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1 [1] (September 26, 2023)

handle is hein.crs/govemyq0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Con gressional Research Service Informing the Iegislative debate since 1914 Updated September 26, 2023 China Primer: The People's Liberation Army (PLA) Uvervi w The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military arm of the Communist Party of China, the ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC or China). Since 2021, the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has referred to China as the pacing challenge for the U.S. military. DOD reported in November 2022 that China's leaders aim to use the PLA, in part, to restrict the United States from having a presence in China's immediate periphery and limit U.S. access in the broader Indo-Pacific region. Congress has responded in part by focusing on resourcing and conducting oversight of U.S.-China security competition. PLA Organization Established in 1927, the PLA predates the founding of the PRC in 1949. The PLA encompasses four services: the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Rocket Force, as well as two quasi-service entities, the Strategic Support Force and the Joint Logistics Support Force. The Communist Party oversees these forces through its Central Military Commission (CMC), which serves some of the same functions as the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. The CMC also oversees a paramilitary force, the People's Armed Police (which includes the China Coast Guard), and China's militia forces. Xi Jinping, who serves concurrently as Communist Party general secretary and PRC president, has chaired the CMC since 2012. In 2015, Xi launched the most ambitious reform and reorganization of the PLA since the 1950s. This overhaul likely had two overarching objectives: (1) reshaping and improving the PLA's structure to enable joint operations among the services; and (2) ensuring PLA loyalty to the Party and Xi. The PLA continues to fine-tune and institutionalize these changes. Opacity surrounding high-level personnel changes has led some observers to raise questions about political cohesion and the status of anti-corruption efforts in the PLA. In the summer of 2023, Xi removed the top two officials in charge of the PLA Rocket Force. CMC member Li Shangfu, who serves concurrently as State Councilor for defense affairs and Minister of Defense, had not been seen in public for several weeks as of late September 2023. U.S. officials reportedly assess that Li is under investigation. China's Militar Strateg and Goals The stated goal of China's national defense policy is to safeguard the country's sovereignty, security, and development interests. The concept of active defense- the defining characteristic of PRC military strategy since 1949-prescribes how China can use defensive and offensive operations and tactics to achieve these goals in the face of a militarily superior adversary. Authoritative PRC sources indicate China's military strategy focuses primarily on preparing for a conflict involving the United States over Taiwan-the self-ruled island of 23 million people off the coast of mainland China over which the PRC claims sovereignty. (See CRS In Focus IF12481, Taiwan: Defense and Military Issues, for a discussion of Taiwan's security.) The PLA also focuses on securing and defending China's territorial claims over disputed areas in the South China Sea and East China Sea, and along the China-India border. As China's economic and diplomatic interests have expanded beyond its immediate periphery, PRC leaders have tasked the PLA with global missions such as distant sea lane protection and United Nations peacekeeping operations. The PLA established its sole overseas military base in Djibouti in 2017. According to DOD, the PRC may be considering the establishment of multiple new military bases around the world. PLA Modernization and Key Capabities Since 1978, China has engaged in a sustained and broad effort to transform the PLA from an infantry-heavy, low- technology, ground forces-centric military into a leaner, more networked, high-technology force with an emphasis on joint operations and power projection. Xi has set the goal of transforming the PLA into a world-class force by 2049, the 100th anniversary of the PRC's founding and the year by which Xi has stated he aims to achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. A guiding principle of PLA modernization and strategy since the mid-2000s has been the concept of informatization, or the application of advanced information technology across all aspects of warfare. More recently, China's leaders also have called for the intelligentization of the PLA, reflecting widely-held expectations that artificial intelligence and related technologies will have a transformational effect on warfare. The PLA is expanding its operational reach, strengthening its ability to conduct joint operations, and fielding increasingly modern weapons systems. Key features of PLA modernization include: * An approximately 340-ship navy that includes modern and advanced platforms such as submarines, aircraft carriers, and large multi-mission surface vessels, advancing the PLA's ability to conduct naval combat operations in its immediate periphery and sustained non- combat operations further afield. * Air forces increasingly capable of conducting joint and over-water missions, featuring a fighter fleet with several hundred fourth-generation fighter aircraft and growing numbers of fifth-generation fighters. (China