ABSTRACT
The actions ordered by the senior leadership of the CCP and executed by units of the PLA and the PAP on 4 June 1989 undercut much of the good will the Chinese army had established with the people of China over the previous half century. To reestablish the supportive relationship between the population and the PLA, throughout the 1990s and into the new century the PLA undertook many tasks to rebuild its ties between the military and society, restore the army's reputation, and truly “serve the people” once again. These tasks include PLA efforts in support of society, in disaster relief operations, in domestic security operations, and in support of UN peacekeeping operations (PKOs), all of which are aimed to portray the PLA in good light to both the Chinese people and to the outside world. Even if there had been no June 4th, changes in China's economic and international status and the traditional roots of the PLA would have motivated it to perform these same actions, many of which are now included among the armed forces’ non-traditional security missions.
