ABSTRACT
Non-traditional issues, including terrorism, economics, health, trade security, access to resources and energy, and trans-national crime, have assumed a higher level of priority. China conducted its last atmospheric nuclear test in 1980, and its last underground nuclear test was completed in July 1996 as China began to more closely adhere to international non-proliferation and testing protocols. There are two reasons for the significant changes in China’s strategic thinking. First, the end of the cold war between the United States, the USSR, and their respective allies, which dominated the twentieth century, muted the possibility of direct state-to-state conflict with Beijing’s then-rivals, including the USSR, with which it had severed all political ties in the 1960s and then fought a border conflict in 1969. Second, China’s security challenges have moved well beyond traditional concerns, becoming much more multifaceted and now include issues such as border and maritime security.
