How will China use its increasing military capabilities in the future?
China faces a complicated security environment with a wide range of
internal and external threats. Rapidly expanding international interests
are creating demands for the People's Liberation Army (PLA) to conduct
new missions ranging from protecting Chinese shipping from Somali
pirates to evacuating citizens from Libya. The most recent Chinese
defense white paper states that the armed forces must "make serious
preparations to cope with the most complex and difficult scenarios . . .
so as to ensure proper responses . . . at any time and under any
circumstances." Based on a conference co-sponsored by Taiwan's Council
of Advanced Policy Studies, RAND, Carnegie Endowment for International
Peace, and National Defense University, The People's Liberation Army and
Contingency Planning in China brings together leading experts from the
United States and Taiwan to examine how the PLA prepares for a range of
domestic, border, and maritime...