One thing I noticed is quite prevalent in Taiwan, is the Chinese culture of being afraid to take risks, to be the first one to try or to take the initiative. The danger doesn’t even have to be real like landmines; it could even be fear of being the odd one out, or embarrassment/losing face.
I don’t think this sort of mentality is conducive to soldiering which, although some aspects require uniformity, premier fighting forces decentralize mission-level decision making to subordinates (“mission-type tactics” or Auftragstaktik).
Even in R&D which requires pushing the envelope - this type of culture is not helpful. For example, the Manhattan Project would have been difficult to be the first to the bomb in Chinese culture: unknown risks, unknown reward, no clear path forward, no one else has done it yet, etc.
Can anyone who has served in the Taiwanese military explain if efforts are made to reverse this “bu cuo” cultural conditioning in the military, or it is still prevalent? What about the PRC’s military - do you also expect them to have the same cultural context?