The People's Liberation Army-Navy: Taiwan...and Beyond?
Abstract
Accompanying the People's Republic of China's (PRC) emergence as a global economic and diplomatic power has been the concurrent phenomenon of its rapid military modernization. This confluence has engendered U.S. policy concerns. If the PRC continues with its current trend of military modernization, its regional military influence could at some point potentially rival or surpass that of the United States. There seems to be a consensus in the literature that China's military modernization efforts are motivated by a possible confrontation with the United States over China's attempts to reintegrate Taiwan. Countering a U.S. intervention in such a conflict functions as the primary driver behind the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) military modernization. There also is a modicum of consensus that the PRC's burgeoning global stature has prompted the PLA to pursue power projection endeavors such as sea lines of communication (SLOC) defense and protection. Due to the intrinsic value of naval forces toward these goals, the People's Liberation Army-Navy (PLAN) functions as a sufficient microcosm through which to identify broad PLA intentions. This thesis objectively surveys the PLAN's modernization to determine the extent of the balance between the PRC's military problem sets of Taiwan and SLOC protection as impetus for the PLAN's modern mission paradigm.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2011
- Accession Number
- ADA556269
Entities
People
- James B. Cole
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School