system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Eli5: How is the Chinese military such a threat to the US when the US spends roughly 3x the $ on their military budget?
gpt
The US defense budget is highly misleading. China and the US actually spend roughly the same on actual military spending. It’s just that the US pays its people way more and includes a lot of things in the defense budget not actually related to defense— but the pay is most important. China pays people like nothing. The US pays contractors and it’s military and civilians very competitive wages. The difference may seem a lot on paper, but it’s actually very similar in real world parity. 

China is a regional power.  Their goals and aims are there and specifically geared towards fighting close to home which is a massive advantage and towards specifically fighting the US and Taiwan. They are heavily specialized. The US instead is setup for all types of various conflicts, China is just one of them. They are a less specialized tool. 

China could not beat the US. But they could cause a lot of pain to the US and it’s allies in east Asia. 

And at some point. Many people on all sides and those not involved feel the US and China will eventually come into conflict in Asia. And China’s power is growing much more competitive every year.  The bigger issue in China is that they haven’t fought a battle in forever. There is concern they don’t really know how to employ their forces. No one knows what to make of that though. Military experience is beyond value in conflict.