ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to analyze the impacton the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and on the United States of China's recent trend in foreign arms acquisitions. It examines the issues surrounding China's access to foreign military technology in the current period with a focus on modernization trends. The chapter also examines current and potential trends in PLA modernization based on an assessment of the foreign weapon systems and technologies China has or could acquire in the near future. Another major factor was the likely realization that China's arms industries could not produce equipment to match that of the United States, or that which increasingly was going to wealthy Asian states and Taiwan. These include purchases from Russia of combat aircraft, surface-to-air missile (SAM), conventional submarines, missile destroyers, and anti-submarine helicopters. New ballistic, cruise, and anti-missile systems are being developed. China is investing heavily in advanced guidance systems and satellites to improve missile accuracy.
