Chinese build a high-tech army within an army
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Chinese build a high-tech army within an army
By Robert Marquand, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
Thu Nov 17, 3:00 AM ET
BEIJING - Shi Jin wears a jean jacket, has razor-cropped hair, and seems gravely earnest. An officer in the People's Liberation Army, he was wooed from a Beijing vocational college three years ago by recruiters who talked up his technical aptitude - and his patriotism.
In the past decade, China has undergone two military high-tech reforms designed to give the country a modern fighting force. To sustain that progress, it must attract many more gung-ho young engineers like Shi, who spends most of his time working on an "informational" revolution that planners hope will one day allow them to "see" a battlefield with the same depth as the US military. "I will not do any direct fighting if there is a war, but I am contributing on the technical side," he says. "We are all needed in the new Army."
China's desire, often stated, is to be a great nation. Many in Beijing feel that the country's natural right is to be the major power in Asia. But China has rarely been given high marks in global military annals. It has a "brown water" Navy that doesn't navigate open seas. It can't project power by sending forces abroad. It has relied on states like Russia for jet fighters, cruise missiles, and other advanced weapons.
Yet it now appears China is methodically changing this equation.
In a surprisingly short time, China has accomplished two feats. One, it has focused its energy and wealth on creating an army within an army. It has devoted huge amounts of capital to create a small high-tech army within its old 2.2 million-member rifle and shoe-leather force.
The specialty of this modern force, about 15 percent of the PLA, is to conduct lightning attacks on smaller foes, using an all-out missile attack designed to paralyze, and a modern sea and air attack coordinated by high-tech communications. In other words, this new modern force is designed to attack Taiwan.
Second, China has taken painful but successful steps to create a "defense industrial base," or weapons-building capability. The PLA has improved its factory quality control and its ability to adapt foreign technology. It is bringing an indigenous small-wing F-10 fighter off the production line, and it is moving rapidly toward a "blue water" Navy with ships built in China.
Indeed, the past three years have yielded the impressive fruits of a modernization campaign started in the late 1990s: A nuclear attack submarine, the 093, launches in months; presumably it will be capable one day of firing satellite-guided cruise missiles that can blast a cruiser or carrier. China now has more accurate ICBMS, a host of land- and sea-based cruise missiles, and about 400 Su-27 and Su-30 Russian fighter jets it didn't have before.
"Do the old shibboleths still apply - that the Chinese defense industry is backward, poor, and low-quality?" asks Evan Medeiros, an analyst with the RAND Corp. in Washington, D.C.
"No," he says. "It seems China has turned the corner.... For the first time in 20 years, the PLA has adopted reforms that make sense. They adopted, and implemented, and are really learning quickly." Medeiros is lead author of a 300-page RAND study, "New Directions for China's Defense Industry," released this month.
"The PLA has undergone a revolution in communications," says James Mulvenon, of the Center for Intelligence Research and Analysis in Washington, D.C. "They have gone from dirt to wireless in a generation."
Taking China's power seriously
Such progress is catching attention, respect, and concern in the Pentagon. At Honolulu's US Pacific Command, and in military circles in Taiwan, Guam, and Tokyo, it is universally accepted that China is on its way to becoming a military challenge in Asia. US planners no longer talk dismissively of China's power or, potentially, its reach. In a key shift, US ability to quickly and easily defend Taiwan in an attack is no longer a given. Chinese cruise missiles are creating a more lethal environment in the Taiwan Straits.
This summer, Gen. Zhu Chenghu, dean of China's National Defense University, raised the subject of weapons of mass destruction, which China rarely mentions, in connection with Taiwan. Should US forces aid Taiwan in a war, he told bewildered US visitors, "Americans will have to be prepared that hundreds ... of cities will be destroyed by Chinese" nuclear weapons.
Coming to Taiwan's rescue "used to be a political decision," says Denny Roy, an expert on cross-straits relations at the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies (APCSS) in Honolulu. "Now it is a political and a military decision."
Yet while China may have turned a corner, tomorrow's Monitor story looks at how China's military prowess runs far short of the doomsday trend lines. China's military has not "leapfrogged" into modern warfighting in the way many alarmists in the US often loudly suggest.
Perceptions about a "China threat" have taken several sharp turns in the past 24 months. One came in 2004, as it appeared Beijing was making progress on not one but three submarine programs, including the 093. A Sovremenny class destroyer, one of four new Chinese-made destroyers appeared out of the blue. China was laying fiber-optic cable around the country; it was developing a capability at the heart of high-tech warfare called C4ISR (the interlocking sets of missile targeting and tracking known as command, control, communications, computers, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance).
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I dun think there's much cause for concern for Singapore as we have no quarrels with China. The other ASEAN countries might have some bickering to do with the contentious Spratly islands but I think their (PLA) main focus is solely across the Straits of Taiwan and the Sea of Japan.
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That's not the point.Originally posted by Obersturmfuhrer:I dun think there's much cause for concern for Singapore as we have no quarrels with China. The other ASEAN countries might have some bickering to do with the contentious Spratly islands but I think their (PLA) main focus is solely across the Straits of Taiwan and the Sea of Japan.
Playing the "china threat" game is sexy, it's like having the lastest cellphone model and the newest ringtone. It's cool to be "anti-china" because the big daddy sees china as a threat.
Also aligning and associating with the american hawks make you feel like you are "one of them", with the happy thought that "my friend is the biggest badass on the block, so I am very important too", although most people in washington can't even point out singapore on the map and they never knew they had a friend like you. -
I would beg to differ regarding the Washington point.Originally posted by YaoRockets:That's not the point.
Playing the "china threat" game is sexy, it's like having the lastest cellphone model and the newest ringtone. It's cool to be "anti-china" because the big daddy sees china as a threat.
Also aligning and associating with the american hawks make you feel like you are "one of them", with the happy thought that "my friend is the biggest badass on the block, so I am very important too", although most people in washington can't even point out singapore on the map and they never knew they had a friend like you. -
hey, guys, I hope more discussions are military orientated. Restrain from what should discussed in speakerÂ’s corner.
Yes, no doubt, the defense industry is booming in PRC in coordination with their booming economy. Should this be an alert? I hardly think so, the leader of PRC is aware enough their fragile defense industries are still a far cry from those in US of A. What they currently are doing now is more on accumulations on knowledge, manufacturing small batches of new weaponry for demo and build up the database. And keep pace not far behind from the lonely “world police” nation. But even doing so, there are already few nations left in earth can do the same, that’s why the Yankees are so alert. -
just a thought...
they are already very important economically... their trade surplus makes the americans fart dust and now, their military is being brought up to scratch...
more importantly, they seem to have a more realistic understanding of how to excercise power without pissing off half the world...
do we still want to be so closely aligned with washington? -
we are closely aligned with the states because of regional politics ... why do you suppose we allow US bases in sembawang, air-craft carrier docks in changi, and fighter jets at payar lebar ? ....Originally posted by CX:just a thought...
they are already very important economically... their trade surplus makes the americans fart dust and now, their military is being brought up to scratch...
more importantly, they seem to have a more realistic understanding of how to excercise power without pissing off half the world...
do we still want to be so closely aligned with washington?
simple .... because having uncle sam's stuff and people here is one of the best security gurantees that we have .... you think any country to our north and south would dare take any action with those chaps around ? .... if war breaks out, a few dead US soldiers in Singapore would certainly raise a big big stink eh .... that's why we would take on the additional risk of some mad terrorist targetting them (and us) ... -
Overconfident, isnÂ’t it?Originally posted by Fatum:....
simple .... because having uncle sam's stuff and people here is one of the best security gurantees that we have .... you think any country to our north and south would dare take any action with those chaps around ? .... if war breaks out, a few dead US soldiers in Singapore would certainly raise a big big stink eh .... that's why we would take on the additional risk of some mad terrorist targetting them (and us) ...
U must be glad to know how many thousands US soldiers been killed in Korean war, and how many fighter planes been brought down by the ground fire in the Vietnam war. U think Vietnam or North korea can afford not to losing the war to the mighty US of A alone? Who helped in the outcome? Yes, a country to ur North did this, Did Yankees dropped a single bomb to that countryÂ’s territory during the Korea or Vietnam war? No. Who suffers the most, the people on the ground whom US promised to protect or liberate. Not Yankees not that countryÂ’s people -
We share more in common with America than China in many ways..she is not a mature power yet.Originally posted by CX:just a thought...
they are already very important economically... their trade surplus makes the americans fart dust and now, their military is being brought up to scratch...
more importantly, they seem to have a more realistic understanding of how to excercise power without pissing off half the world...
do we still want to be so closely aligned with washington?
And I would not want PLAN ships at Changi Naval Base for as long as China doesn't renounce the use of force over Taiwan, regardless of what she spurts out in excuses. -
I live and work in Shanghai.
Those of you - ethnic Chinese Singaporeans - who feels you have more in common with Americans than with Chinese, might have a slight change of mind after you have lived in both countries.
I like Americans, they are friendly and chatty. And yes, I do feel I have a lot in common with them. However, not all Americans feel that way about Singaporeans.
People in China, I must admit, have a long way to go to improve their image. However, once you go beyond the rough manners, the language, and many other small details, we basically share the same cultural identity.
There are many young Chinese people whom are as cosmopolitan, well-schooled and well-educated as you can get. It's not as bad as some make it out to be.
Why is China being big and powerful necessarily a bad thing? The SG government had been shrewdly playing diplomacy to both sides for decades. China sees us more as an ally than as an enemy even though our troops train in Taiwan and US ships dock here.
The reason they have not protested about SG troops in Taiwan must surely be becos SG government had quietly reassured the Chinese government of non-hostile intentions and China agreed to turn a blind eye. China intel is good so they must definitely know of the presence of SG troops in Taiwan.
So if China is the big brother in Asia, we don't stand to lose out necessarily. We are - most of us - after all, Chinese. -
so the delusion of grandeur and self-importance runs deeper than i thought.Originally posted by LazerLordz:I would beg to differ regarding the Washington point.
US makes friend not according to who's the best ass kisser, which they have no shortage of. US makes friends according to its national interests and strategic needs.
Saddam was once Uncle Sam's best buddy, now he's washing his own shorts in a US run jail.
Aligning with Washington is one thing and there is nothing wrong with that, but being proactively anti-china is just foolish; Kissing American butt hurts nobody except your own self-esteem, but being a willing pawn in an anti-china game will not pay. -
Our main common interest with the US was in the fight against communism and now against global terrorism. Other than that, there are probably more differences than things common.Originally posted by LazerLordz:We share more in common with America than China in many ways..she is not a mature power yet.
And I would not want PLAN ships at Changi Naval Base for as long as China doesn't renounce the use of force over Taiwan, regardless of what she spurts out in excuses.
We welcome the US, AND any other navies in our Changi Naval Base, including PLAN and the Indian Navy; and the US presence here in Asia has always been a force to balance the rising powers in the region, the russian, chinese, indian.....BUT, we never, and should never align ourselves with the US against any regional power! it is not to the interest of singapore.
the Taiwan issue remains a China domestic issue and it is none of our business unless you think singapore is part of china and we are also "CHINESE"!
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Originally posted by Lazylordz:yo
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95 rifle LC1-I.grenade launcher 0.80kg, range 400m,35mm grenade and anti-armoured grenade.more images/Any more info -
Hmm...a believer of Revelation 9:16Originally posted by LazerLordz:Chinese build a high-tech army within an army
By Robert Marquand, Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
Thu Nov 17, 3:00 AM ET -
The Chinese FC-1, a potential competitor in the international market of lightweight fighter. Besides Pakistan (which had ordered 150 units and rename it as JF-17 "Thunder" , Malaysia may also be interested.
So the question now is when Chinese military technology powess can equal or even exceed that of the US in the arms market, not just on the battlefield itself.
Just look at her space program and one can figure out the rate that they are improving.
I give them less than 20 yrs to domainat the arms market. -
What? But you would want US Navy ships at Changi Naval Base eventhough they invade other countries openly at free will, whatever the excuse (guess what, Iraq didn't have WMD after all)?Originally posted by LazerLordz:And I would not want PLAN ships at Changi Naval Base for as long as China doesn't renounce the use of force over Taiwan, regardless of what she spurts out in excuses.
You are concerned that China is not renouncing the use of force on Taiwan, but yet you are okay with the fact that USA ALREADY invades scores of other countries throughout the century?
Grow out of your dream land in Hollywood "USA IS GOOD GUY" movies already! -
America may not be the best and most moral nation on Earth but which other nation can guarantee the status quo doesn't change?America may have invaded other nations , but it did not seek unbridled aggression against any democratically elected nation that is NOT in chaos.Originally posted by zhaozhilong:What? But you would want US Navy ships at Changi Naval Base eventhough they invade other countries openly at free will, whatever the excuse (guess what, Iraq didn't have WMD after all)?
You are concerned that China is not renouncing the use of force on Taiwan, but yet you are okay with the fact that USA ALREADY invades scores of other countries throughout the century?
Grow out of your dream land in Hollywood "USA IS GOOD GUY" movies already!
Haiti, Grenada, Iraq do not count.
I'm merely looking out for number one.There are vested interests who want this status quo to stay.And I am someone who shares the same view.
We are all free to share our opinions here.So thanks for your shout out.Anyway, since according to you, being a lapdog of America is a despicable thing, why should we replace that with being a lapdog of the PRC?
Singapore is and always will place her interests first.Listen up, blood does not count.So dream on if you think that just because we are majority Chinese, we will be sympathetic to the ChiComms.It just so happens that the Americans are able to ensure stability in the SEA region and also allow Singapore her space to prosper and grow.
We do not blindly follow America, so either you get some education in your local Strategic Studies Institute or read more about our relations with China and America before coming in and trying to jackknife my point of view based on a spurious and specious analysis of my words. -
A recent issue of TIME magazine featured LKY (I'm a big fan) on the front cover.
The article revealed what we already know: LKY had been a close confidante of Chinese officials for over 30 years since Deng took over power. Many features of China's modernisation are modelled on Singapore's.
The Chinese didn't go and consult with anyone else, they chose to trust an ethnic Chinese statesman - LKY.
You can say blood don't matter - and in many things, it doesn't. But being a diplomat - LKY played both sides of the field. He made use of his race to foster close ties with the Chinese - albeit in a more clandestine fashion - and at the same time he uses his western ways to woo the Americans.
Anyone who feel we are under any sort of threat from the Chinese, I can only say these are unfounded fears. If nothing else, they will be very very keen to have a close - and powerful - ally like us in this part of the world. But Singapore willl continue to play both sides of the field to use China to counter US influence and vice versa.
Too much US of A is also a very bad thing.