By Ankit Panda
The PLA may be shifting its focus to the seas, but Taiwan is still its primary war-fighting scenario.
Yesterday, China’s State Council Information Office released a white paper on “Chinese Military Strategy” — a rarity for the People’s Republic. This document is notable for several reasons, as commentators both here at The Diplomat and elsewhere have already highlighted. It confirms what U.S. analysts have been saying for some time: Beijing is growing bigger and bolder with its military strategy. China envisions itself as a global player, and is in the process of shifting its strategic core from its land-based troops to its navy. Furthermore, Beijing notes that it won’t initiate a war, but it will strike back if attacked (a modern restatement of Mao’s “active defense” doctrine). In a nutshell, the first part of Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang’s famous statement — that China “[has] neither the ability nor the intent to challenge the United States” — no longer applies. The second part — intent — remains an open question.
Of course, the timing of this white paper will skew readings, especially in the West and in Southeast Asia. In recent months, all eyes have been on China’s increasing assertiveness in the South China Sea. China is building islands and building facilities, including airstrips, on those islands with a scope and pace unprecedented in the region. In recent weeks, the United States has said that it will begin to challenge the legitimacy of China’s behavior and send ships and planes to assert that despite Beijing’s island building, the sovereignty of these various reefs and islands remains indeterminate.
Read the full story at The Diplomat