The Chinese Army After Mao

This is the first systematic study of modern China's military campaigns and the actual fighting conducted by the People's Liberation Army since the founding of the People's Republic. It provides a general overview of the evolution of PLA military doctrine, and then focuses on major combat episodes from the civil war with the Nationalists to the last significant combat in Vietnam in 1979, in addition to navy and air operations through 1999. In contrast to the many works on the specifics and hardware of China's military modernization, this book discusses such topics as military planning, command, and control; fighting and politics; combat tactics and performance; technological catch-up and doctrinal flexibility; the role of Mao Zedong; scale and typologies of fighting; and deterrence. The contributors include scholars from Mainland China, Taiwan, and the United States, who draw from a wealth of fresh archival sources.

Since the establishment of the Red Army in 1927, China's military has responded to profound changes in Chinese society, particularly its domestic politics, shifting economy, and evolving threat perceptions. Recently tensions between China and Taiwan and other east Asian nations have aroused great interest in the extraordinary transformation and new capabilities of the Chinese army. In A History of the Modern Chinese Army, Xiaobing Li, a former member of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), provides a comprehensive examination of the PLA from the Cold War to the beginning of the twenty-first century that highlights the military's central function in modern Chinese society. In the 1940s, the Chinese army was in its infancy, and many soldiers were rural conscripts and volunteers who had received little formal schooling. The Chinese military rapidly increased its mobility and weapon strength, and the Korean War and Cold War offered intense combat experience that not only allowed soldiers to hone their fighting techniques but also helped China to develop military tactics tailored to the surrounding countries whose armies posed the most immediate threats. Yet even in the 1970s, the completion of a middle school education (nine years) was considered above-average, and only 4 percent of the 224 top Chinese generals had any college credit hours. However, in 1995 the high command began to institute massive reforms to transform the PLA from a labor-intensive force into a technology-intensive army. Continually seeking more urban conscripts and emphasizing higher education, the PLA Reserve Officer Training and Selection program recruited students from across the nation. These reservists would become commissioned officers upon graduation, and they majored in atomic physics, computer science, and electrical engineering. Grounding the text in previously unreleased official Chinese government and military records as well as the personal testimonies of more than two hundred PLA soldiers, Li charts the development of China's armed forces against the backdrop of Chinese society, cultural traditions, political history, and recent technological advancements. A History of the Modern Chinese Army links China's military modernization to the country's growing international and economic power and provides a unique perspective on China's esttablishment and maintenance of one of the world's most advanced military forces.

Mao Tse-tung has dominated the Chinese domestic scene for well over four decades now. Ever since the 1935 Tsunyi Conference, he has been successful in asserting his leadership over the Chinese Communist Party and the People's Liberation Army-the two main loci of power within China. However, in the process, Mao has had to face many a challenge to his authority. At times, it appeared as if the reins of control over the Party and the PLA were slipping out of his hands and that. the country was relapsing into a period of warlordism, or head-ing towards army dictatorship or rule by a Party hierarchy, not loyal to Mao and his dogma. But Chairman Mao has somehow managed to retain his supremacy over the major components of the Chinese political system by deposing or liquidating all those who dared usurp his throne. Mao's successors are unlikely to have either the charismatic personality or the stature of the great helmsman. Therefore, what follows after Mao is a matter of great significance and acute concern for both the Chinese people and the world at large.

To understand the Chinese military, and thereby the dynamics of China’s peacetime army, one must understand its organizational system. To that end, Harvey Nelsen has written a book that examines in detail the entire organization of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Dr. Nelsen studies the PLA from top to bottom. Throughout, he challenges the widely held theory that military politics in China are largely determined by personal relations among officers and that the PLA is more a civic-action army than are most military organizations. Important as a purely military study, this book is valuable also for the light it sheds on the whole of Chinese bureaucratic politics. This second edition has been revised to reflect changes that have occurred since the death of Chairman Mao as well as to incorporate new information about the Chinese military and political system during Mao’s reign.

A comprehensive annotated bibliography dealing with the Chinese Red Army from its beginnings in the 1927 Nanchang uprising to 1964. It includes over 600 items, chiefly books, pamphlets and articles from military and scholarly journals. It also includes some mimeographed papers and unpublished manuscripts which, despite their limited circulation, are noteworthy in a field where monographic studies are still rare. It covers works in Chinese, Japanese, English, Russian, French and German. Includes a foreword by John M. H. Lindbeck.