China Primer: The People's Liberation Army (PLA)

Abstract

The two-million-strong People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military arm of the People's Republic of Chinas (PRC's) ruling Communist Party. The Trump Administration identified strategic competition with China and Russia as "the primary concern in U.S. national security" in 2018 and U.S. defense officials have since said that China is the U.S. Department of Defense's (DOD's) top priority. According to a 2020 DOD report, the PLA has "already achieved parity with - or even exceeded - the United States" in several areas in which it has focused its military modernization efforts and is strengthening its ability to "counter an intervention by an adversary in the Indo-Pacific region and project power globally." See also IF11712 on U.S.-China Military-to-Military Relations.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 05, 2021
Accession Number
AD1148926

Entities

People

  • Caitlin Campbell

Organizations

  • Library of Congress

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Counter WMD
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Space
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Advanced Manufacturing
  • Air Force
  • Air Forces (Foreign)
  • Ballistic Missiles
  • Command And Control
  • Congress
  • Department Of Defense
  • Fighter Aircraft
  • Governments
  • Logistics
  • Logistics Support
  • Military Capabilities
  • Military Forces (Foreign)
  • Military Operations
  • Military Strategy
  • National Security
  • Security
  • Supply Chain
  • United States
  • United States Government
  • Warfare

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Asian Economic Studies
  • Life Cycle Cost Analysis