ABSTRACT
Rapprochement between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the United States began in 1971 because of a common strategic view regarding the Soviet Union. Since then there has been continuing speculation on the possibility of concrete cooperation in the military sphere. The PRC’s navy is mainly a coastal defense force. Its guided missile patrol boats, though numerous, are vulnerable to electronic countermeasures, and its submarines, to antisubmarine warfare. Chinese warships and submarines rarely venture beyond the PRC’s territorial waters. The Chinese military as currently constituted is thus best suited to the defense of the PRC’s own territory. China insists it is a peace-loving country, and the PRC media have spoken of military strategy in defensive terms only. Officially, the military theories of the late Mao Zedong and specifically his concept of people’s war—continue to be the cornerstone of Chinese doctrine.
