China’s military spending rose by 83 percent in real terms between 2009 and 2018.China’s leader, Xi Jinping has stated that his “Chinese Dream” includes a “dream of a strongarmed forces” that involves “modernizing” the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) by 2035 andmaking it “world-class,” in other words moving ahead of the US military might.1 As noted inthe recent “Economist” article, Mr. Xi has done more in the past three years to reform the PLAthan any other Chinese leader since Deng Xiaoping. In February 2016 Mr. Xi replaced the sevenmilitary regions with five “theatres,” each with a single commander. Each of these “theatres”would consist in co-ordinating the military objectives of the army, navy and the air force.2 Twoother commands were created. Strategic Support Force was meant to counter UScommunications, satellites, computer networks and cyber activities and was established in 2015.Mr. Xi also established the PLA Rocket Force (PLARF) to attack US bases and USN navalaircraft carriers in the same year having a strength of around 175,000 personnel.
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