China vs Taiwan: how do their military forces measure up?

Conditions of carriage

The King and Queen will travel to and from the coronation in a carriage which boasts heating and electric windows. Are these uncommon luxuries? Popular Mechanics magazine in the US reveals that the King is not alone in expecting mod cons in his carriage: even the Amish employ various modern technologies in their horse-drawn buggies. Their $8,000 vehicles have had brakes since the 1960s, originally salvaged from scrapped Volkswagens. Now, 10% have disc brakes. Most have bodies made from fibreglass and all those in use in Ohio and Pennsylvania have headlights and tail lights by demand of state legislation. Many also have interior lights, usually powered by batteries used in cordless tools.

Strait fight

How do China’s and Taiwan’s military forces measure up?

                                            Taiwan / China

Active personnel            170,000 / 2m

Aircraft                                 737 / 3,284

Fighters                                285 / 1,199

Attack helicopters               91 / 281

Tanks                                  1,012 / 4,950

Self-propelled artillery       272 / 2,795

Submarines                             4 / 78

Destroyers                               4 / 50

Source: globalfirepower.com

Money trains

Do compensation payments for late-running trains turn up on time?

• Between 16 October 2022 and 7 January 2023, rail passengers made 1.7m