One of the things to take into consideration when comparing PLAF to USAF planes and abilities:
The reason that some are so negative on PLAF abilities lies in how few 4th gen fighters they have, and the specs of the bulk of their airforces with their J7 and J8 aircraft.
For the J7, they are only able to carry short range missle suites, namely with the PL8's and AIM9L systems. They have a maximum effective range of upto 20km. Good, but that's barely above BVR
For the J8, they can carry the more advanced PL9 medium range missiles, which have a maximum range of 75km. This means J8's can engage in BVR engagements. Very important to note this (their radar also supports upto 70km range). You must remember this, because it means that they aren't going to be able to track and fire at an aircraft at that range, which means they'll have to be forced into a closer fighter, in order to track and shoot another plane.
Also you must note the hardpoint availability on the J7s and J8s. Since they use very old designs (circa 1960), they cannot support large hardpoint arrays. The J8's may carry a maximum of 4 missiles at any given time.
For US fighters, all are equipped with AN/APG radar suites that allow for tracking and engagement upto 300km, and AAMRAMs are capable of engaging targets upto 105km.
Essentially, in an engagement, the J7's would be destroyed before they could even get close enough to engage any sort of American aircraft, unless they bounced a group of less-armed bombers, which is almost an impossibility. The J8's would be slightly tougher, but due to the fact that they can't track another fighter until it's within engagement range, it would likely mean that an American fighter could get a few shots off before the J8 is within engagement range as well.
Therefore, both J7's and J8's would be destroyed before even getting a shot off. The J10s, 11's, SU27s and 30s would be near equal to the American fighters, therefore it would come down to skill which....Given the specs...The Americans would win.
Back from the dead, I'm afraid.
