Hi John. My assessment is that it was a defeat for China for these reasons. 1) Central planning killed thousands of their own soldier from freezing because they rushed them to the battlefield for political reasons. It is exactly the same kind of problem I believe would bedevil them today. 1) China had the benefit of living right next door, with vast superiority of forces, and yet ended up with no additional territory. Yes, today their military is vastly better but ground wars, as recent history attests, favor the fighting spirit of the army. Sorry, even today, I don’t see China gaining air superiority over the West, even though they’re physically closer. The Chinese soldier is not going to fight hard to protect CCP corrupt officials. The South Korean soldier today will fight even harder than they did back then.

Tessa should learn more about the history you point out — whatever her assessment. China also tried the same thing on Vietnam too in 1979, with the same result.