ABSTRACT
Over the first six months of 2005, US military and civilian officials became increasingly vocal about the pace and scope of China’s modernization of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Such concerns were spelled out explicitly in the Pentagon’s annual report on the Chinese military:
China does not now face a direct threat from another nation. Yet it continues to invest heavily in its military, particularly in programs designed to improve power projection. The pace and scope of China’s military build-up are, already, such as to put regional military balances at risk. Current trends in China’s military modernization could provide China with a force capable of prosecuting a range of military operations in Asia – well beyond Taiwan – potentially posing a credible threat to modern militaries operating in the region.1
