People's Republic of China

Military

Main article: People's Liberation Army

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The PRC maintains the largest standing army in the world, a fact that leads many humans rights watch agencies to question any possible suggestion that they might be non belligerent, although there is a general belief both within the PLA and among outside observers that numbers are of limited usefulness in estimating the power of a military. The People's Liberation Army (PLA) includes the PRC's navy and air force. The PLA's official budget for 2005 is $30 billion, but this does not include money used for foreign weapons purchases, military-related R&D, or the paramilitary PAP, and critics label it a deliberately misleading low estimate. A recent RAND study estimates that the total military spending of the PRC is 1.4?1.7 times as large as the official military budget.

Related Topics:
Army - PRC's navy - Air force - PAP - RAND

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By some estimates of true spending, the PRC's military spending, approximately $56 billion, is third after the US's of over $400 billion and Russia. The PRC, despite possession of nuclear weapons and delivery systems, is widely seen both within and outside of China as having only limited ability to project military power beyond its borders and is not generally considered to be a true superpower, although it is widely seen as a major regional power. This is due to the limited effectiveness of its navy (lack of aircraft carriers) and air force (much less flight training time, older planes). Recently, however, the PRC has purchased an aircraft carrier from Russia, but it was destroyed before China could receive it. Many watch agencies consider this a good thing. The amount of time and money could considerably distract from the PRC investment in other, more important, military ventures. Some people believe that rather than rebuilding this aircraft carrier, the PRC will use it as a template to build more modern aircraft carriers.

Related Topics:
Nuclear weapon - Superpower - Regional power

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The PRC has been intensively rearming its military forces in preparation for a showdown with the U.S. over Taiwan. The PRC has been actively purchasing state of the art fighters such as Su-27, Su-30 and has also been producing its own relatively modern fighters. A comprehensive effort is also been undertaken to modernise the Air defence after the effects of Air superiority in Iraq were observed by the PRC military. The Air defence revolves around the ultra modern S-300 Surface to Air missile which is objectively considered the best system in terms of intercepting aircraft in the world. The PRC is also rapidly improving and ugrading its armoured forces by upgrading their electronics and targeting capabilities. The PRC military represents the only serious conventional threat to the military of the U.S. and with every passing year the PRC comes closer to constraining the options of the U.S. in the Orient.

Related Topics:
Su-27 - Su-30

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The PLA's image was severely damaged by the fact the army killed hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of peaceful demonstrators in June of 1989 in Beijing (see Tiananmen Square protests of 1989).

Related Topics:
PLA - Tiananmen Square protests of 1989

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