By Greg Austin
A new report represents a major evolution in U.S. understanding of the PLA.
In a bold move, the United States China Economic and Security Review Commission(USCC) has again demonstrated its ability to operate independently from the “China threat” thesis that has bedeviled its work since its creation in 2000. Last week, the USCC released a study undertaken by RAND at its request on China’s military weaknesses, a subject that it had all too often neglected in favor of over-hyped assessments of China’s potential threat and exaggerated narratives about the country’s military intentions. The RAND report, China’s Incomplete Military Transformation: Assessing the Weaknesses of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) [PDF], has been written by a group of authors whose collective expertise and balance is unassailable.
This report, though subject to the usual disclaimer about not representing the Commission’s view, represents a major evolution in U.S. understanding of the world in which it lives and presages a more informed debate in the United States about the development path on which China is traveling. It also should contribute to a reduction in hysteria in the United States about China’s military and national power.
Read the full story at The Diplomat