how can they reverse engineer the SU-34 if they don't have one to start with
Yeah, nah that would be stupid. Why RE Su-34 when they can build a similar plane themselves.
Besides H-6 is being manufactured from the ground up through H-6K so clearly PLAAF intends to keep operating them badgers for a while yet - Bltizo
--With experiences of Su-27, J-11B, Su-30 and J-15, to "REing" another "flanker" look-alike would not be as difficult as people might think of even without one Su-34 in hand, I pressume?
...a bit like if one who's been making burgers for Burger King for ages surely could take on that of McD given a notice(granted, it's not as simple as making burgers, but you get the drift), especially with the help of ample wind tunnels, supercomputers, a truck load of $$$ and, above all, SAC's irresistiblely age-long reputation of stalking Flankers as if there were no tomorrow, no?
Don't get me wrong, peronsally I think Su-34 is a far better option for the moment.