ABSTRACT
Introduction At the turn of the twenty-first century, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is on the cusp of revolutionary changes in its global and regional strategic goals and capabilities. Although strategic modernization is several decades away from nearparity with powers such as the United States, China’s party and military leaders have already begun the process of developing new defense and foreign policy paradigms. China’s goal is to become the premier regional military power by 2015 and to be a global military power by 2050. In order for these goals to reach fruition, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has aggressively pursued a program of far-reaching reforms of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) since the 1990s.
