noticeable uptick in hostility between China and Japan (to put it mildly, First Sino-Japanese War occured during this period. Could we see a war between 2010-2016 just as we saw between 1880-1900 between China and Japan?

Perhaps 2010-2016 period is the start of a COLD WAR between China and Japan, just like 1880-1900 was a HOT WAR between China and Japan.

Again, this is pure conjecture and my personal opinion