Interpreting China S Military Power

China's continuing rapid economic growth and expanding involvement in global affairs pose major implications for the power structure of the international system. To more accurately and fully assess the significance of China's emergence for the United States and the global community, it is necessary to gain a more complete understanding of Chinese security thought and behavior. This study addresses such questions as: What are China's most fundamental national security objectives? How has the Chinese state employed force and diplomacy in the pursuit of these objectives over the centuries? What security strategy does China pursue today and how will it evolve in the future? The study asserts that Chinese history, the behavior of earlier rising powers, and the basic structure and logic of international power relations all suggest that, although a strong China will likely become more assertive globally, this possibility is unlikely to emerge before 2015-2020 at the earliest. To handle this situation, the study argues that the United States should adopt a policy of realistic engagement with China that combines efforts to pursue cooperation whenever possible; to prevent, if necessary, the acquisition by China of capabilities that would threaten America's core national security interests; and to remain prepared to cope with the consequences of a more assertive China.

Although inter-state tensions have generally been easing after the Cold War, military power remains a dominant factor in Asian regional politics. As China, operating the world's largest army, grows stronger, there are ongoing debates over the implications for Asia's regional security. This book argues that it is imperative to look beyond the empirical observations and conventional materialist reading of Chinese military development to understand its dynamics and directions in doctrinal terms and put it in a readiness context for evaluation. Military doctrine has long been under-studied and is often treated as a subject separate from force development. But, as this study contends, this factor is necessary for interpreting the making and purposes of China's military power because it forms the intellectual foundation of military structural and hardware development. When loaded with political rhetoric, it also communicates to us the intended uses of the military power. The role of doctrine is reinforced in the context of military readiness, which defines what for and how the army is getting ready. Force development is evaluated in structural, operational and directional terms. The importance of this analytical framework based on military doctrine and readiness is demonstrated in a survey of the evolutionof Chinese military doctrine and force development. As the Chinese People's Liberation Army has continued to adjust its military structure and operation to follow the doctrinal lead, its switches between the doctines of local war and total war have seen corresponding changes to the emphasis between operational and structural readiness.

Features a directory of Web sites about Chinese military policy and capabilities, compiled by the U.S. Commonwealth Institute. Links to commentary, military analyses, and information on political and economic conditions in China.

This is an explosive and topical book about the one threat that is exercising the minds of security planners the world over - the looming threat from a rising and increasingly assertive China. China is emerging as a global superpower and a regional hegemon. Its economy that grew at a scorching, double-digit pace for two decades is now slowing down. What does the current phase of Chinese aggression against all its neighbours signify? Will China engage in conflict? if so when and where could that conflict occur? This book is a structured net assessment of China's military power by a reputed and well-known Indian military analyst. The growth of Chinese military power has been examined with emphasis on how it primarily affects India. The book analyses how India must respond. It has an exhaustively researched section on how the Chinese PLA has performed in actual combat since 1949, and a detailed analysis of the evolution of China's military doctrines and strategic culture. With this as a backdrop, there is a detailed chapter each on the structure and modernisation of the PLA, the PLAN and PLAAF. The most dangerous for India is the exponential growth in the Chinese Airpower (PLAAF). China has already changed Asia's balance of power. The Gulf War in 1990 had shown to China how backward it was in terms of military technology and weaponry. A radical transformation in Chinese military thought and practice led to a transformation towards introduction and absorption of latest technology. This has been accompanied by a ruthless reduction in manpower. The dynamic unleashed by the Chinese has prompted the biggest military buildup in Asia since World War II. China's nuclear force structure and employment doctrines as well as its military industrial complex are examined and the strength and Chinese weaknesses underlined. The crux of this book lies in the concluding chapters on Alternative Economic and Military Futures for China. Whether China will engage in conflict is not so much a question of "if" but "when." It will largely be dictated by the performance of the Chinese economy. China will initiate a conflict when it feels its Comprehensive National Power (CNP) has become sufficiently strong in relative terms. This could well happen by the middle of the next decade, i.e. 2025. This book is a must read for military professionals and laymen alike.

China's strides towards the creation of a formidable military posture, backed by strong economic growth, demonstrate a resolve to assert its claim towards becoming an Asian superpower. By opting to showcase its military prowess to the world, the Chinese armed forces have signalled that they have come a long way from what was essentially a rustic and bucolic 'Red Army' that waged a 'People's War' six decades ago. The modernisation programme undertaken by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) can be interpreted as the foundation of deterrence to attain the objectives of military strategy. Today, the Chinese armed forces are preparing to fight small-scale, high-intensity, regional combat and military operations in the future. At the same time, China seeks to deter or prevent their outbreak decisively through the possession of an adequate deterrent force and the determination to use that force. Robust military modernisation of the PLA represents a contrasting facet to the tall claims made by China, in so far as its 'peaceful rise' campaign is concerned. It is difficult to reconcile these rather opposing, while equally reinforcing, ideas. As a consequence, the entire debate on the impending "China threat" (Zhongguo weixie) theory has progressively gained significance within the Asian continent and beyond.

This collection discusses China's contemporary national and international identity as evidenced in its geopolitical impact on the countries in its direct periphery and its functioning in organizations of global governance. This contemporary identity is assessed against the background of the country's Confucian and nationalist history.