How strong is the chinese military?

Al Jazeera reported the PLA is the worlds largest fighting force with 2 million active personnel.under current leaders,China has shown an increased willingness to back up its claim over disputed territory with demonstration of its military prowess with the south china sea emerging as a flashpoint.china claims the sea almost in entirety amid competing claims by taiwan,phillipnes,vietnam,malaysia and brunei.the PLA navy is the largest navy in the world and its submarines are able to launch nuclear armed missiles.china has socalled maritime militia funded by the govt and known as little blue men which are active in south china sea while this year beijing authorised its coastguard to fire on foreign vessels.but as willy lam said the army has an opaque command system,endemic corruption and questionable quality of recruits.but ultimately the chinese army in modern conflict will depend on technology which has been marching in the right direction. willy wo lap lam foresaw failure to exert executive control of the army can have dire effect.the damgerous practice of fusion of army and civilian life worsened in 1994.the political reason was clear,to win support of the officers for his post deng career,jiang ze min had to secure enough military votes.and the interchangeability of the two sectors tended to boost pla powers.the campaign of yongjun youshu(support soldiers and give privileged treatment to their relatives) went into new heights of frenzy.the military top brass was given an unprecedented say in non military affairs,in particular diplomacy.by playing a bigger role in national politics,the top brass can safeguard their vested interest. they took a hard line on Spratly islands.the generals put pressure on the party n govt in early 1994 to increase fumding deployed in spratly islamds.the pla officers said lack of funding caused the chinese naval units to lag behind the vietnamese in the game of stationing garrisons on the island.brunei doesnt have a navy to counteract china.phillipnes has the us back up and vietnam has formidable fighting experience expelling fpreign powers from its shore.whete does this leave msia with its unsinkable scorpene submarines.only singapore has a technologically advanced military but would it back asean up or safeguard its own interest.thats as good a guess as mine