NO ONE FLIES AEROFLOT:

For years, the image of China in the West has been one of a great imitator: it can copy what we do, goes the argument, and it can do it cheaper -- occasionally better. But it's no great innovator. Chinese military aircraft, for instance, look suspiciously like copies of American planes and are unlikely to outperform their western equivalents. The US, in fact, says Chinese nationals have stolen sensitive military documents for F-22 and F-35 planes. Chinese civilian cars, too, are almost exactly like German, American and British equivalents; if you want a cheap Mercedes G-Class, get yourself a BAIC BJ80, or a Land Wind if you're after a Range Rover.

That China's quantum computer claim was reported with seriousness in the West was in itself a triumph for Xi. The Chinese president is keen to encourage the belief that his country will become the world's dominant superpower. But China's attempts to take the lead when it comes to numerous scientific and technological advancements have so far had very mixed results.

Take China's Covid vaccines, which were nothing like as good as the western ones. CoronaVac recipients are five times more likely to get severe disease than those with Pfizer. Unusually, the CCP has owned up to the vaccines' shortcomings. "[They] don't have very high protection rates," said Gao Fu, one of the country's leading disease control officials. Since Covid began in China, the CCP's inability to produce a decent vaccine was, to say the least, embarrassing.

China's progress in military technology is also in doubt. Beijing is known to be trying to develop hypersonic missiles, which in theory are able to vary their trajectory, making them harder to intercept than intercontinental ballistic missiles. Such weapons worry western military strategists because they could make it especially hard to defend aircraft carriers. However, it's unlikely that Beijing's scientists have created genuine hypersonic missiles. The ability to change direction creates drag, slowing the missiles down and making them easier to shoot out of the sky. Maintaining trajectory means maintaining speed, but also makes their path predictable and again easier to intercept. The laws of physics render such weapons unfeasible for battle.

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