Before the Cold War ended the Russians were considered to have a very capable military mainly because they had lots of military hardware. Proxy wars in the Middle East where Russian Command and Control tactics were used demonstrated that Communist military doctrine was flawed. This was made more apparent once the Wall came down. A lot of current thinking seems to be elevating the PLA to the same Cold War status as the USSR even though they have a very similar Communist Command and Control system. I agree with this statement:
Australia is not toast before breakfast for the PLA.