China military strategy eyes stability, not expansion

Subject

China's military strategy.

Significance

On 26 May, China released a 'Military Strategy'. It lays out in public an agenda for transforming China's military power while favouring integration with the global economy ahead of chauvinistic impulses. China's neighbours and the United States will view the new ambition for "open seas" naval capability with suspicion and will want to see what the "balance between rights protection and stability maintenance" means in practice.

Impacts

• The PLA will see the document both as an inspiring master plan and a rebuke of past inadequacies.
• Political leaders are forcing the PLA to abandon traditional modes of operating in order to respond flexibly to more diverse scenarios.
• There are new directions in cyber military readiness, naval operations and inter-theatre mobility.
• The Party has signalled a firmer leadership in military affairs, to align the PLA's activities better with national security priorities.
• The underlying message that China must become a cyber power will affect international participation in China's ICT sector.