Security and peacekeeping challenges ahead for China
- Source: Global Times
- [21:14 November 05 2009]
- Comments
It also has an external purpose. Such demonstrations tell the outside world that China is a modern nation with increasing military strength, and it sends a message to the outside world about the need to treat China as an equal.
GT: Given China's aims of "peaceful development"and "regional stability,"how do you see the modern function of the People's Liberation Army (PLA)?
Gill: One of the most interesting things about the PLA is that it hasn't gone to war in about 25 years, since the war with Vietnam in 1979. Yet, China still has the largest military in the world in terms of personnel.
What I have noted in recent years is an increasing interest on the part of the PLA and the Chinese leadership to develop new roles – the "historical missions,"in the words of Chinese President Hu Jintao – for the PLA. This means finding other activities and other missions in addition to the core mission of defending Chinese national interests.
Peacekeeping is one important area in which China has taken a much more active role internationally. Anti-piracy is a new mission for the PLA, given the deployment about a year ago in December 2008 of Chinese naval vessels to the Gulf of Aden. Humanitarian relief domestically – for example, the response to the Sichuan earthquake – is another such mission.
But in the future, internationally, I think we can expect the Chinese navy and other parts of the Chinese military to be more active in the way of delivering humanitarian relief, especially in the Asia-Pacific region in the wake of hurricanes, cyclones, earthquakes or other disasters. I suspect we will see an expansion of these additional responsibilities for the PLA in the future.
GT: How big an issue does Taiwan remain in Sino-US relations?
Gill: It remains a very important issue and will be important for many years to come. However, the overall atmosphere around this question has improved considerably in the last five years.
A few years ago, there were a lot of concerns about the possibility of conflicts in the Taiwan Straits. That has dramatically reduced, which is very positive for Sino-US relations.
GT: The chief regional security issue at the moment is obviously North Korea. What can China do to manage this difficult situation? Do you think its goals are aligned with the US?
Gill: This is a major problem for the region, and one where China should be deeply concerned. We all recognize that China has taken some very important steps in recent years to be more active and more positively engaged in trying to find a diplomatic solution.
