“We weren’t scared of Joe Stalin with atom bombs. We weren’t scared by Hitler at the gates of Moscow. We aren’t going to be scared off by a population statistic.”
We were petrified of Joseph Stalin. He killed millions of people. We were also scared of Hitler once the war got going, hence to all out battle against him. Once we knew what he really was we were even more scared.
The massive chinese army is not a statistic. They may not have the best technology yet but they have the money and we are giving them time. To discount them is foolish.