AssassinsMace
Lieutenant General
I'm sure there are some in China had that very intent. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Using "35" to them puts it on the par as the already established F-35. Other cultures think the bigger the number the better or more advanced. The Chinese who know they're not on the same level as the US seek to be equated with them first not being better. Throwing out a larger number means nothing. It's like how China thought it should be a member of the ISS simply because it could do the basics of human space travel. Politics aside, to the US they see China contributes nothing they can't do themselves. To the Chinese it's establishing it's an equal. I argue with Chinese who think copying is best. They don't want China to try to do anything new. Doing something new to them doesn't say you're doing something better because there's not a measure out there that says it's better hence why it's new. That's where Chinese get caught in the inferiority complex "copying" trap.