ABSTRACT
There is no convenient distillation of People’s Republic of China (PRC) views or a primer on Chinese strategic thought; either would tend to "freeze" the analysis of events at a given moment in time, thereby belying the dynamic and at times unexpected logic of strategic analysis. Since the PRC’s experiences in the diplomatic and security arenas over the past thirty years have so often been reactive rather initiatory, few attempts have been made to consider the premises and purposes underlying China’s application of military power. Military power in its numerous dimensions has had a recurring and even pivotal influence on the development of modern China; it was central to China's subjugation in the nineteenth century, and was equally critical to China's revolution and resurgence in the twentieth century. The test in the 1980s, therefore, will be for China to define an appropriate purpose or role for modern arms.
