China’s Thinking About The Next War

Chinese President Xi Jinping inspects PLA troops 

 Dean Cheng, Breaking Defense: How China’s Thinking About The Next War  

The PLA Navy (PLAN) and PLA Air Force (PLAAF) are now the world’s largest, but China’s military modernization is not only focused on equipment. The PRC appears to be developing new strategies and doctrines. 

The PLA began shifting in the 1990s from preparing to fight “local wars under modern, high-tech conditions” to “local wars under informationized conditions” to today’s “informationized local wars.” In each case, the Chinese phrase embodies both the scale of the conflict and the key methods by which it would be fought. The PRC’s assessment is that wars will be “local,” not global; as important, they would not be nuclear or total wars. 

At the same time, the weapons and tactics would increasingly rely on technology, not sheer mass, for their impact. “Modern, high-tech wars” would be like the first Gulf War, which saw the first large-scale use of precision-guided munitions. Wars “under informationized conditions” would see greater use made of information and communications technologies (ICT), including space-based guidance and communications systems, enhancing older weapons and platforms. “Informationized local wars,” in turn, would see the eclipsing of those older systems, with systems employing artificial intelligence, advanced sensors, and networked capabilities becoming the new standard.  

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WNU Editor: A must read for China watchers.