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Description
Over the past decade, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has followed two general development trajectories. The primary focus has been on deterring adversaries and building the capability to fight high-intensity, short-duration wars around China’s periphery—what the PLA often refers to as “informationized local wars.” This has included acquisition of advanced combat capabilities, supported by progress in doctrine, training, logistics, and command and control (C2). A central theme has been strengthening the PLA’s ability to conduct joint operations, thus correcting problems of ground force dominance and poor interservice cooperation. A secondary focus has been on nontraditional security operations, such as peacekeeping, maritime law enforcement, and humanitarian assistance/disaster relief (HA/DR). Such missions, usually involving only a single service, have been conducted within the region and farther from China’s shores, reflecting the expansion of Chinese interests and the growing presence of Chinese citizens outside East Asia.
Publication Date
5-2021
Publisher
National Defense University Press
City
Washington, DC
Recommended Citation
Wuthnow, Joel; Saunders, Phillip C.; and McCaslin, Ian Burns, "PLA Overseas Operations in 2035: Inching Toward a Global Combat Capability" (2021). Strategic Forums. 3.
https://digitalcommons.ndu.edu/strategic-forums/3