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Pe a c ewo rks 39

United Stat e s

Institute of Pe a c e

1200 17th Street NW

Washington, DC 20036
United States 

Institute of Pe a c e

From Revo l u t i o n a r y

Internationalism 

to Conserva t i ve

N a t i o n a l i s m

The Chinese Military’s Discourse 

on National Security and Identity 

in the Post–Mao Era

Nan Li
Peaceworks No. 39. First published May 2001.

The views expressed in this report are those of the author alone.

They do not necessarily reflect views of the United States Institute of Peace.

UN I T E D ST A T E S IN S T I T U T EO F PE A C E

1200 17th Street NW, Suite 200

Washington, DC 20036-3011

Phone: 202-457-1700

Fax: 202-429-6063

E-mail: usip_requests@usip.org

Web: www.usip.org
C o n t e n t s

M a p 4

Key Po i n t s 5

Fo rewo rd by Richard H. Solomon 9

1. Introduction 12

2. From Class Identity to National Identity 15

in China’s Military Discourse

w Class as the Central Category of Identity 15

w The Nation-State as the Central Category of Identity 18

w Explaining the Shift in China’s Military Discourse 19

w Alternative Voices in the New Military Discourse 20

3. China’s New Conception of National Security Threats 22

w The PRC in a Competitive International Environment 22

w “New Frontiers” 24

w Territorial Threats 25

w Means to Neutralize Threats 27

4. Chinese Nationalism and Civil-Military Relations 34

w Nationalism and the PRC’s National Security

Decision Making 35

w A Model for Civilian Control of the PLA 36

w Conservative Nationalism as Paradigmatic Shift 

or Doctrinal Change? 37

5. Implications of China’s New Military Discourse for

U.S. Policy and the Management of Asian Security 39

w Ch i n a’s Sec u ri ty Ch a ll en ge s 4 0

w Un cert a i n ty abo ut Ta iw a n 4 2

N o t e s 44

About the Au t h o r 51

About the Institute 53
4
w Ever since Deng Xi a op i n g’s 1985 “s tra tegic dec i s i on” and the corre s ponding doctrinal ch a n ge from the co u n try ’s highest military dec i s i on-making body to ch a n ge Ma o

Zedon g’s em phasis on prep a ring for an early, l a r ge - s c a l e , nu clear war, the military of

the Peop l e’s Rep u blic of China has en ga ged in a new disco u rse that is dep a rting from

Ma oist ideo l ogy and moving in a more con s erva tive ,n a ti onalist directi on . This new

m i l i t a ry disco u rse has driven Ch i n a’s forei gn policy aw ay from its intern a ti on a l i s t ,

cl a s s - b a s ed , and revo luti on a ry fo u n d a ti on tow a rd a proximal ori en t a ti on ,a f fecti n g

not on ly the co u n try ’s nati onal sec u ri ty percepti on s , but also the very con cept of a

Chinese nati onal iden ti ty. In both re a l m s — i den ti ty and sec u ri ty—the new Ch i n e s e

m i l i t a ry disco u rse has shifted from a rad i c a l ,revo luti on a ry intern a ti onalism to a po s t -

Mao con s erva tive nati on a l i s m .

w Beginning in 1985, Ch i n a’s arm ed forces—the Peop l e’s Libera ti on Army (PLA ) —

began to tra n s form itsel f f rom an army whose su peri ori ty stem m ed from sheer nu mbers of pers on n el and that was ge a red tow a rd figh ting a major land-based “peop l e’s

w a r ” to a tech n o l ogy - b a s ed military capable of m ore active defense to deal with more

va ri ega ted local con ti n gen c i e s . It is now assu m ed that most of these “l ocal wars” a re

l i kely to take place along Ch i n a’s long and com p l ex borders . However,s i n ce Ch i n a’s

n a ti onal bo u n d a ry, i den ti ty, and interests had not been cl e a rly arti c u l a ted because of

the hegem ony of the Ma oist cl a s s - b a s ed ,tra n s n a ti onal revo luti on a ry disco u rs e , a prof u s i on of m i l i t a ry litera tu re has em er ged since 1985 to delimit the Chinese nati on ;

su ch litera tu re diver ges sign i f i c a n t ly from the Ma oist disco u rs e .

w With the decline of Ma oi s m , a n o t h er altern a tive voi ce—a qu a s i - l i beral 

d i s co u rse—has also em er ged among Ch i n a’s military officials and analys t s . This disco u rs e ,wh i ch stresses pe aceful approaches to re s o lving inters t a te dispute s , also recogn i zes that under certain circ u m s t a n ce s ,m i l i t a ry force as a deterrent may en h a n ce the

ch a n ces of pe aceful re s o luti on of i n ters t a te disputes in on e’s own favor, and that

d i p l om a tic nego ti a ti ons may serve as del aying tactics for gaining prep a ra ti on time for

war or as a way to evade re s pon s i bi l i ty. Yet qu a s i - l i berals em ph a s i ze that pe acef u l

a pproaches tow a rd re s o lving inters t a te disputes may be more de s i ra ble than the

t h reat or use of force for re a s ons other than mere stra t a gems for rel a tive ga i n s .

w In the predom i n a n t , con s erva tive military disco u rs e ,t h reats to China fall into three

m a j or categori e s : the gen eral com peti tive natu re of i n ters t a te rel a ti on s h i p s , wh i ch

m ay affect Chinese nati onal power rel a tive to other co u n tri e s ; the “n ew fron ti ers” of

i n ters t a te com peti ti on that may inten s i f y, and wh ere the su rvival interest of Ch i n a

would be nega tively affected if China does not en ga ge in that com peti ti on ; and direct

t h reats to the terri torial integri ty of Ch i n a . 5

Key Po i n t s
w The gre a test sec u ri ty thre a t , according to the new military disco u rs e , is the con ti nu ed

d ivi s i on of the Chinese nati on ,s pec i f i c a lly the po l i tical sep a ra ti on of Ta iwan from the

m a i n l a n d . This sep a ra ti on all egedly thre a tens Ch i n a’s su rvival by repre s en ting sym bo lic su pport for sep a ra tist forces in other areas on the margins of Ch i n a ,su ch as Ti bet ;

d i rect ly thre a tening Ch i n a’s more pro s perous coastal and mari time regi on s ; and po s s ibly becoming an ob s t acle in Ch i n a’s ef fort to devel op ocean re s o u rce s . Fu rt h erm ore ,

according to the disco u rs e ,“Ta iwan is geo s tra tegi c a lly loc a ted at the con f lu en ce of

Ch i n e s e ,Am erican and Japanese stra tegic intere s t s .” Hen ce , “Am erica intends to ch eck

China in po l i tical term s , and pro tect its econ omic interests in Ta iw a n .”

w If the new military disco u rse vi ews threats as ori gi n a ting from con f l i cts bet ween

n a ti onal intere s t s , but no lon ger bet ween antagon i s tic classes that tra n s cend nati on a l

borders , the means to neutra l i ze su ch threats may also have to be vi ewed as n a ti o n a lly

o rga n i zed ra t h er than cl a s s - ba sed. Th erefore , the arti c u l a ti on of su ch means has centered on three them e s :n a ti onal unity, the cen tral role of a nati onal military force in

defusing ex ternal thre a t s , and con s o l i d a ti on of the nati onal terri torial border.

w Because the PLA is the cen tral insti tuti on that deals with ex ternal thre a t s , it is on ly

n a tu ral that it tends to take a bl e a ker vi ew of Ch i n a’s sec u ri ty envi ron m ent than civi lian insti tuti ons do. The cozy rel a ti onship bet ween the PLA and the Ch i n e s e

Com munist Pa rty, Ch i n a’s two most powerful insti tuti on s , co u p l ed with the almost

total sep a ra ti on of the PLA from the con trol of s t a te aut h ori ti e s , m ay not bode well

for Ch i n a’s futu re sec u ri ty policy beh avi or. To establish more ef fective civilian con tro l

of the PLA ,t wo insti tuti onal ch a n ges may be nece s s a ry: Sep a ra te the PLA from the

p a rty and place it under the con trol of s t a te bod i e s , and expand the role of c ivi l i a n

policy and re s e a rch insti tuti ons in the deb a tes over nati onal iden ti ty and sec u ri ty po li c y. These ch a n ges may become incre a s i n gly nece s s a ry, p a rti c u l a rly if the PLA adopt s

a more aggre s s ive nati onalist agenda as it becomes stron ger in the futu re .

w Because Chinese sec u ri ty policy is being “n orm a l i zed ”f rom revo luti on a ry intern ati onalism to nati on a l i s m , and the sec u ri ty ch a ll en ges that China poses may be regi on a l

ra t h er than gl ob a l ,regi onal balance of power may be a bet ter stra tegy than gl obal cont a i n m en t . Yet even regi onal balance of power may not be an appropri a te stra tegy

because in gen eral term s , the kind of Chinese nati onalism discussed here is defen s ive

and con s erva tive in natu re , not yet imperi a l i s tic and of fen s ive . Faced with an array of

proximal sec u ri ty ch a ll en ge s , Ch i n a’s po l i c ym a kers seek to all evi a te them thro u gh

a n ti c i p a ting po s i tive ex ternal ch a n ge s , en ga ging in diplom ac y, and prom o ting econ omic and cultu ral interacti on ,wh i ch may have redu ced the need to re s ort to force .

w Within this gen eral fra m ework of con s erva tive and defen s ive nati on a l i s m ,h owever,

t h ere is one el em ent of Chinese nati onal sec u ri ty policy that thre a tens an of fen s ive

po s tu re , and that is Ta iw a n . Ch i n a’s leaders have hoped that po l i tical nego ti a ti on s ,

i n c reases in cro s s - s trait inve s tm ent and trade , and cultu ral affinity may even tu a lly

l e ad to pe aceful reu n i f i c a ti on .Yet uncert a i n ty abo ut this opti m i s tic scen a rio is

6 Key Points
Key Points 7

en h a n ced by Beij i n g’s lack of real ju ri s d i cti on over Ta iw a n ; the gl a ring gap in per

capita wealth bet ween the two ; and Ta iw a n’s movem ent tow a rd dem oc rac y, wh i ch

d raws sym p a t hy and su pport from We s tern co u n tri e s .All of these factors may contri bute to Ta iw a n’s devel oping a disti n ctive iden ti ty that may become incre a s i n gly different and sep a ra te from that of the mainland. This new iden ti ty in tu rn may redu ce

Ta iw a n’s wi ll i n gness to reunify and stren g t h en its de s i re for indepen den ce .

w With the decline of revo luti on a ry ideo l ogy in Ch i n a ,i rreden tist nati onalism is tu rning into a corn ers tone of regime legi ti m ac y; h en ce ,reu n i f i c a ti on with Ta iw a n

becomes an issue of almost cen tral sign i f i c a n ce , and an of fen s ive military po s tu re

m ay be exerc i s ed to prevent Ta iwan from going indepen den t ,i f not to pursue step s

for immed i a te reu n i f i c a ti on . Th erefore , a balance - of - t h reat stra tegy essen ti a lly serve s

to increase the cost of su ch of fen s ive threats so that on ly pe aceful means can be pursu ed to re s o lve dispute s . However, the PLA has one com p a ra tive adva n t a ge in its

we a pons inven tory that is high ly of fen s ive and thre a tening and may increase Ta iw a n’s

vu l n era bi l i ty for its lack of ef fective co u n term e a su re s : t h e a ter ball i s tic missiles.

However, the balance - of - t h reat stra tegy based on missile defense may be accom p an i ed by an en ga gem ent stra tegy that aims to modify Chinese beh avi or so that it

becomes more receptive to intern a ti onal norm s .

I

t has been a qu a rter of a cen tu ry since the death of Mao Zedon g, and China has

ex peri en ced a dra m a tic tra n s form a ti on in those twen ty - f ive ye a rs .While sti ll ru l ed by 

a com munist party, the Peop l e’s Rep u blic of China (PRC) has em er ged as a major

econ omic power by unshackling its command econ omy and priva tizing many of its state -

own ed en terpri s e s .Yet the Ma oist revo luti on a ry doctrine that disti n g u i s h ed the PRC as a

l e ader of world revo luti on and nati onal libera ti on movem ents in the 1950s and ‘60s is

on ly now beginning to be re a s s e s s ed .Iron i c a lly, the catalyst for this re a s s e s s m ent is the

Peop l e’s Libera ti on Army (PLA ) ,wh i ch , as Nan Li explains in the fo ll owing page s ,h a s

con du cted an on going “d i s co u rs e” s i n ce the mid-1980s on the rel eva n ce of Ma o’s

con cepti on of Ch i n a’s place in the world for con tem pora ry intern a ti onal rel a ti on s ,a n d

the corre s ponding role its nati onal sec u ri ty policy should play in su ch a recon ceptu a l i zed

gl obal aren a .

The PRC has dec i dedly broaden ed and divers i f i ed its gl obal links in the po s t - Mao era

a n d , as a con s equ en ce ,the PLA’s disco u rse de s c ri bes a mu ch more “c rowded”—and more

com peti tive — world as vi ewed from Beij i n g.As Nan Li def t ly shows in his ex a m i n a ti on of

recent con tri buti ons in the PLA’s profe s s i onal litera tu re ,China tod ay finds itsel f but on e

p l ayer among many in a world of d iverse nati on - s t a te s , wh ere the rules govern i n g

i n teracti ons are we a k ly insti tuti on a l i zed and wh ere one major power—the Un i ted

S t a tes—is able to impose its wi ll with few con s traints from other power cen ters .If t h i s

sounds like the Realist sch ool of i n tern a ti onal po l i ti c s , it should simply serve to rei n force

the vi ew that Ch i n a’s leaders in the 1990s have dra m a ti c a lly altered the way they vi ew the

worl d . The anti - i m perialist rh etoric that on ce su s t a i n ed the PRC as the leader of

worl dwi de revo luti on has been rep l aced by a deb a te among the co u n try ’s military

t h i n kers and analysts that remains gl obal in its pers pective , but more prox i m a l ,m ore

defen s ive in its ten t a tive policy con clu s i on s .

That the PRC has pursu ed the path of pra gm a tism in gl obal po l i tics du ring the po s t -

Mao era should come as no su rpri s e .Ap a rt from the disori en ting fact of Leninist regi m e s’

vi rtual ex ti n cti on over the past dec ade , a pra gm a tic co u rse has ref l ected the gen era l

a pproach to dom e s tic and forei gn policy of Ma o’s su cce s s or, Deng Xi a op i n g.Tod ay, t h ere

a re simply no more revo luti on a ry partn ers the PRC can add to its dep l eted geopo l i ti c a l

a rs en a l ; the most it can hope for is a world of mu l tiple power cen ters—the bet ter to ch eck

U. S .i n f lu en ce .Nan Li reveals a Chinese military that now ack n owl ed ges the pri m acy of t h e

n a ti on - s t a te—not classes—as the principal actor in intern a ti onal rel a ti on s , and a parti c u l a r

con cern with borders as the salient marker of n a ti onal iden ti ty in su ch a gl obal milieu .

What makes this disco u rse among Chinese military leaders profound is what Nan Li

de s c ri bes as its ulti m a te purpose—not simply a shift aw ay from Ma oist doctri n e , but

nothing less than the reshaping of Chinese iden ti ty itsel f .Tu rning aw ay from the Ma oi s t

Fo rewo rd

9 
em phasis on class and revo luti on , the new disco u rse Profe s s or Li iden tifies among the

P LA’s analysts and military thinkers em braces a more con s erva tive ideo l ogy, one that

con cen tra tes not on ly on the Chinese state , but also on the Chinese nation.

Obvi o u s ly, su ch a fundamental ch a n ge in the way Chinese see them s elves in the worl d

has significant implicati ons for regi onal sec u ri ty. As Nan Li dem on s tra tes in this

Pe aceworks report ,the one facet of po s t - Mao China that has ex h i bi ted the most

s i gnificant ch a n ge is its nati onal sec u ri ty parad i gm .What used to be a revo luti on a ry

power that su pported “l i bera ti on”m ovem ents thro u gh o ut the Th i rd World thro u gh

m on ey, a rm s , and po l i tical acti on has become a ra t h er con s erva tive giant con cern ed abo ut

its nei gh bors and borders , as well as abo ut geopo l i tical balance .In short ,the co u n try has

gradu a lly shifted from a parad i gm based on an intern a ti on a l , cl a s s - b a s ed ,a n d

revo luti on a ry ideo l ogy, in wh i ch imperialist powers are kept in ch eck by su pport for

n a ti onal libera ti on movem ents among their form er co l onial terri tori e s ,to a more

con s erva tive out l ook that seeks to shore up the integri ty and soverei gn ty of the Ch i n e s e

n a ti on in an era of gl ob a l i z a ti on .In this kind of com peti tive gl obal envi ron m en t ,su rviva l

is para m o u n t , and Nan Li examines this new world as perceived by the PRC leaders h i p —

a world that of fers new trade opportu n i ties and, cl o s er to hom e , an abu n d a n ce of n ew

en er gy and food re s o u rce s , as well as raw materi a l s , in nei gh boring terri tories and in the

oceans to meet the demands of a ra p i dly growing pop u l a ti on .

In evi t a bly, in any discussion of borders and iden ti ty in the con text of Ch i n a’s sec u ri ty,

the issue of Ta iwan ari s e s ; this Pe aceworks report is no excepti on .In a regi onal sec u ri ty

envi ron m ent fra u ght with passions on both sides of the Ta iwan Stra i t , it is hard to stri p

aw ay the ideo l ogical ru bric and examine the issue in terms of the seeming vu l n era bi l i ty of

this Asian giant to the threat of a “ren egade provi n ce” of f its shore s .Yet ,Profe s s or Li see s

in his ex a m i n a ti on of the PLA disco u rse the qu i n te s s en tial re a s on for con cern over

Ta iwanese indepen den ce .It is prec i s ely the po s t - Ma oist focus on nati onal iden ti ty amon g

the PRC ’s leaders that makes Ta iwan a special con cern , as they attem pt to proj ect to the

world—and to their own people—a stron g, u n i f i ed nati on .A sep a ra tist Ti bet and, m ore

i m port a n t , a Ta iwan that seems to move in fits and starts tow a rd indepen den ce su ggest a

weak and fra gm en ting Ch i n a , one whose borders are uncertain and whose soverei gn ty

a ppe a rs intern a lly ch a ll en ged .

That the PRC seeks to stren g t h en its soverei gn ty thro u gh a redef i n i ti on of its pop ul ace’s iden ti ty should not be a con cern to the We s t — p a rti c u l a rly to the Un i ted States as a

m a j or player in the managem ent of Asian sec u ri ty, argues Profe s s or Na n .What may stri ke

s ome as a source of con cern ,t h o u gh , is how the PRC is going abo ut su ch a redef i n i ti on —

n a m ely, the way military thinkers and analysts influ en ce the con ceptu a l i z a ti on of a

n a ti onal iden ti ty and, t hu s , the practical dict a tes of the nati onal interest and nati on a l

s ec u ri ty policy as well .

In Nan Li’s bri ef ex a m i n a ti on of c ivi l - m i l i t a ry rel a ti ons in the PRC , he reveals the cl o s e

con n ecti on bet ween the PLA and the Chinese Com munist Pa rty in the realm of n a ti on a l

s ec u ri ty dec i s i on making—a rel a ti onship that limits more “c ivi l i a n” i n p ut s ,wh i ch rely less

on force and defen s ive stra t a gems and more on intern a ti onal insti tuti ons and pac i f i c

s et t l em ent of d i s p ute s .In deed , the predominant disco u rse on Chinese iden ti ty and

s ec u ri ty within the upper ech el ons of the PLA discounts the influ en ce of a more “l i bera l ”

1 0 Foreword
s train in the disco u rs e , and Nan Li makes an important con tri buti on in this stu dy by

su gge s ting how the PRC ’s nati onal sec u ri ty dec i s i on-making process could ben efit by a

m ore “c ivi l i a n i zed ” reor ga n i z a ti on of c ivi l - m i l i t a ry rel a ti on s .

If Ch i n a’s new nati onal sec u ri ty doctrine focuses on more proximal thre a t s , this should

not ob s c u re the fact that the co u n try has geopo l i tical con cerns as well .In deed ,Ch i n a’s

procl a i m ed “s tra tegic partn ers h i p” with Russia and arms sales to Pakistan and Ira n

u n ders core the fact that the PRC has not retre a ted to a “ Fortress Ch i n a .”Yet these forei gn

policy initi a tives can sti ll be con s i dered regi on a l , and they are most likely pursu ed

according to a co ll ective worl dvi ew that the managem ent of regi onal sec u ri ty issu e s

should not be left to its two old rivals—the Un i ted States and Ru s s i a — a l on e .L i ke any

o t h er powerful nati on - s t a te on a Realist gl obal ch e s s boa rd ,China fo ll ows the logic of

b a l a n ce of power in intern a ti onal po l i ti c s .

On the issue of Ta iw a n ,h owever, b a l a n ce of power as the We s t’s guiding principle in

the managem ent of Asian sec u ri ty seems som eh ow of f the mark , perhaps disproporti ona te to the mutu a lly perceived threat ac ross the Ta iwan Stra i t . Su ch a vi ew informs Nan Li’s

advoc acy of a “b a l a n ce - of - t h re a t” s tra tegy in the Asian regi on as the new forei gn po l i c y

team in the Un i ted States su rveys the hori zon of i n tern a ti onal sec u ri ty issues and

nu m erous hot spots around the worl d .Yet , even though officials on both sides of the stra i t

h ave become more modera te ,m ore pra gm a tic on cro s s - s trait rel a ti ons (de s p i te the PRC ’s

“missile diplom ac y ” just before Ta iw a n’s 1996 pre s i den tial el ecti on s ) , the con s equ en ces of

acting on this mutual threat would obvi o u s ly be mu ch more severe for Ta iwan if it com e s

to the use of force as a way of el i m i n a ting this particular nati onal sec u ri ty ch a ll en ge .

As part of its con gre s s i onal mandate ,the Un i ted States In s ti tute of Pe ace has en de avored to bring new re s e a rch and new voi ces to policy deb a tes on different regi ons of t h e

worl d , and this Pe aceworks is just one of a nu m ber of the In s ti tute’s con tri buti ons on

po l i tical ch a n ge in the PRC and its implicati ons for regi onal sec u ri ty. Previous Pe acework s

reports have ex a m i n ed the devo luti on of p a rty con trol in Anne Thu rs ton’s Mu d dl i n g

towa rd Dem o cra c y: Pol i tical Change in Gra s s roots China ( No. 2 3 ,August 1998) and the

nu a n ces of the “en ga gem ent vs . con t a i n m en t” deb a te in Ch en Ji a n’s The China Challenge

in the Twenty-First Century: Implications for U.S. Foreign Policy (No. 2 1 ,June 1998). In

ad d i ti on ,the In s ti tute’s Press has publ i s h ed several studies of n ego ti a ting beh avi or in

d i f ferent Asian co u n tries thro u gh the In s ti tute’s Cro s s - Cu l tu ral Nego ti a ti on Proj ect ,

i n cluding Scott Snyder ’s Negotiating on the Edge: North Korean Negotiating Behavior

(1999) and a new ed i ti on of my Chinese Negotiating Behavior: Pursuing Interests

through “Old Friends” ( 1 9 9 9 ) .

RI C H A R D H . SO LO M O N

PR E S I D E N T

UN I T E D STAT E S IN S T I T U T EO F PE AC E

Foreword 1 1
T

he eclipse of the Ma oist era in the Peop l e’s Rep u blic of China (PRC) has been

evi dent ever since Deng Xi a op i n g’s econ omic reforms rel e a s ed significant sectors

of the co u n try ’s econ omy from the dual grip of the Ma oist mobi l i z a ti on a l

devel opm ent stra tegy and Sovi et - s tyle cen tral planning. Yet a more rem a rk a ble and less

vi s i ble dep a rtu re from Ma oist ideo l ogy — one that has more important implicati ons for

the Un i ted States and the managem ent of Asian sec u ri ty—has been taking place in the

i de a ti onal realm of Ch i n a’s arm ed force s .

Ever since Den g’s 1985 “s tra tegic dec i s i on” and the corre s ponding doctrinal ch a n ge

f rom the co u n try ’s highest military dec i s i on-making body that same year to ch a n ge Ma o

Zedon g’s em phasis on prep a ring for an early, l a r ge - s c a l e , nu clear war, Ch i n a’s military has

en ga ged in a new disco u rse that is dep a rting from Ma oist ideo l ogy and moving in a

m ore con s erva tive ,n a ti onalist directi on . This new military disco u rse has driven Ch i n a’s

forei gn policy aw ay from its intern a ti onalist and revo luti on a ry fo u n d a ti on tow a rd a

proximal ori en t a ti on ,a f fecting not on ly the co u n try ’s nati onal sec u ri ty percepti on s , but

also the very con cepti on of a Chinese nati onal iden ti ty. What are the new dom i n a n t

t h emes in Chinese military disco u rse rega rding iden ti ty and sec u ri ty from 1985 to the

pre s ent? How are they different from those of the pre-1985 peri od , and what may ex p l a i n

su ch differen ces? Are there altern a tive voi ces that ch a ll en ge the predominant themes in

the current military disco u rse? If s o, h ow significant are they? What are the implicati on s

of Ch i n a’s new military disco u rse for U. S . policy and the managem ent of Asian sec u ri ty ?

This stu dy attem pts to answer these qu e s ti on s .

While ex ten s ive studies have been done on the role of race , et h n i c i ty, rel i gi on ,l a ng u a ge , and historical mem ory on the con s tru cti on of i den ti ty, the role of the military in

su ch an en de avor has yet to be seri o u s ly ex a m i n ed .L i tera tu re on civi l - m i l i t a ry rel a ti on s

tends to stress inter- i n s ti tuti onal dy n a m i c s , wh i ch may also mean that inter- i de a ti on a l

dynamics tend to be de - em ph a s i zed .1This stu dy intends to fill this lacuna thro u gh an

ex a m i n a ti on of the Chinese military disco u rse in “ i m a gi n i n g” a new Chinese nati on a l

com mu n i ty. As su ch , this work could serve as a starting point for a com p a ra tive stu dy of

the role of the military in the devel opm ent of n a ti onal iden ti ty ac ross geogra ph i c a l

bo u n d a ries and ti m e .

Equ a lly import a n t ,i f the old Ma oist disco u rse had dire policy con s equ en ce s ,su ch as

i n tense dom e s tic class stru ggle and active su pport of radical movem ents in forei gn 

co u n tri e s , it is logical to assume that a new disco u rse repre s en ting an important 

dep a rtu re from Ma oism may also have significant policy ef fect s . These ef fects may be

qu i te significant because the Peop l e’s Libera ti on Army (PLA ) , wh i ch inclu des Ch i n a’s

gro u n d ,a i r, n ava l , and stra tegic missile force s , has become more invo lved in the devel opm ent of Ch i n a’s nati onal iden ti ty and sec u ri ty policy since 1985.2

Th erefore , a bet ter

O n e

I n t ro d u c t i o n
u n derstanding of the military disco u rse on internal iden ti ty and solidari ty, on the on e

h a n d , and ex ternal uncert a i n ty and thre a t s , on the other, m ay help to devel op a bet ter

u n derstanding of the natu re and thrust of Ch i n a’s sec u ri ty po s tu re and its implicati on s

for Asian sec u ri ty.

The cen tral argument of this stu dy is that the post-1985 military disco u rse has shifted

s i gn i f i c a n t ly aw ay from the Ma oist disco u rs e . Ra t h er than the Ma oist focus on su bn ati onal and tra n s n a ti onal cl a s s - b a s ed iden ti ty, the new military disco u rse cen ters on issu e s

of n a ti onal iden ti ty. Su ch a shift, in tu rn ,l e ads to a redef i n i ti on of s ec u ri ty threats and the

means to neutra l i ze these thre a t s . Ra t h er than the Ma oist premise of class s ec u ri ty and

t h re a t s , and cl a s s - b a s ed means to redu ce su ch thre a t s , the new military disco u rse has

p l aced strong em phasis on national s ec u ri ty threats and the means to neutra l i ze them . In

both re a l m s — i den ti ty and sec u ri ty—the new Chinese military disco u rse has shifted

f rom a rad i c a l ,revo luti on a ry intern a ti onalism to a po s t - Ma oist con s erva tive nati on a l i s m .

The use of the term “d i s co u rs e” h ere repre s ents a body of m i l i t a ry litera tu re that has

em er ged in post-1985 Ch i n a . Su ch litera tu re refers to ed i ted vo lumes publ i s h ed by 

presses affiliated with the PLA and com m en t a ries in Ch i n a’s military news p a pers , su ch as

Liberation Army Daily. All the aut h ors are uniform ed PLA pers on n el . Ma ny are

re s e a rch ers and analysts from major PLA re s e a rch and high er edu c a ti onal insti tuti on s ,

su ch as the Ac ademy of Mi l i t a ry Scien ce and the Na ti onal Defense Un ivers i ty.

For a proper understanding of su ch a disco u rs e ,s everal caveats are in order. F i rs t ,t h e

term “con s erva tive” is used here to con n o te a care for establ i s h ed insti tuti ons and trad iti on ,su ch as an “or ga n i c”n a ti on ; the mainten a n ce of “bo u n ded ”s t a bi l i ty and order; a n d

a preferen ce for con s o l i d a ti on based on gradual devel opm en t ,ra t h er than overex ten s i on

b a s ed on revo luti on a ry ch a n ge .It also stresses the threat and use of force for maintaining

bo u n ded con s erva ti on and stabi l i ty. In con tra s t , the term “qu a s i - l i bera l ,” as app l i ed to

a l tern a tive voi ces in the military disco u rs e , con n o tes a preferen ce for interactive dy n a mi c s , pri m a ri ly thro u gh intern a ti onal insti tuti on s ,i nvo lving mu l ti l a teral nego ti a ti ons and

d i p l om acy or mu l ti l a tera lly agreed - u pon non e s c a l a tory con trol mechanisms for managing inters t a te dispute s .

This stu dy is not an analysis of the insti tuti onal dimen s i on of c ivi l - m i l i t a ry rel a ti on s

n or of m i l i t a ry - technical issu e s , su ch as or ga n i z a ti on a l , tech n o l ogi c a l , and bu d get a ry

ch a n ge s . Ra t h er, it examines the con tent of m i l i t a ry litera tu re that shapes con s c i o u s n e s s

on nati onal iden ti ty, s ec u ri ty, and defen s e . Because su b s t a n tial re s e a rch has been done on

the more “t a n gi bl e” i n s ti tuti on a l ,m i l i t a ry - technical ch a n ge s ,3an essay on this “f u z z y ”

va ri a ble rega rding the form a ti on of m a rtial consciousness may con tri bute to a more

com preh en s ive understanding of post-1985 military and sec u ri ty devel opm ent in Ch i n a .

This stu dy com p a res military disco u rse bet ween the pre-1985 peri od and the po s t -

1985 peri od , the dividing line stemming from Den g’s “s tra tegic dec i s i on” and the accomp a nying doctrinal ch a n ge from the Cen tral Mi l i t a ry Com m i s s i on (CMC), Ch i n a’s

su preme military dec i s i on-making body, both requ i ring the PLA to make the “s tra tegi c

tra n s i ti on” f rom prep a ring for an “e a rly, to t a l , and nu cl e a r ”war to prep a ring for loc a l ,

l i m i ted wars .4 While the form er implies an inten s i f i ed cl a s s - b a s ed con f l i ct that tra n s cen d s

n a ti onal borders , the latter refers to “pe acetime army bu i l d i n g” for nati onal defen s e , wi t h

an eye tow a rd ad d ressing proximal con ti n gencies to con s o l i d a te the nati on’s border. Su ch

Introduction 1 3
a ch oi ce does not mean that there was no disco u rse on nati onal iden ti ty before 1985, or

that the disco u rse on class iden ti ty disappe a red after 1985. It means on ly that the em ph asis has shifted .

Fo ll owing this introdu cti on are four su b s t a n tive secti on s . Secti on 2 inve s ti ga tes new

t h emes in the post-1985 military disco u rse on iden ti ty and sec u ri ty and elu c i d a tes altern a tive vi ews to the predominant themes in the disco u rs e . Secti on 3 ex p l ores Ch i n a’s new

con ceptu a l i z a ti on of n a ti onal sec u ri ty threats based on the post-1985 military disco u rs e .

Secti on 4 examines the natu re of c ivi l - m i l i t a ry rel a ti ons in the PRC to discover why the

m i l i t a ry ’s new disco u rse has ga i n ed su ch wi de s pre ad accept a n ce among the co u n try ’s

l e aders . The con cluding secti on discusses the practical implicati ons of this shift and

a ppropri a te U. S . policy re s pon s e s .

1 4 Introduction
D

u ring mu ch of its history since its founding in 1927, the PLA served as an active

i n s tru m ent of revo luti on espo u s ed by the Chinese Com munist Pa rty (CCP) 

and its leader Mao Zedon g. This revo luti on had two dimen s i on s . The first is a

su bn a ti on a l , or dom e s ti c ,d i m en s i on in wh i ch a clear class differen ti a ti on was adva n ced in

the classic Ma rxist fashion so that con ti nuous stru ggle could be waged among oppo s i n g

s oc i oecon omic cl a s s e s .5This class stru ggle privi l eged and en h a n ced the iden ti ty and

i n terests of the revo luti on a ry cl a s s ,su ppo s edly led by a va n g u a rd party (in this case,t h e

CCP) at the ex pense of the “co u n terrevo luti on a ri e s .”The PLA’s parti c i p a ti on in this cl a s s

s tru ggle was manife s ted in its long ye a rs of a rm ed stru ggle against the Ko u m i n g t a n g

( K M T, or Na ti onalist Pa rty ) ,wh i ch sym bo l i zed “re acti on”and “co u n terrevo luti on .”

Af ter the founding of the PRC in 1949 fo ll owing the CCP’s vi ctory over the KMT, cl a s s

s tru ggle con ti nu ed as a cen tral theme in CCP and PLA disco u rs e . This stru ggle en t a i l ed a

con ti nuous revo luti on as em bod i ed in incessant po l i tical campaigns to weed out dom e s ti c

class en emies within the CCP, the govern m ent bu re a u c rac y, the PLA , and thro u gh o ut

Chinese soc i ety. Its ulti m a te ex pre s s i on was the Great Pro l et a rian Cu l tu ral Revo luti on

du ring 1966–1976. The PLA ,a ga i n ,p a rti c i p a ted actively in these stru ggl e s .6

Class as the Central Category of Identity

As an ex ten s i on of this su bn a ti on a l , cl a s s - b a s ed stru ggle and revo luti on , the secon d

d i m en s i on — tra n s n a ti onal or intern a ti on a l i s t — em er ged with the founding of the PRC .

Ma o’s ren own ed 1949 decl a ra ti on to “lean to one side”meant Ch i n a’s full mem bership in

the Sovi et - l ed socialist camp and its active parti c i p a ti on in the messianic stru ggle aga i n s t

the We s tern capitalist co u n tri e s .The PLA con tri buted sign i f i c a n t ly to this solidari ty, as it

d i s p a tch ed an ex ped i ti on a ry force of “ Peop l e’s Vo lu n teers” to fight “ U. S .i m peri a l i s t s” on

the Korean Pen i n sula du ring 1950–1953. L a ter, wh en Mao su s pected that the Sovi et

Un i on had become a con s erva tive ,s t a tus quo power con cern ed more with pre s ervi n g

Sovi et nati onal interests than prom o ting intern a ti onal socialist revo luti on , he began to

envi s i on a gl ob a l , cl a s s - b a s ed revo luti on on his own terms and em b a rked on a du a l

s tra tegy of “peop l e’s war” and a “u n i ted fron t”d rawn from lessons of the Ch i n e s e

revo luti on .This stra tegy en t a i l ed active su pport of a rm ed stru ggles by radical cl a s s - b a s ed

and progre s s ive nati onal libera ti on movem ents thro u gh o ut the worl d . These movem en t s

con s ti tuted what Mao call ed the worl d ’s “co u n trys i de ,” wh i ch would march against and

f i n a lly con qu er the worl d ’s “c i ti e s”—the We s tern capitalist powers .

7

Aga i n , the PLA was a cen tral player in this stra tegy as China became ex ten s ively

i nvo lved in the Vi etnam War from 1965 to 1973, providing manpower,m a teri el ,a n d 1 5

Two

F rom Class Identity to National Identity 

in China’s Military Discourse
doctrinal su pport to North Vi etnam and its movem ent in the sout h , the Na ti on a l

L i bera ti on Front (also known as the Vi et Con g ) .8The PLA also took ch a r ge of tra i n i n g

Ma oist guerri llas in other Asian co u n tri e s ,Af ri c a , and Latin Am eri c a . But ,m ore

i m port a n t , the high ly revo luti on i zed PLA direct ly con f ron ted the new pri m a ry antagon i s t ,

the “bu re a u c ra tic capitalist”and “s ocial imperi a l i s t” s t a te of the Sovi et Un i on ,t h ro u gh

s everal Si n o - Sovi et border skirmishes in early 1969, and “t a u ght a lesson”to the Sovi et

“l ackey ”of India and the Sovi et “p u ppet”of Vi etnam thro u gh the border wars of 1 9 6 2

and 1979.

From the mid-1960s to the early 1980s, Chinese military stra tegy was ob s e s s ively

def i n ed by a nu m eri c a lly inten s ive “peop l e’s war,” in wh i ch an imagi n ed Sovi et inva s i on

would be bogged down and even tu a lly neutra l i zed by a Chinese guerri lla warf a re of

d i s pers i on ,m obi l i ty, h a ra s s m en t , and attri ti on .In su ch a scen a ri o,n a ti onal borders 

were deem ed insign i f i c a n t , as a large human “s tre a m” equ i pped with a revo luti on a ry

consciousness pre su m a bly retreats aw ay from or adva n ces fe a rl e s s ly ac ross su ch an

a rtificial dem a rc a ti on .9In deed , du ring the Ma oist ye a rs ,su bn a ti onal and tra n s n a ti on a l

revo luti on a ry, cl a s s - b a s ed iden ti ty and interests perm e a ted the Chinese military disco u rs e .

Any serious arti c u l a ti on of n a ti onal iden ti ty and interests was cri ti c i zed as “bo u r geoi s ,”

because these con cepts assu m ed stabi l i ty and hiera rchy, the antithesis of the idea of

revo luti on ,wh i ch is assu m ed to be con ti nu o u s ly mobile and ega l i t a ri a n . These con cept s

also undermine narrowly arti c u l a ted class iden ti ty and intere s t s , an on to l ogical nece s s i ty

to sustain intraclass solidari ty and interclass ten s i on and antagon i s m .

Some sch o l a rs have argued that Ma o, the CCP, and the PLA essen ti a lly repre s en ted

Chinese nati on a l i s m , prom o ting Chinese nati onal iden ti ty and interests under the guise

of cl a s s - b a s ed ,revo luti on a ry rh etori c .1 0 While it is plausible and even po s s i ble that som e

Ma oist policy programs did not con trad i ct Chinese nati onal interests or even prom o ted

su ch intere s t s ,t h ere are two major re a s ons the dominant policy patterns under Ma o

su gge s ted otherwi s e .F i rs t , on the dom e s tic side , the po l i tical disco u rse based on

su bn a ti on a l , class interests led to an el a bora te and ri gid class categori z a ti on ,wh i ch had

real con s equ en ces for the lives of ord i n a ry peop l e . Opportu n i ties leading to power,

pre s ti ge , and privi l ege ,for ex a m p l e ,were acce s s i ble on ly to cl a s s - b a s ed categories of

peop l e ,su ch as workers , poor and lower- m i d dle pe a s a n t s , and revo luti on a ry soldiers and

c ad re s . People with “b ad ” class back gro u n d s ,su ch as landl ord s ,ri ch pe a s a n t s ,

co u n terrevo luti on a ri e s , “b ad el em en t s ,”ri gh ti s t s , feu d a l i s t s ,c a p i t a l i s t s ,revi s i on i s t s , and 

the “s tinking ninth category ”of i n tell ectu a l s ,were largely den i ed su ch opportu n i ti e s .1 1

Me a nwh i l e , gen erous forei gn aid was provi ded to revo luti on a ry or progre s s ive

m ovem ents in other co u n tri e s .If one assumes the CCP and the PLA to be pri m a ri ly

Chinese nati on a l i s t s , one must show that these or ga n i z a ti ons did not be s tow largesse on

forei gn com rade s - i n - a rms while discri m i n a ting against their fell ow Chinese on the basis

of ri gid class categori e s . Si n ce this is not the case, cl a s s - b a s ed ,tra n s n a ti on a l ,revo luti on a ry

i deo l ogy does appear to make a significant differen ce .

Secon d , on the ex ternal side , the argument that Ma o, the CCP, and the PLA fo u gh t

ex ternal wars to en h a n ce Chinese nati onal sec u ri ty interests is also probl em a ti c .In the

case of the Korean Wa r, Bru ce Cu m m i n gs shows that the real cause of the war was cl a s s

a n t a gonism inside Kore a .1 2 Ot h er sch o l a rs argue that su bn a ti onal and tra n s n a ti on a l ,

1 6 From Class Identity to National Identity
cl a s s - b a s ed ,revo luti on a ry affinity and solidari ty on the one hand, and deep ly imbed ded

su s p i c i on and hosti l i ty tow a rd non revo luti on a ry regimes on the other, m ay have been

cen tral factors in shaping Ma o’s dec i s i on to send the PLA ac ross the Ya lu River.1 3 In deed ,

h ad both North Korea and China been govern ed by non revo luti on a ry, a ut h ori t a ri a n

regi m e s ,h e aded by Sy n gman Rh ee and Chiang Ka i - s h e k , the idea of a war in Korea wo u l d

h ave sounded fantasti c .John Gaddis has argued recen t ly that had it not been for rad i c a l

i n tern a ti onalist ideo l ogy, the Cold War would not have been fo u ght on su ch a gl obal scale

and with su ch feroc i ty.1 4 S teph en Walt also shows a strong correl a ti on bet ween intern a l

s ocial revo luti ons and ex ternal wars .1 5

Both Gaddis and Walt might be pleased to find a re ady audien ce for their ideas in the

po s trevo luti on a ry China of tod ay. Ma ny Ch i n e s e ,i n cluding both intell ectuals and the

pop u l a ti on at large ,n ow bel i eve that Mao was indeed a revo luti on a ry intern a ti onalist wh o

prom o ted world revo luti on many times and in many places at the ex pense of Ch i n e s e

n a ti onal intere s t s .Th ey point out that if it were not for Ma o’s ef fort to please his revo luti on a ry bret h ren in North Kore a ,China would not have “l o s t”h a l f of the Ch a n g b a i

Mountain (on the border bet ween China and North Kore a ) . Some also bel i eve that to

avoid of fending Stalin, Mao did not insist on his “retu rn i n g”O uter Mon golia to Ch i n a .

Ot h ers argue that Mao acqu i e s ced to Th i rd World co u n tries su ch as Bu rma by giving up

Chinese terri tories in border agreem ents sign ed in the early 1960s. Moreover,s om e

c ri ti c i ze Mao for impoverishing an alre ady poor China by squ a n dering re s o u rces and

human lives in forei gn wars and in other unnece s s a ry and fruitless en de avors in the Th i rd

World wh ere no obvious Chinese nati onal interests were invo lved .1 6 In deed ,those wh o

argue that Ma o, the CCP, and the PLA placed Chinese nati onal iden ti ty and intere s t s

a bove anything else may need to show otherwi s e .

If revo luti on a ry intern a ti onalism was a dominant mode of d i s co u rse du ring the

Ma oist peri od ,what is its fate after Deng Xi a oping came to power fo ll owing Ma o’s de a t h

in 1976? The mom ent of con s erva tive re s tora ti on occ u rred du ring a plen a ry session of t h e

CCP Cen tral Com m i t tee in 1978, wh en it was decl a red that the cen tral focus of C C P

policy was no lon ger prom o ting dom e s tic and intern a ti onal class stru ggle and revo luti on

but ,ra t h er, “devel oping produ ctive force s .”A nati on - building proj ect , co u ch ed in the

n o ti on of the “ Four Modern i z a ti on s”( i n du s try, a gri c u l tu re ,s c i en ce and tech n o l ogy, a n d

n a ti onal defen s e ) ,was more firm ly en dors ed .The PLA , no lon ger requ i red to parti c i p a te

in dom e s tic class stru ggle and prom o te world revo luti on , also shifted its focus to

“pe acetime army bu i l d i n g”and nati onal defen s e . The demise of the Ma oist radicals also

m ade it po s s i ble for Deng to introdu ce a ra n ge of or ga n i z a ti onal ch a n ges in the PLA ,

wh i ch rep l aced those who were more con cern ed with Ma oist radical po l i tics with those

m ore con cern ed with nati onal defen s e . The rei n s ti tuti on of m i l i t a ry re s e a rch and learn i n g

i n s ti tuti ons has also con tri buted to the more co h erent produ cti on of m i l i t a ry litera tu re .

S pec i f i c a lly, b a s ed on a policy en dors ed by the CMC in 1985, the PLA began to

tra n s form itsel f f rom an army whose su peri ori ty stem m ed from sheer nu m bers of

pers on n el and that was ge a red tow a rd figh ting a major land-based “peop l e’s war” ( wh i ch

i m p l i ed a massive Sovi et inva s i on) to a tech n o l ogy - b a s ed military capable of m ore active

defense to deal with more va ri ega ted local con ti n gen c i e s .It is now assu m ed that most of

these “l ocal wars” a re likely to take place along Ch i n a’s long and com p l ex borders .However,

From Class Identity to National Identity 1 7
s i n ce Ch i n a’s nati onal bo u n d a ry, i den ti ty, and interests had not been cl e a rly arti c u l a ted

because of the hegem ony of the Ma oist cl a s s - b a s ed ,tra n s n a ti onal revo luti on a ry disco u rs e ,

a prof u s i on of m i l i t a ry litera tu re has em er ged since 1985 to delimit the Chinese nati on ;

su ch litera tu re diver ges sign i f i c a n t ly from the Ma oist disco u rs e .

The Nat i o n - S t ate as the Central Category of Identity

The cen tral Ma oist premise is that soc i oecon omic cl a s s ,not the nati on - s t a te , is the cen tra l

c a tegory defining internal iden ti ty, or ga n i z a ti on and sec u ri ty, and ex ternal insec u ri ty,

t h re a t , and stru ggl e .To the Ma oi s t s ,the neo - realist premise of the nati on - s t a te as the central category defining ex ternal anarchy and dom e s tic hiera rchy is arti f i c i a l .1 7 The dom e s ti c

re a l m ,t h ey argue, has never been hiera rch i c a lly or ga n i zed because of dynamic cl a s s

a n t a gonism and stru ggle based on econ omic and social ch a n ge .On the other hand,t h e

i n tern a ti onal realm is not ex act ly disor ga n i zed :Class differen ti a ti on tra n s cends nati on a l

bo u n d a ri e s , and opposing classes or ga n i ze them s elves based on tra n s n a ti onal class iden ti ty

and intere s t s ;h en ce , class stru ggle has never been con f i n ed within nati onal borders .

This Ma oist thesis has been seri o u s ly con te s ted in the post-1985 Chinese military

d i s co u rs e .“Af ter the founding of the state in 1949,” decl a red a Liberation Army Daily

com m en t a ry,“the theoretical fo u n d a ti on for nati onal defense con s tru cti on was not abl e

to make the ti m ely shift from the premise of [ dom e s tic and intern a ti onal] class stru ggle to

that of prom o ting nati onal intere s t s .”As a re su l t ,“d riven by ideo l ogy, class and parti s a n

i n terests [were] overly stre s s ed while nati onal interests [were] negl ected .”

1 8

According to the post-1985 military disco u rs e , the em phasis on large-scale cl a s s

s tru ggle produ ced several major nega tive ef fects on nati onal iden ti ty and intere s t s .F i rs t ,

dom e s tic divi s i on and ten s i on mounted as people were arbi tra ri ly divi ded into oppo s i n g

class categori e s .Al s o, prom o ting cl a s s - b a s ed world revo luti on meant the provi s i on of

m a terial su pport for forei gn revo luti on a ry movem ents and ex pen s ive prep a ra ti on for the

i deo l ogy - d riven total war. Both “h ave cost us de a rly.” Moreover,“as China was bu s y

c ri ticizing ‘bo u r geois aut h ori ti e s ,’o t h er co u n tries occ u p i ed our terri tories in the So ut h

China Se a .” More import a n t ,t h o u gh , as China was busy with dom e s tic and tra n s n a ti on a l

class stru ggl e ,o t h er major co u n tries con cen tra ted on nati onal econ om i c ,s c i en ti f i c ,a n d

tech n o l ogical devel opm en t .“ In 1960, the Gross Na ti onal Produ ct (GNP) of China was at

the same level with Ja p a n . By the early 1980s, it was on e - qu a rter of Ja p a n’s .It decl i n ed to

one-fifth of Ja p a n’s by 1985.”As a re su l t ,“the gap in the econ om i c ,s c i en ti f i c ,a n d

tech n o l ogical levels bet ween China and other major co u n tries ex p a n ded to the ex tent that

China is now faced with the danger of ‘being ex pell ed from the gl obe’ [kaichu qiuji].”1 9

To reverse this historical blu n der, the new disco u rse ack n owl ed ged that “class and

p a rtisan interests [should] become su bord i n a te to nati onal intere s t s . . . . Modern i z a ti on of

the Chinese nati on ,i n cluding modern i z a ti on of its nati onal defen s e , is now of p a ra m o u n t

s i gn i f i c a n ce .” It is therefore absolutely nece s s a ry “to re s tore the good name for national

interests and hold high the banner of national interests,” and this is an “ i n e s c a p a bl e

ch oi ce for any co u n try intending to join the ranks of the great powers .”S pec i f i c a lly,“it is

n ece s s a ry to stren g t h en re s e a rch on nati onal interests and cl a rify how su ch intere s t s

d i ct a te the statu s ,role and functi on s , and tasks of n a ti onal defen s e .”

2 0

If i n terests are now ti ed to the nati on - s t a te but no lon ger to soc i oecon omic cl a s s e s

1 8 From Class Identity to National Identity
within or out s i de it, what then are the cen tral interests of China? First natu ra lly is its

n a ti onal “devel opm ent intere s t” (fazhan quanyi) ,wh i ch has alre ady been cod i f i ed in the

n o ti on of the Four Modern i z a ti on s . But for su ch devel opm ent to proceed smoo t h ly, it is

i n d i s pen s a ble that China become ex tern a lly sec u re . Th erefore ,Ch i n a’s “su rvival intere s t”

(shengchun quanyi) ,wh i ch defines the cen tral role of the PLA , is as important as the

devel opm ent intere s t .Both are mutu a lly rei n forc i n g. Ex ternal sec u ri ty en h a n ces stabi l i ty,

wh i ch con tri butes to devel opm en t .S te ady devel opm ent leads to pro s peri ty and

con s o l i d a ti on ,wh i ch en h a n ce ex ternal sec u ri ty.2 1

Explaining the Shift in China’s Military Discours e

What accounts for the shift from revo luti on a ry intern a ti onalism to nati onalism? Som e

ob s ervers su ggest that ex ternal ch a n ge s — su ch as the gen eral decline of po l i tical ideo l ogi e s

in world affairs — m ay have influ en ced the thinking of Chinese leaders ,wh i ch in tu rn

con tri buted to the shift from a revo luti on a ry, i n tern a ti onalist forei gn policy to one that is

s t a te - cen tric and ori en ted tow a rd nati on bu i l d i n g. Su ch ideo l ogical decline is ref l ected in

the gradual winding down of the radical Ma oist or nati onal libera ti on movem ents after

the end of the Vi etnam Wa r, wh i ch may have redu ced the ex ternal opportu n i ties for the

Ma oists to ex p l oit in order to prom o te their radical agen d a .Al s o, the “n ew thinking” i n

Sovi et forei gn policy after Gorb ach ev came to power in 1985 may have den i ed China the

opportu n i ty to pursue a rad i c a l i zed ,militant forei gn policy tow a rd the Sovi et Un i on . Bo t h

con d i ti ons may have we a ken ed the Chinese leaders h i p’s Ma oist camp in its intern a l

s tru ggle with the nati on - building camp of Deng Xi a oping and his fo ll owers .While high ly

p l a u s i bl e ,su ch an ex p l a n a ti on may not adequ a tely account for the gap bet ween ex tern a l

ch a n ges and internal ideo l ogical and doctrinal ad ju s tm en t s ,the lack of con s en sus amon g

dom e s tic groups rega rding these ad ju s tm en t s , and dom e s tic ch a n ges that preceded

ex ternal ch a n ge s .

Radical Ma oist po l i c y, for instance , con ti nu ed to be dominant well into the late 1970s,

even though the decline of n a ti onal libera ti on movem ents took place du ring the early

1 9 7 0 s .Al s o, even though the CCP leadership rep l aced the radical Ma oist policy with a

n a ti on - building policy in the late 1970s, the PLA leadership was high ly ambiva l ent abo ut

this shift aw ay from Ma oism until the mid-1980s. F i n a lly, the PLA’s shift from

prep a ra ti on for a major war against the Sovi et “s ocial imperi a l i s t s”to the prom o ti on of

n a ti onal defense occ u rred in 1985. At the ti m e , it was not clear wh et h er Gorb ach ev ’s new

thinking would tra n s l a te into the rem oval of the “Th ree Ob s t acl e s” ( h e avy con cen tra ti on

of Sovi et troops along the Si n o - Sovi et border, Sovi et occ u p a ti on of Afgh a n i s t a n , and the

Vi etnamese occ u p a ti on of Ca m bod i a ) , Ch i n a’s precon d i ti on for improving Si n o - Sovi et

rel a ti on s .App a ren t ly, be s i des ex ternal ch a n ge s ,s ome dom e s tic devel opm ents that may

not be cl o s ely rel a ted to ex ternal ch a n ges may have also con tri buted to this shift.

Ma o’s death and the arrest of the radical Ma oist leaders (known as the “Gang of Fo u r ” )

in late 1976 may be a crucial dom e s tic factor that con tri buted to su ch a shift,s i n ce it led to

the final con s o l i d a ti on of the nati on - building camp. The con trast in the fate of the Fo u r

Modern i z a ti ons (or nati on - building) program before and after 1976 may help to illu s tra te

this poi n t . The program was introdu ced as early as 1973 by Prem i er Zhou Enlai and was

s om ewhat implem en ted by Deng after he was reh a bi l i t a ted in 1975 as the first dep uty

From Class Identity to National Identity 1 9
prem i er of the State Co u n c i l . However, Deng was severely cri ti c i zed as “reversing the

verd i ct of the Cu l tu ral Revo luti on”by the Ma oist radicals in late 1975 and early 1976. As a

re su l t , he was rem oved from of f i ce and the nati on - building program came to a halt. It was

not until 1978 that the program was firm ly adopted by the CCP leaders h i p, as Deng was

also reh a bi l i t a ted in the fo ll owing ye a rs .

But the CCP leaders h i p’s en dors em ent of n a ti on building did not nece s s a ri ly mean

that the PLA would fo ll ow su i t .Ch i n a’s military actu a lly ben ef i ted gre a t ly from the

radical Ma oist policy of “dom e s tic class stru ggl e” and “su pporting world revo luti on”

because many PLA leaders were prom o ted for being actively invo lved in these Ma oi s t

proj ects du ring the Cu l tu ral Revo luti on . Th erefore , or ga n i z a ti onal and pers on n el

ch a n ges in the top ech el ons of the PLA were another crucial dom e s tic factor

con tri buting to su ch a shift. But unlike the Ma oist purge s , Deng reti red a large nu m ber

of P LA leaders with Ma oist radical ten dencies after becoming the CMC chair in 1982. He

accom p a n i ed this acti on with the prom o ti on of yo u n ger of f i cers who were less tainted by

Ma oist po l i tics and more con cern ed with nati onal defen s e . This con s o l i d a ti on , in tu rn ,

en su red the PLA’s firm en dors em ent of Den g’s nati on - building progra m .F i n a lly, t h e

re s tora ti on of m a ny military re s e a rch and learning insti tuti on s ,wh i ch were el i m i n a ted

du ring the Cu l tu ral Revo luti on , also en a bl ed a more co h erent arti c u l a ti on of the nati on a l

defense program thro u gh the ste ady produ cti on of n ew litera tu re on ideo l ogy and

m i l i t a ry doctri n e , as cited in this stu dy.2 2

A l t e r n at i ve Voices in the New Military Discours e

Na tu ra lly, su ch a profound shift in ideo l ogy and doctrine has ga rn ered its share of

c ri ticism from altern a tive voi ces in the new disco u rs e . But unlike the vicious “ch a racter

a s s a s s i n a ti on”and con f ron t a ti onal rh etoric of the Cu l tu ral Revo luti on , this con te s t a ti on

t a kes the form of accom m od a ti on .Ra t h er than launching a frontal attack on Ma oi s m , for

i n s t a n ce ,the new military disco u rse ei t h er integra tes the more modera te ,n a ti on a l i s t

a s pects of the Ma oist disco u rse into itsel f or makes new points that ren der Ma oi s t

a r g u m ents irrel eva n t . On the other hand, the Ma oists may also ch oose vu l n era bl e

m om ents in the nati on - building camp, su ch as the peri od just after Ti a n a n m en ,to insert

t h eir “class stru ggl e”rh etoric into the mainstream military disco u rs e .2 3 In gen era l ,t h o u gh ,

the Ma oist disco u rse has been losing its appeal as nati on building has been making more

and more progre s s .In dom e s tic po l i c y, for instance , mass mobi l i z a ti on campaigns and

i n cessant purges of h i gh er leaders based on “class stru ggl e”within and out s i de the PLA

ra rely occ u r, while the policy agenda is dom i n a ted largely by issues of econ om i c

devel opm ent and defense modern i z a ti on .In forei gn po l i c y, gen erous aid is no lon ger

provi ded to radical ideo l ogy - b a s ed movem ents or regi m e s . Some Chinese sch o l a rs , for

i n s t a n ce ,su ggest that a cen tral re a s on for the wors ening of the PRC – North Kore a

rel a ti onship is Ch i n a’s relu ct a n ce to provi de Pyon gyang with unre s tri cted aid and

financial assistance as it had before .2 4

With the decline of Ma oi s m ,a n o t h er altern a tive voi ce—a qu a s i - l i beral disco u rs e — h a s

em er ged among Ch i n a’s military officials and analys t s . This disco u rs e ,wh i ch stre s s e s

pe aceful approaches to re s o lving inters t a te dispute s , also recogn i zes that under cert a i n

c i rc u m s t a n ce s ,m i l i t a ry force as a deterrent may en h a n ce the ch a n ces of pe acef u l

2 0 From Class Identity to National Identity
re s o luti on of i n ters t a te disputes in on e’s own favor, and that diplom a tic nego ti a ti ons may

s erve as del aying tactics for gaining prep a ra ti on time for war (huanbing zhiji) or as a way

to evade re s pon s i bi l i ty (tueihuei zheren) .Yet qu a s i - l i berals em ph a s i ze that pe acef u l

a pproaches tow a rd re s o lving inters t a te disputes may be more de s i ra ble than the threat or

use of force for re a s ons other than mere stra t a gems for rel a tive ga i n s .

To be su re , the predominant con s erva tive - n a ti onalist voi ce in the Chinese military ’s

d i s co u rs e ,u n l i ke the Ma oist and qu a s i - l i beral stra i n s , contains a strong defen s ive

ori en t a ti on . The em phasis on nati onal iden ti ty and the con s o l i d a ti on of n a ti onal borders

cl e a rly moves the con s erva tive - n a ti onalist worl dvi ew aw ay from the Ma oist preocc u p ati on with su pport for revo luti on a ry movem ents in faraw ay places to a con cern wi t h

proximal sec u ri ty threats that direct ly affect Ch i n a’s nati onal interests—the co h e s i on of

the Chinese nati on foremost among them .

How does the con s erva tive - n a ti onalist disco u rse con ceptu a l i ze su ch thre a t s ,e s pec i a lly

in a more interdepen dent world? The next secti on of this stu dy examines su ch a

redef i n i ti on of t h reats in the military ’s con s erva tive - n a ti onalist disco u rs e .

From Class Identity to National Identity 2 1
T

o the ex tent that internal iden ti ty and sec u ri ty are def i n ed by ex ternal insec u ri ty

and thre a t ,s trenuous ef forts have been made to dem on s tra te su ch insec u ri ty and

t h re a t .Aga i n , no lon ger ti ed to dom e s tic and tra n s n a ti onal class antagon i s m , su ch

t h reats are now iden ti f i ed with the nati on - s t a te .The new threats fall into three major

c a tegori e s : the gen eral com peti tive natu re of i n ters t a te rel a ti on s h i p s ,wh i ch may affect

Chinese nati onal power rel a tive to other co u n tri e s ; the “n ew fron ti ers”of i n ters t a te

com peti ti on that may inten s i f y, and in wh i ch the su rvival interest of China would be

n ega tively affected if China does not en ga ge in that com peti ti on ; and direct threats to the

terri torial integri ty of Ch i n a .

The PRC in a Competitive International Enviro n m e n t

On inters t a te rel a ti on s h i p s ,the new military disco u rse now shares the realist vi ew that

su ch rel a ti onships ref l ect the interests of s overei gn ,a uton omous nati on - s t a te s .What is

similar bet ween this disco u rse and the earl i er Ma oist disco u rse is that both assu m e

rel a ti onships are nece s s a ri ly dom i n a ted more by com peti ti on and stru ggle than by

accom m od a ti on and coopera ti on .What is new is that inters t a te com peti ti on rep l ace s

i n terclass antagonism as the new form of s tru ggl e .

S pec i f i c a lly, while many in the West bel i eve that the decline of i n tense ideo l ogi c a l ,

bi polar com peti ti on and the accel era ti on of econ omic interdepen den ce wi ll increase the

ch a n ces of i n ters t a te coopera ti on and pe ace , the Chinese military disco u rse is less

sanguine abo ut su ch a pro s pect . Some military thinkers argue that as su perpowers

become incre a s i n gly unintere s ted in peri ph eral are a s ,regi onal power vacuums may

em er ge .This may provi de the incen tive for secon d - ti er powers to seek regi onal hegem ony

by inti m i d a ting we a ker advers a ri e s ;t h i s ,in tu rn ,m ay tri gger arms races su ch as the on e s

that alre ady have occ u rred in the Mi d dle East and As i a .2 5 Su ch arms races may escalate

and ex tend into the realm of nu cl e a r, ch em i c a l , and bi o l ogical we a pon s .In the lon ger ru n ,

these factors may increase the prob a bi l i ty of regi onal wars and, in some situ a ti on s , even

regi onal nu clear wars .2 6

Si m i l a rly, econ omic interdepen den ce may con s train war if a ll parties assume that the

cost of going to war, wh i ch is ex acerb a ted by disru pted econ omic interdepen den ce , is too

h i gh to ri s k .But the Gu l f Wa r,in wh i ch Iraq swi f t ly invaded Kuwait and then was qu i ck ly

defe a ted by U. S . - l ed all i ed force s ,s h owed that co u n tries do go to war to pro tect or prom o te

econ omic interests wh en it is assu m ed that war can be won qu i ck ly and dec i s ively so that

costs can be minimized .Al s o, m i l i t a ry opera ti ons are sti ll carri ed out to prevent we a pon s

pro l i fera ti on and to stop drug tra f f i ck i n g, as shown in the Is raeli raid on Iraqi nu cl e a r

2 2 f ac i l i ties and the U. S .i nva s i on of Pa n a m a ,re s pectively. In ad d i ti on , econ om i c a lly we a ken ed

Th re e

C h i n a ’s New Conception 

of National Security Th re at s
s t a tes may attem pt to en h a n ce their status by a military bu i l dup or by figh ting small wars .

Ri ch co u n tries can afford to spend a large amount of m on ey to sustain high - qu a l i ty

m i l i t a ry forces wi t h o ut having their econ omies nega tively affected .F i n a lly, a rms sales of fer

h i gh ly prof i t a ble businesses for many We s tern co u n tri e s .All these factors may prom o te

m i l i t a ry con f l i cts in the futu re , according to the new military disco u rs e .27 

Fu rt h erm ore ,while it is true that the prob a bi l i ty of war among We s tern states is low

s i n ce the end of the Cold Wa r, the ch a n ces of m i l i t a ry con f l i cts among the non - We s tern

devel oping co u n tries can be high .We s tern co u n tries en j oy a high er level of econ om i c

devel opm ent and share similar cultu ral norm s . However, in the devel oping co u n tri e s ,

rapid pop u l a ti on growt h , a lack of em p l oym ent opportu n i ties and inve s tm ent capital for

devel opm en t , and rapid dep l eti on of re s o u rces for feeding the pop u l a ti on lead to

com peti ti on for limited capital and natu ral re s o u rce s . Su ch com peti ti on may som eti m e s

cause military con f l i ct s .2 8 Al s o, most of the non - We s tern co u n tries are heterogen eous in

rel i gi ons and et h n i c i ty ei t h er within their soc i eties or bet ween them .This su ggests that the

ch a n ces for com m on ly agreed norms to reg u l a te both intra- and inters t a te rel a ti on s h i p s

a re rel a tively low. F i n a lly,s i n ce many of these co u n tries have artificial borders impo s ed by

the Eu ropean co l onial powers ,d i s p utes over border terri tories may occur more frequ en t ly.

These factors may increase the prob a bi l i ty of m i l i t a ry con f l i cts in the devel oping worl d .2 9

The new disco u rse goes on to assert that because con f l i cts in the devel oping world may

a f fect We s tern intere s t s ,t h ey may provi de incen tives for the West to intervene militari ly.

As the gap bet ween the West and the non - West expands ra p i dly because of accel era ted

s c i en tific and tech n o l ogical ch a n ges in the We s t , the con s traint on the West to con du ct

m i l i t a ry opera ti ons in non - We s tern areas may be rem oved , and these areas may be used as

te s ting grounds for the We s t’s new military doctrine and high - tech we a pon ry.3 0 F i n a lly,

su ch con f l i cts are not con f i n ed to the rel a ti onship bet ween and among the devel op i n g

co u n tries or bet ween the West and the non - We s t . The tra n s i ti onal co u n tries in the form er

Sovi et Un i on and Eastern Eu rope are also fra u ght with et h n i c ,rel i gi o u s , and terri tori a l

ten s i ons and dispute s ,s ome of wh i ch have alre ady eru pted into open military con f l i ct s .3 1

In short , con tra ry to the procl a m a ti ons of s ome We s tern thinkers that the end of t h e

Cold War is the end of h i s tory and the triu m ph of We s tern liberal-capitalist insti tuti on s

and norm s ,the Chinese military disco u rse treats the Cold Wa r ’s end as the rem oval of t h e

fet ters of cl a s s - b a s ed po l i tical ideo l ogy on history.As a re su l t ,h i s tory begins as the Co l d

War en d s ,u s h ering in a mu l ti po l a r, yet anarch i c , era in the intern a ti onal realm in wh i ch

n a ti on - s t a tes are the cen tral actors , an era that be a rs similari ty to another Ch i n e s e

h i s torical peri od known as the “S pring and Autumn and the Wa rring State s” (chunqiu

zhanguo) .In su ch an era ,“l i fe in some co u n tries may be ri ch , open , co l orf u l , and civi l i zed .

In other co u n tri e s ,h owever, it can be misera bl e , con ge s ted , and amora l .”In c re a s ed

econ omic interdepen den ce and cultu ral interacti on may fac i l i t a te mutu a lly ben ef i c i a l

devel opm ent and unders t a n d i n g, but they may also lead to more fri cti on and con f l i ct s

than if su ch interacti on had not occ u rred .In ters t a te rel a ti onships may becom e

i n c re a s i n gly vo l a tile and unstable with accel era ted gl obal econ omic and tech n o l ogi c a l

ch a n ge . Some co u n tries may be doom ed to poverty for being unable to narrow the

wi dening gap bet ween them s elves and the adva n ced indu s trial and tech n o l ogical worl d .

While the po s s i bi l i ty of a ze a l o u s ,i deo l ogy - d riven gl obal war may be a thing of the past,

China’s New Conception of National Security Threats 2 3
l i m i ted ,l ocal wars may occur more frequ en t ly for these re a s on s , according to the new

Chinese military disco u rs e .3 2

“ N ew Fro n t i e rs ”

Because China bel on gs to the Th i rd Worl d , as cl a i m ed by the new military disco u rs e ,t h e

co u n try is faced with the grim pro s pect of i n ters t a te com peti ti on for re s o u rces and space .

Accord i n gly,the issue of “n ew fron ti ers”has em er ged as a cen tral them e .These fron ti ers are

wh ere futu re inters t a te com peti ti on would inten s i f y, and wh ere Ch i n a’s con ti nu a ti on as a

vi a ble nati on - s t a te would be ch a ll en ged if it chose not to parti c i p a te in the com peti ti on .

Some discussions have foc u s ed on An t a rctica and outer space as stra tegic fron ti ers ;

3 3

h owever, the oceans have drawn the most atten ti on in the new military disco u rs e .

Some wri ters argue that the oceans wi ll become the principal focal point of con ten ti on

a m ong the devel oping co u n tri e s .Am ong their re a s ons is that the demand for food s tu f fs

wi ll grow trem en do u s ly with rapid pop u l a ti on growth in most of these co u n tries and

with improved living standards in some of t h em .At the same ti m e , growth in the gra i n

su pp ly may soon re ach its limit because of a finite amount of a ra ble land and pastu re s .

The tech n o l ogical revo luti on in agri c u l tu ral produ cti on may soon re ach its limit in

enhancing produ ctivi ty. The incre a s i n gly prec a rious balance bet ween demand and su pp ly

wi ll force the atten ti on of the devel oping co u n tries on the oceans as a rel a tively

u n derex p l ored fron ti er ri ch in fish and plant re s o u rce s .

3 4

Moreover, accel era ting indu s trial devel opm ent in these co u n tries wi ll soon ex h a u s t

the re s erves of m i n eral and other raw material re s o u rces of i n du s trial and econ om i c

va lu e . On the other hand, deep seabed mineral depo s i t s , su ch as manganese nodu l e s

( containing the raw materials for el ectron i c , aero s p ace , and mach i n ery indu s tries) and

cobalt (for steel all oy used to make missiles and rocket s ) ,a re abundant and, in the case of

m a n ganese nodu l e s , even growi n g. L i ke oceanic food re s o u rce s , these deep seabed

deposits remain rel a tively unex p l oi ted .3 5 Fu rt h erm ore ,c u rrent econ omic devel opm ent is

l ed largely by fossil fuel s ,su ch as coal and oi l . The non ren ew a ble natu re of these fuel s ,

co u p l ed with incre a s ed ex tracti on and con su m pti on , wi ll even tu a lly exhaust proven

re s erves on land and again would focus the atten ti on of most con su m ers to of fs h ore

re s erve s , wh i ch are abundant and sti ll rel a tively underdevel oped . The difficulty of

devel oping atomic en er gy because of s c a rce ura n ium re s erves and the high cost of

ex tracti on may also direct atten ti on to the oceans as a source of the hyd rogen isotope

deuterium (“h e avy water ” ) .3 6

F i n a lly, econ omic devel opm ent and pro s peri ty are usu a lly assoc i a ted with gl obal trade ,

and robust trade depends on rel a tively unfet tered access to tra n s port a ti on ro ute s ,

i n cluding sea lanes. Because coastal and mari time regi ons are ti ed more cl o s ely than the

h i n terland to su ch ro ute s ,t h ey also tend to be cen ters of econ omic pro s peri ty. As su ch ,

t h ey are the major sources of i n ternal revenu e , and their sec u ri ty is crucial to the su rviva l

of a co u n try.At the same ti m e ,t h eir ex po su re makes them vu l n era ble to forei gn military

a t t ack s . Th erefore ,t h eir sec u ri ty and pro tecti on determine wh et h er a co u n try can

con ti nue to exist in the fierce inters t a te com peti ti on for su rviva l , according to the Ch i n e s e

m i l i t a ry disco u rs e .3 7

2 4 China’s New Conception of National Security Threats
An a lysts point out that Ch i n a’s ara ble land per capita is on ly a third of the worl d ’s

avera ge , but that the co u n try must feed the worl d ’s largest pop u l a ti on ,whose growth wi ll

not level of f u n til the middle of the next cen tu ry even if the current family planning po l i c y

is ef fectively implem en ted .Al s o, i n du s trial and econ omic devel opm ent is ra p i dly dep l eti n g

raw material and en er gy re s o u rces on land. Im porting en er gy means diverting revenue that

could be used for other types of devel opm en t .In the meanti m e ,China is tra n s form i n g

i t s el f f rom a landl ocked ,a gri c u l tu ral econ omy to a mari time trading econ omy. This leave s

China no ch oi ce , according to the new military disco u rs e , but to parti c i p a te in the

i n ten s i f i ed com peti ti on for su rvival and devel opm ent space in the oce a n s .3 8

Territorial Th re at s

Be s i des new fron ti ers ,d i rect threats to Ch i n a’s terri torial integri ty have also become a

focus of the new military disco u rs e .Wh en the Ma oi s t , cl a s s - b a s ed disco u rse was

dom i n a n t ,the integri ty of n a ti onal terri tory was not a cen tral issu e . To stren g t h en cl a s s

and united - f ront solidari ty or fri en d s h i p, p a rcels of terri tory were ceded to forei gn

co u n tri e s .3 9Al s o, dom e s tic class stru ggle and civil war nece s s a ri ly divi ded the otherwi s e

u n i f i ed nati on .A gl a ring example is the sep a ra ti on of K M T- con tro ll ed Ta iwan from the

C C P- govern ed mainland, the outcome of l ong ye a rs of cl a s s - b a s ed civil war. Bec a u s e

n a ti onal iden ti ty and interests are now of p a ramount import a n ce in the new military

d i s co u rs e ,“reterri tori a l i z a ti on”of the Chinese nati on has become a cen tral them e : “Th e

core of n a ti onal interests is its terri torial integri ty. . . . A nati on cannot exist wi t h o ut

terri tory.”Th erefore ,“ wh et h er nati onal terri tory is sec u red affects cru c i a lly the su rviva l

and devel opm ent of the Chinese nati on and the livel i h ood of gen era ti ons to com e .”Wh i l e

the world is becoming small er because of tech n o l ogical adva n ces in com mu n i c a ti on and

tra n s port a ti on , “it is sti ll very difficult to find a single co u n try that would share its

terri tory with other co u n tri e s .”

4 0 Because internal iden ti ty and integri ty are based on and

def i n ed by ex ternal differen ces and thre a t s , the cen tral issue becom e s :What con s ti tute s

the major threat to Ch i n a’s terri torial integri ty? 

Ta i wan and Maritime Te r r i t o r i e s

The gre a test sec u ri ty thre a t , according to Ch i n a’s new military disco u rs e , is the con ti nu ed

d ivi s i on of the Chinese nati on .Af ter the retu rn of Hong Kong and Macao to Ch i n a ,t h e

cen tral issue is the po l i tical sep a ra ti on of Ta iwan from the mainland. This sep a ra ti on

a ll egedly thre a tens Ch i n a’s su rvival in several ways .F i rst of a ll ,Ta iw a n’s sep a ra ti on may

repre s ent sym bolic su pport for sep a ra tist forces in other areas on the margins of Ch i n a ,

su ch as Ti bet ,wh i ch direct ly thre a tens the unity and su rvival of the Chinese nati on .

Moreover, a sep a ra te Ta iwan well arm ed with of fen s ive we a pons direct ly thre a tens Ch i n a’s

m ore pro s perous coastal and mari time regi on s .Al s o, a hostile Ta iwan may become an

ob s t acle in Ch i n a’s ef fort to devel op ocean re s o u rce s .These factors affect Ch i n a’s su rviva l

i n terest nega tively.4 1

Fu rt h erm ore , according to the disco u rs e , “Ta iwan is geo s tra tegi c a lly loc a ted at the

con f lu en ce of Ch i n e s e ,Am eri c a n , and Japanese stra tegic intere s t s .” Hen ce ,“Am eri c a

i n tends to ch eck China in po l i tical terms and pro tect its econ omic interests in Ta iw a n .”

Th erefore , the Un i ted States sells adva n ced arms to Ta iwan “far beyond the need for

China’s New Conception of National Security Threats 2 5
Ta iw a n’s sel f - defen s e .”Wi t h o ut ef fective con trol of Ta iw a n ,“the U. S . defen s ive line wi ll

retreat thousands of k i l om eters to Guam and Haw a i i .” Japan has also coveted Ta iw a n :

“500 mill i on tons of Ja p a n’s raw materials each year and 85 percent of its en er gy are

s h i pped thro u gh the sea lanes around Ta iw a n . Ships that carry materials to Japan pass

t h ro u gh the Ta iwan Strait every 12 minute s .If these sea lanes are cut of f , the Ja p a n e s e

econ omy wi ll be fatally jeop a rd i zed . . . . Japan is cert a i n ly unwi lling to all ow its lifeline to

pass under a unified Ch i n a .”The Un i ted States and Japan may thre a ten Ch i n a’s su rvival in

a t tem pting to prevent Ch i n a’s reu n i f i c a ti on .4 2

An o t h er major threat to Ch i n a’s su rvival con cerns the dispute bet ween China and its

n ei gh bors over mari time terri tori e s .China disagrees with North Kore a , So uth Kore a ,a n d

Japan over how to define each co u n try ’s con ti n ental shel f in the Yell ow Sea and the East

China Se a . Both China and Japan claim soverei gn ty over Di a oy utai (Sen k a k u ) .China and

Vi etnam also disagree on how to draw the border line in the Tonkin (Bei bu) Gu l f .4 3 Th e

most con ten tious issu e ,h owever, is the Spra t l ey Islands in the So uth China Se a .

Ch i n a’s new military disco u rse vi ews the Spra t l eys as crucial to Ch i n a’s su rvival intere s t

for several re a s on s .Al t h o u gh all the isles and reefs amount to on ly 20 squ a re kilom eters ,

the Law of the Sea Tre a ty indicates that wh a tever state con trols the Spra t l eys can cl a i m

s overei gn ty over the 800,000 squ a re kilom eters of m a ri time terri tory in the So uth Ch i n a

Se a . This is an area known as the “s econd Mi d dle East,”ri ch in oil and natu ral gas re s erve s ;

it also has ri ch mineral and tropical plant and fish re s o u rce s .The Spra t l eys strad dle the

vital sea lanes bet ween the Indian Ocean and the Pac i f i c , but more import a n t ,t h e

s o ut h ernmost reef of the Spra t l eys is more than 1,600 kilom eters aw ay from Ha i n a n

Is l a n d . “This mari time defense depth is of c rucial import a n ce to the sec u ri ty of o u r

co u n try under con d i ti ons of m odern we a pon tech n o l ogy (wh i ch ren ders military stri ke s

l on ger ra n ge ,f a s ter, and more prec i s e ) ,”according to Ch i n a’s new military disco u rs e .If t h e

S pra t l eys are occ u p i ed or con tro ll ed by other co u n tri e s , “our mari time defense peri m eter

would be redu ced by several hu n d red kilom eters .Al s o, our econ omic and military

activi ties in the So uth China Sea would be con s tra i n ed by other co u n tri e s .”

4 4

An a lysts note that while China has histori c a lly cl a i m ed soverei gn ty over the Spra t l ey

Is l a n d s , and while Vi etn a m , the Philipp i n e s , Ma l ays i a ,In don e s i a , and Bru n ei have also

m ade similar cl a i m s , most of the isles are occ u p i ed by forei gn co u n tri e s . More import a n t ,

these co u n tries have sped up the ex p l ora ti on of oil and natu ral gas and the con s tru cti on

of perm a n ent stru ctu res su ch as lighthouses and other qu a s i - m i l i t a ry fac i l i ties ac ross the

a rch i pel a go. Because the So uth China Sea is the salient aspect of Ch i n a’s “n ew fron ti er,”

these claims and activi ties have direct ly vi o l a ted the terri torial integri ty of the Ch i n e s e

n a ti on and thre a ten its devel opm en t ,su rviva l , and stra tegic intere s t s .4 5

Border Threats

The land border bet ween China and its nei gh bors , according to this disco u rs e , is another

a rea wh ere Ch i n a’s su rvival interest may be thre a ten ed .While three - qu a rters of the more

than 20,000-kilom eter- l ong land border has been set t l ed thro u gh diplom a ti c

n ego ti a ti on s ,the rest sti ll remains to be re s o lved .The 2,000-kilom eter- l ong Si n o - In d i a n

border has yet to be agreed on by the two side s .India sti ll “occ u p i e s”a regi on of m ore

than 90,000 squ a re kilom eters on the eastern sector and an area of 450 squ a re kilom eters

2 6 China’s New Conception of National Security Threats
on the we s tern sector of the border. Both co u n tries also disagree over an area of m ore

than 2,000 squ a re kilom eters in its middle sector. Si m i l a rly, the land border bet ween

China and Vi etnam has yet to be cl e a rly def i n ed .Al s o, a l t h o u gh China and Russia re ach ed

a greem ent over the eastern sector (4,200 kilom eters) and the we s tern sector (54

k i l om eters) of t h eir com m on border in 1991 and 1994,d i s a greem ent over major islands

on the Hei l ong River and Us su ri River has yet to be revo lved .The linkage bet ween

ex ternal “a n t a gon i s ti c” forces and rel i gious and ethnic “s ep a ra ti s t”forces in Ti bet and

Xinjiang may also undermine the terri torial integri ty and therefore the su rviva l of t h e

Chinese nati on .4 6

F i n a lly, the ten s i on bet ween the North and the So uth on the Korean Pen i n sula may

also jeop a rd i ze Ch i n a’s nati onal sec u ri ty.E con omic decline and famine in the Nort h ,t h e

relu ct a n ce of the North Korean govern m ent to introdu ce econ omic reform , its interest in

nu clear we a pon s , and the military standof f rei n forced by a con ti nu ed U. S .m i l i t a ry

pre s en ce in the So uth may cause instabi l i ty both in North Korea and in Nort h - So ut h

rel a ti on s .A po s s i ble co llapse of the North or the eru pti on of war may mean a high

s ec u ri ty cost for Ch i n a , ei t h er thro u gh massive ref u gee inflows or the need to take

preven tive measu res to en su re its own sec u ri ty.4 7

Means to Neutralize Th re at s

If the new military disco u rse vi ews threats ori gi n a ting from con f l i cts bet ween nati on a l

i n tere s t s ,no lon ger bet ween antagon i s tic classes that tra n s cend nati onal borders ,t h e

means to neutra l i ze su ch threats may also have to be vi ewed as nationally organized

ra t h er than class-based. Th erefore , the arti c u l a ti on of su ch means has cen tered on three

t h em e s :n a ti onal unity, the cen tral role of a nati onal military force in defusing ex tern a l

t h re a t s , and con s o l i d a ti on of the nati onal terri torial border.

National Unity

The end of the Cold War rem oved the danger of a gl obal ideo l ogical con f l a gra ti on ,a n d

this cert a i n ly en h a n ces Ch i n a’s sec u ri ty. On the other hand, according to the disco u rs e ,

China sti ll faces many ex ternal thre a t s ,a l beit limited in scope .In su ch a com peti tive

envi ron m ent fill ed with uncert a i n ty and thre a t s ,i n ternal iden ti ty and co h e s iveness are

deem ed absolutely nece s s a ry to diffuse su ch ex ternal thre a t s . For this to happen ,h owever,

the revo luti on a ry con cept of “l a r ge-scale class stru ggl e”n eeds to be jet ti s on ed bec a u s e

su ch stru ggle leads to internal infigh ting and divi s i on ;u n dermines nati onal unity; a n d ,i n

this case, i m pedes the Chinese from iden ti f ying with the Chinese nati on .4 8

Moreover,econ omic reform “has produ ced different strata and groups that have differen t

i n tere s t s . . . . Even in the state bu re a u c rac y,f i n a n c i a l , po l i ti c a l , and military agencies have

d i f ferent interests and need s .Th ey all have some impact on po l i c ymaking and

i m p l em en t a ti on , and influ en ce nati onal beh avi or to a certain ex ten t .”However,“a n

i m portant indicator of a matu re modern nati on is its abi l i ty to tra n s cend party, cl a s s , et h n i c

and other group interests .. .and make policy based on nati onal intere s t s .”This is bec a u s e

“n a ti onal interests are high er than any particular interest or the sum of a ll parti c u l a r

i n terests in a nati on .”To coord i n a te intere s t s ,the govern m ent may set reg u l a ti ons and

devel op insti tuti ons for ch a n n eling diverse interests to the com m on intere s t s .4 9

China’s New Conception of National Security Threats 2 7
More import a n t ,“a com m on goal needs to be caref u lly ch o s en and arti c u l a ted so that

people can iden tify with it in their hearts and minds.”This goal cannot be so broad and

l of ty (as in the noti on of world revo luti on) that it cannot be re a l i zed and is therefore

i rrel evant to the avera ge pers on ,n or so narrow that it exclu des many people (as in the

con cept of class stru ggl e ) .“The survival of the Chinese nation is an ideal com m on goa l .”

It is not too broad or too narrow, and it also con n o tes a “consciousness of worry and

con cern”(youhuan yisi) over ex ternal thre a t s .“This consciousness should sti mu l a te a

s ense of re s pon s i bi l i ty over the de s ti ny of the nati on , and an en terprising spirit to improve

the su rvival envi ron m ent of the co u n try.” This in tu rn provi des the com m on a l ty that

s erves the basis of n a ti onal co h e s iveness and unity.5 0

To furt h er rei n force popular iden ti f i c a ti on with this com m on goa l , it is also nece s s a ry

to open up the gen eral qu e s ti on of n a ti onal defense to public deb a te .“Wi t h o ut

u n derstanding the rel evant issues thro u gh deb a te , people wi ll have probl ems in

i den ti f ying with this goa l .”Al s o,s ome level of ra ti onal and intell i gent deb a te may redu ce

the ch a n ces for policy blu n ders .As noted , “m a ny dec i s i ons to launch and escalate wars are

b a s ed on miscalculati on of o t h er co u n tri e s’i n ten ti ons and capabi l i ti e s . These dec i s i on s

cause internal divi s i on , econ omic depre s s i on , and po l i tical tu rm oi l ,o utcomes con tra ry to

the ori ginal wishes of these co u n tri e s .”On the other hand, too mu ch public deb a te may

also undermine cen tral coord i n a ti on and con tro l , and cause con f u s i on ,m i s c a l c u l a ti on ,

and escalati on of i n ters t a te ten s i on .Th erefore ,su ch deb a te requ i res careful coord i n a ti on .

“Con c rete ,s pecific military and diplom a tic programs are not su bj ects to open deb a te .”

5 1

The Role of Military Fo rc e

Beyond nati onal unity,s pecific met h ods em p l oyed by the state to avert threats are also

ex ten s ively discussed in the disco u rs e .“ Po l i tical diplom ac y, econ omic coopera ti on ,a n d

s c i en tific and cultu ral exch a n ge all serve to en h a n ce nati onal intere s t s .” The qu a s i - l i bera l

d i s co u rse points out , for instance , that to fight wars , co u n tries must sustain unu su a lly

h i gh military ex pen d i tu re s ,d raining scarce re s o u rces from and del aying econ om i c

devel opm en t . For states that lack overwh elming unilateral su peri ori ty, pro tracted

i n ters t a te wars also nega tively affect econ omic interests and sec u ri ty of n ei gh bori n g

co u n tri e s , as shown by the Ira n - Iraq war, i nva ri a bly con tri buting to a regi onal econ om i c

rece s s i on .Moreover, adva n cem ents in military tech n o l ogy ren der modern war unpreceden tedly de s tru ctive .Al s o, with pro l i fera ti on of we a pons of mass de s tru cti on ,war may

m ore easily escalate and cross the nu clear thre s h o l d . Th erefore ,ra t h er than ach i eving the

de s i red obj ective ,s t a tes may find con du cting a modern war pro h i bi tively co s t ly.

Fu rt h erm ore ,l a u n ching wars over terri torial disputes may not nece s s a ri ly lead to a

f u n d a m ental re s o luti on of i s sues and points of con ten ti on . On the con tra ry, as shown in

border wars bet ween Iran and Ira q ,Iraq and Kuw a i t , Syria and Jord a n , and India and

Pa k i s t a n ,war ex acerb a tes ten s i ons and deepens hatred ,s owing the seeds for newer wars ,

f u rt h er disru pting border stabi l i ty.5 2

Because Th i rd World co u n tri e s ,i n cluding Ch i n a ,a re rel a tively poor,t h eir cen tral task is

econ omic devel opm en t , the su ccess of wh i ch depends on a pe aceful envi ron m ent and

pe aceful re s o luti on of i n ters t a te dispute s . The pe aceful re s o luti on of su ch disputes not

on ly en a bles these co u n tries to con cen tra te their re s o u rces and atten ti on on devel op i n g

2 8 China’s New Conception of National Security Threats
t h eir own econ om i e s ,it is also con du c ive to enhancing mutual understanding and tru s t ,

wh i ch should con tri bute to a fri en dly envi ron m ent in wh i ch econ omic coopera ti on and

exch a n ge may thrive .F i n a lly, the pe aceful re s o luti on of d i s p utes may deter power po l i ti c s

and hegem on i s m . Because inters t a te disputes over terri tories and natu ral re s o u rces may

provi de excuses for interven ti on by major powers and the vi o l a ti on of s overei gn ty of

co u n tries invo lved , pe aceful re s o luti on of these disputes may redu ce the con d i ti ons for

i n terven ti on ,t hus reducing the po ten tial for su ch acti ons by a su perpower.5 3

If pe aceful re s o luti on of d i s p utes can som etimes be more de s i ra ble than the threat or

use of force ,what then are the specific approach e s , according to Ch i n a’s new military

d i s co u rse? Th ree are spec i f i ed in the qu a s i - l i beral disco u rs e :n ego ti a ti on ,m i l i t a ry

d i p l om ac y, and non l ethal means of re s o lving dispute s .F i rs t ,s everal major aspects of

n ego ti a ti on have been ex p l i c a ted .In border dispute s , for instance ,n ego ti a ti on requ i re s

f i rst of a ll that steps be taken to maintain the status quo and tra n qu i l i ty — i n clu d i n g

wi t h d rawing arm ed pers on n el from , or preven ting them from en teri n g, the disputed

a reas—and to establish a mechanism of veri f i c a ti on based on mutual trust to incre a s e

tra n s p a ren c y. A joint inve s ti ga ti on of the dispute is also nece s s a ry to cl a rify the curren t

s t a tus and to establish the factual basis for nego ti a ti on s .5 4

Du ring the nego ti a ti on s ,s everal principles may be fo ll owed . One su ch principle is

“mutual understanding and accom m od a ti on” (huliang hura n g) ,requ i ring both sides to

sit down pe acef u lly, explain in earnest their own po s i ti on and listen pati en t ly to the other

s i de’s vi ew, and attem pt to find com m on a l ties and narrow differen ce s . This principle not

on ly helps to ex p l ore mutu a lly accept a ble ways of re s o lving the dispute but also en h a n ce s

mutual understanding and tru s t ,t hus cre a ting a po s i tive and fri en dly atm o s ph ere , wh i ch

should en h a n ce the ch a n ces of re aching agreem en t .In gen era l , the qu a s i - l i bera l

d i s co u rse urges fo ll owing the principle of being “fair and re a s on a bl e” (heqing hel i) : “All

co u n tries treat terri tory as sac red and invi o l a bl e , and are unwi lling to make terri tori a l

con ce s s i on to others .But if both sides pursue on ly unilateral interests and are

d i s re s pectful of the interests of the other side , this leads not on ly to irre s o luti on of

d i s p ute s , but may also thre a ten on e’s own terri torial soverei gn ty.”As a re su l t , it is bo t h

de s i ra ble and nece s s a ry to stri ke an appropri a te balance bet ween nati onal principle on

the one hand and flex i bi l i ty based on a good understanding of c u rrent re a l i ty on the

o t h er. F l ex i bi l i ty in tu rn should lead to mutual ad ju s tm ent and con ce s s i on s ,wh i ch may

provi de practical ben efits to both sides in a dispute .5 5

F i n a lly, in nego ti a ti ons on disputes over terri tories that are ri ch in natu ral re s o u rce s

and invo lve many co u n tri e s ,the basic principle is “s overei gn ty bel on gs to us, but dispute s

can be shelved , and ex p l ora ti on can be carri ed out joi n t ly.”The qu a s i - l i beral disco u rs e

ack n owl ed ges that certain disputes may be too difficult to re s o lve qu i ck ly because of ei t h er

too large a gap in understanding or the invo lvem ent of too many parti e s . One approach is

tre a ting the re s o luti on of the dispute as a prerequ i s i te for improving the overa ll inters t a te

rel a ti on s h i p.While this may serve as an impetus to search for a mutu a lly agreed - u pon

s o luti on , it may also increase the ch a n ces of m ore fri cti ons and misu n ders t a n d i n g,

po s s i bly leading to arm ed cl a s h e s .Na tu ra lly, this may not on ly nega tively affect the

i n ters t a te rel a ti on s h i p, but also com p l i c a te the terri torial dispute .An altern a tive approach

is to shelve the dispute for the time being and focus on improving the inters t a te

China’s New Conception of National Security Threats 2 9
rel a ti on s h i p.“This may con tri bute not on ly to the normalcy and stabi l i ty of the disputed

a re a , but also to dispelling mutual misu n derstanding of e ach other ’s po s i ti on .”Al s o, t h e

j oint ex p l ora ti on of n a tu ral re s o u rces con n ects the otherwise sep a ra te con tending parti e s

and bri n gs abo ut econ omic ben efits to all ,wh i ch may in tu rn con tri bute to a po s i tive

a tm o s ph ere for re a s on a ble re s o luti on of the dispute in the futu re .5 6

Mi l i t a ry diplom ac y, wh i ch is con s i dered an approach that may con tri bute to

a ll evi a ti on of i n ters t a te ten s i on s ,i nvo lves ports of c a ll and military pers on n el vi s i t s ,

j oint military exerc i s e s , and military parti c i p a ti on in intern a ti onal scien ti f i c

ex ped i ti on s . The qu a s i - l i beral disco u rse recogn i zes that military diplom acy may serve

egoi s tic nati onal intere s t s . For ex a m p l e ,m i l i t a ry visits may serve the purpose of

exercising influ en ce and con trol over small er state s ,wh i ch may also ex p l oit su ch

opportu n i ties to en h a n ce their own sec u ri ty. Ports of c a ll could also fulfill the goal 

of deterring po ten tial advers a ries by dem on s tra ting military migh t . Moreover, j oi n t

exercises and parti c i p a ti on in scien tific ex ped i ti ons may make it po s s i ble to en h a n ce

n a ti onal interests within bi l a teral and mu l ti l a teral insti tuti onal or legal fra m ework s .

On the other hand, qu a s i - l i berals argue that military diplom acy may indeed prom o te

mutual unders t a n d i n g, en h a n ce coopera ti on , and solidify fri en d s h i p, p a rti c u l a rly if i t

i n c reases tra n s p a rency rega rding military inten ti ons and capabi l i ti e s . This in tu rn

should con tri bute to lowered inters t a te ten s i on s .5 7

F i n a lly, n on l et h a l ,l ow - i n ten s i ty means of re s o lving disputes are another new approach

that has attracted sch o l a rly atten ti on .It is recogn i zed that particular types of defen s ive

m et h ods can be devel oped and dep l oyed to redu ce or prevent aggre s s ive or ill ega l

beh avi or of a forei gn intru der, but not to the ex tent of de s troying the intru der ’s arms and

pers on n el . This altern a tive in tu rn may “redu ce the ch a n ces for the dispute to escalate to

the levels of a diplom a tic inciden t , an arm ed con f l i ct , or even a regi onal war.”In re s o lvi n g

d i s p utes over fishing ri ghts and intere s t s , for instance ,n aval ships can be equ i pped wi t h

s pec i a l i zed fishnet cut ters ,wh i ch can damage the fishing equ i pm ent of the intru der but

not the intru der ’s ship and pers on n el .Al s o, i f forei gn warships cruise too close to nava l

b a s e s , towboats equ i pped with loudspe a kers can be used to warn intru ders aw ay from

terri torial waters ra t h er than firing warning or real shots. This approach should preven t

e s c a l a ti on that could be caused by more militari zed approach e s .5 8

While nece s s a ry, h owever, these met h ods are not su f f i c i ent to en su re the su rvival of t h e

Chinese nati on , according to the predominant voi ces in Ch i n a’s new military disco u rs e .

Because threats to su rvival may escalate into military con f l i ct s , the crucial role of m i l i t a ry

force must not be negl ected . Moreover, while some of these threats may be all evi a ted

t h ro u gh bi l a teral or mu l ti l a teral diplom acy and trade ,“a cred i ble military force po s tu re

m ay en h a n ce the ch a n ces for po l i tical and econ omic approaches to su cceed wi t h o ut

re s orting to force .”F i n a lly, the current em phasis on econ omic devel opm ent carries with it

the seed of a new com peti ti on .“Af ter twen ty or so ye a rs of s tra tegic ad ju s tm en t ,the worl d

wi ll en ter an era of f i erce com peti ti on .” In the meanti m e , accel era ted scien tific and

tech n o l ogical innova ti ons lead to great adva n ces in the soph i s ti c a ti on of a rm s . “Wh i l e

Ch i n a’s defense modern i z a ti on must su bord i n a te itsel f to econ omic devel opm en t ,

the ten dency of be a ting swords into plough s h a res also needs to be revers ed .” If t h e

tech n o l ogical gap bet ween China and other major co u n tries is all owed to wi den ra t h er

3 0 China’s New Conception of National Security Threats
than to be narrowed , China may end up in a “h o s t a ge cri s i s ,” in wh i ch its su rvival is at

s t a ke and therefore econ omic devel opm ent itsel f is en d a n gered .5 9

For the military to become an ef fective means to neutra l i ze threats and en h a n ce Ch i n a’s

su rvival intere s t ,s ome argue that the military itsel f n eeds to ad just on several fron t s .F i rst of

a ll ,n o ti ons su ch as world “class stru ggl e”or “po l i tics takes com m a n d ,”in wh i ch “s m a ll

d i s a greem ents are el eva ted to the level of class stru ggle and com rades are tre a ted as

en em i e s ,”must be abandon ed . Severe internal divi s i ons caused by these noti ons on ly

redu ce the ef fectiveness to deal with ex ternal thre a t s .Al s o, because the cen tral role of t h e

m i l i t a ry is now nati onal defense against ex ternal thre a t s ,ra t h er than class stru ggle aga i n s t

dom e s tic and ex ternal class en em i e s , its com po s i ti on and ide a ti onal out l ook should be

m ore n a tional than cl a s s - ba sed. This means that “u n der the banner of n a ti onal intere s t s ,we

do not requ i re that every military pers on n el becomes a com mu n i s t .But it is nece s s a ry that

everyone becomes a nati onalist (minzhu zhuyi ze) and a patriot (aiguo zhuyi z h e) .”

6 0

F i n a lly, because the military no lon ger serves the purpose of prom o ting internal cl a s s

s tru ggl e ,world revo luti on , or prep a ring for gl obal war, the Ma oist em phasis on “hu m a n

f actors” su ch as a “peop l e’s war”and “revo luti on a ry con s c i o u s n e s s”has been largely 

de - em ph a s i zed .The new em phasis has been placed on devel oping tech n o l ogy - i n ten s ive

s ervi ces su ch as the nav y, the spec i a l - opera ti ons and qu i ck - re acti on det ach m ents of t h e

ground force s , the air force , and the stra tegic missile force s . Su ch devel opm ent stre s s e s

m obi l i ty - b a s ed force proj ecti on ,su rviva bi l i ty, and let h a l i ty.

The shift of em phasis from “peop l e’s war”to tech n o l ogy is all egedly nece s s a ry for severa l

re a s on s .Because futu re com peti ti on ,t h re a t s , and po ten tial military con f l i cts are more likely

to occur in the mari time regi ons and on the high seas, a navy more capable of forw a rd -

dep l oym ent is indispen s a bl e .L a n d - b a s ed threats may arise from border regi ons that ten d

to be geogra ph i c a lly rem o te and com p l ex ;su ch con f l i cts may occur unex pectedly and be

s h ort in du ra ti on .To gain the upper hand,s pec i a l - opera ti ons forces de s i gn ed for the

peculiar geogra phical con d i ti ons of a particular border regi on and rapid re acti on forces are

also absolutely nece s s a ry. Because “l ocal war under modern con d i ti on s”cannot be won

wi t h o ut air su peri ori ty, a more soph i s ti c a ted air force is also cru c i a l .Fu rt h erm ore , bec a u s e

of nu clear we a pons pro l i fera ti on , the nu clear opti on cannot be com p l etely exclu ded from

f utu re local war scen a ri o s ;h en ce , a stra tegic rocket force is also indispen s a bl e .F i n a lly,

because futu re threats are limited in scope , a cred i ble tech n o l ogy - b a s ed military deterren t

m ay be su f f i c i ent to keep threats from escalating into open con f l i ct s .6 1

Border Consolidation

The ways and means to con s o l i d a te Ch i n a’s long and com p l ex border are another cru c i a l

i s sue in the military ’s ideo l ogical and doctrinal shift as ref l ected in its new disco u rs e .

Du ring the Ma oist peri od , the sancti ty of this border was largely negl ected , and small

p i eces of terri tory were ceded in order to stren g t h en revo luti on a ry solidari ty and

f ri en d s h i p. In con tra s t , the new principle of border defense is “f i gh ting for every inch of

land and every drop of w a ter ” (cuntu bizheng, disui burang) . Su ch a principle “a pplies to

a ny co u n try, no matter how big or how powerful it is” ; it also applies to friendly co u n tri e s .

The military disco u rse notes that Ch i n a’s nort h ern border defense was negl ected du ri n g

the 1950s for re a s ons of revo luti on a ry solidari ty and fri en d s h i p, and that “China paid a

China’s New Conception of National Security Threats 3 1
h i gh cost as its rel a ti onship with its nort h ern nei gh bor [the Sovi et Un i on] deteri ora ted .”

As a re su l t , the disco u rse con clu de s , “s overei gn ty is soverei gn ty, and fri endship is

f ri en d s h i p. No matter how close and fri en dly, we can’t be gen erous on the terri tori a l

qu e s ti on .In intern a ti onal rel a ti on s ,i n ters t a te rel a ti onships shift frequ en t ly, but nati on a l

i n terests stay etern a l .”

6 2

S pec i f i c a lly, econ omic devel opm ent of the border regi ons is deem ed crucial to

n eutra l i ze threats and en h a n ce border sec u ri ty:“A high er living standard leads to pop u l a r

su pport for, and iden ti f i c a ti on wi t h ,the govern m ent and the military. With a hei gh ten ed

s ense of p a tri o ti s m , people are more wi lling to fo ll ow border reg u l a ti ons and parti c i p a te

in re s erve tra i n i n g.” Needless to say, econ omic devel opm ent also con tri butes to bet ter

s ocial order.E con omic pro s peri ty also helps to stabi l i ze the morale of the border military

units because military fac i l i ties are bet ter maintained , and com mu n i c a ti ons and

tra n s port a ti on are high ly devel oped .Convers ely,“ In econ om i c a lly back w a rd border

regi on s , people live a poor life ,i n f ra s tru ctu re is underdevel oped , and border defen s e

con s tru cti on is also we a k .All these make it very difficult to con du ct border defen s e

work .”

63 The military disco u rse notes in particular that the border bet ween China and

O uter Mon golia is rel a tively tra n qu i l . This is attri buted to the rel a tive econ omic pro s peri ty

of In n er Mon go l i a ,s temming from farming and trade—the envy of the Outer Mon gol i a n s ,who sti ll keep their nom adic way of l i fe . Si m i l a rly, it is hoped that an econ om i c

s tra tegy based on directing the more pro s perous coastal provi n ces to invest in Ti bet may

d a m pen popular su pport for “s ep a ra ti s m .”

6 4

However, econ omic con s o l i d a ti on must also be accom p a n i ed by military con s o l i d ati on .“Ot h erwi s e , econ omic pro s peri ty cannot be su s t a i n ed ,”according to the disco u rs e .

Border regi ons sti ll face po s s i ble “forei gn aggre s s i on ,” su bvers i on by ethnic and rel i gi o u s

“s ep a ra tist force s ,”and smu ggling and drug tra f f i ck i n g, a ll of wh i ch may disru pt stabi l i ty

a l ong the border. Mi l i t a ry con s o l i d a ti on first of a ll requ i res con cen tra ting re s o u rces on

“flash poi n t s” (re dian) wh ere disputes over terri torial and mari time interests con s ti tute a

“clear and pre s ent danger.”Secon d , it is nece s s a ry to con cen tra te re s o u rces on spec i f i c

i tems in the con tent of m i l i t a ry con s o l i d a ti on . For border regi ons on the plate a u ,t h e s e

i tems inclu de tra n s port a ti on and com mu n i c a ti ons fac i l i ti e s ,m a teri el stock p i l e s , and qu i ck

re acti on and con trol capabi l i ties in cold we a t h er and high alti tu de . For mari time regi on s ,

the items inclu de devel oping larger combat ships capable of “of fs h ore” (jin hai)

opera ti on s , a dep a rtu re from the old em phasis on small er ships for “coa s t a l ” (jin an)

defen s e , and med ium- and lon g - ra n ge combat airc ra f t .6 5

F i n a lly, the narrow and static noti on of “g u a rding the border ” (shubian) must be

rep l aced by the more modern and dynamic con cept of “f l ex i ble border defen s e”(da

bianfang) , according to the military disco u rs e . Shubian refers to the defense of a stati c

land or coastal “l i n e” f rom en emy cro s s i n g, but “tod ay, su ch line-based defense cannot

f u l f i ll the sac ro s a n ct task of border defen s e ,s i n ce modern border defense invo lves the

mu l tiple tasks of defending against forei gn aggre s s i on ,s ec u ring border social stabi l i ty,

prom o ting border econ omic devel opm en t , and enhancing interacti on with forei gn

co u n tri e s .”Da bianfang a ll egedly meets the new requ i rem ents of n a ti onal sec u ri ty for

s everal re a s on s — a bove all , for the cre a ti on of a more su b s t a n tial border- m a n a gem en t

s p ace . For instance ,“it corrects the unscien tific error of the old con cept tre a ting Ch i n a’s

3 2 China’s New Conception of National Security Threats
coastal line as the border.”In s te ad ,the coastal line is now cl a i m ed to be the center of

Ch i n a’s econ omic activi ti e s , as the imagi n ed border is pushed con s i dera bly out w a rd .Al s o,

the new con cept “relies on adva n ced recon n a i s s a n ce tech n o l ogies to cre a te a more

su b s t a n tial su rvei ll a n ce space .” This “su rvei ll a n ce space”in tu rn gains more early warn i n g

time for re acti on ,t hus enhancing Ch i n a’s sec u ri ty. F i n a lly, u n l i ke the old con cept ,wh i ch

s tresses passive re acti on and re s i s t a n ce ,the new con cept requ i res the dep l oym ent of

m odern military tech n o l ogi e s . Su ch tech n o l ogies make it po s s i ble for China to deter

provoc a ti on ,t hus furt h er en su ring Ch i n a’s su rvival intere s t .6 6

O f co u rs e , it is one thing to argue that military thinkers and analysts have parti c u l a r

vi ews on how their co u n try ’s nati onal sec u ri ty policies should be ori en ted and pri ori ti zed .

It is qu i te another thing to attem pt to show that these vi ews — e s pec i a lly if t h ey to u ch on

su ch an amorphous yet crucial issue as nati onal iden ti ty — go largely unmed i a ted into the

s tu f f of po l i c ym a k i n g. Even in matu re com munist regi m e s ,wh ere party,s t a te , and the

s ec u ri ty app a ra tus en j oy a high degree of co llu s i on ,the arm ed forces have alw ays been

su bj ected to po l i tical con trol and party discipline.

Yet in the case of the PRC ,the con s erva tive nati onalist strain of the military ’s disco u rs e ,

while not defining Chinese forei gn policy and nati onal sec u ri ty, a pp a ren t ly has come to

s erve as the new parad i gm among the PRC ’s leaders for shaping a new nati onal iden ti ty

and assessing Ch i n a’s ex ternal sec u ri ty envi ron m en t . How the PLA acqu i red su ch a role is

the su bj ect of the next secti on .

China’s New Conception of National Security Threats 3 3
T

his stu dy has shown that the post-1985 Chinese military disco u rse has shifted

s i gn i f i c a n t ly aw ay from Ma oist ideo l ogy and doctri n e . Rega rding nati onal iden ti ty,

this disco u rse treats the nati on - s t a te as the cen tral category that defines intern a l

i den ti ty and sec u ri ty as well as ex ternal differen ces and com peti ti on ,ra t h er than the Ma oi s t

premise of su bn a ti onal and tra n s n a ti onal soc i oecon omic cl a s s e s .Rega rding threats to

s ec u ri ty, u n l i ke the Ma oist assu m pti on of dom e s tic and tra n s n a ti onal class antagon i s m ,

this disco u rse rega rds inters t a te com peti ti on as the cen tral source of t h re a t s . These thre a t s

i n clu de the gen eral com peti tive natu re of the inters t a te rel a ti on s h i p, wh i ch may affect

Chinese nati onal power rel a tive to other co u n tri e s ; the “n ew fron ti ers”of su ch com peti ti on ,

wh ere the su rvival interest of China would be nega tively affected if China does not

p a rti c i p a te in the com peti ti on ; and direct threats to the terri torial integri ty of Ch i n a .

Rega rding the means to neutra l i ze su ch thre a t s ,i n s te ad of the Ma oist premise of cl a s s -

b a s ed means, this disco u rse advoc a tes nati on - b a s ed means, i n cluding nati onal unity,a

n a ti on a lly or ga n i zed military force , and the con s o l i d a ti on of n a ti onal bo u n d a ri e s .All these

su pport the cen tral argument of this stu dy, that the Chinese military disco u rse has shifted

s i gn i f i c a n t ly from Ma oist revo luti on a ry intern a ti onalism to con s erva tive nati on a l i s m .

What then is the practical influ en ce of this shift in the Chinese military disco u rse? Th e

i m p l i c a ti ons can be discern ed at three level s : the military - s oc i etal rel a ti on s h i p,t h e

m i l i t a ry - p a rty - s t a te rel a ti on s h i p, and intra m i l i t a ry rel a ti on s h i p s .

At the soc i etal level ,t h ere has been plen ty of evi den ce to show that nati onalist sen ti m en t

has been on the rise in recent ye a rs among Chinese intell ectu a l s ,forei gn policy analys t s ,

and the masses.6 7 Be s i des immed i a te ex ternal even t s , a va ri ety of s ys temic ch a n ges or

f actors may have con tri buted to the rise of Chinese nati on a l i s m .Modern i z a ti on , for

ex a m p l e , means more wealth and tech n o l ogical adva n ce s , en a bling people to do things

m ore ef f i c i en t ly and re s o lve bi gger probl em s .As su ch , it may tra n s l a te into a nati onal sen s e

of em powerm ent and sel f - con f i den ce .In c re a s ed mobi l i ty from cro s s - regi onal flows of

l a bor and materials to take adva n t a ge of econ omic scale may mean an en h a n ced nati on a l

consciousness and iden ti ty, even tu a lly we a kening local and provincial iden ti ti e s .In c re a s ed

i n teracti on bet ween China and forei gn co u n tries may also aw a ken consciousness abo ut the

d i f feren ce bet ween what is Chinese and what is forei gn . Su ch consciousness might have

been less pron o u n ced had su ch interacti ons not occ u rred . Because of its aut h ori t a ri a n

n a tu re , the Chinese regime may also re s tri ct liberal ch a ll en ges and ch a n n el publ i c

consciousness tow a rd the more co ll ectivist and nati on a l i s tic directi on . However,t h e s e

f actors may be nece s s a ry but not su f f i c i ent to account for the rise of n a ti onalism in Ch i n a ,

because the con tent of this nati onalism is dom i n a ted by issues of n a ti onal iden ti ty and

3 4 s ec u ri ty,i n cluding Ta iw a n ,the So uth China Se a , and other irreden tist cl a i m s .Th erefore ,i t

Fo u r

Chinese Nationalism 

and Civil–Military Relat i o n s
is high ly plausible that the PLA’s agi t a ti on (usu a lly du bbed “n a ti onal defense edu c a ti on” )

for a bo u n ded historical and geogra phical space known as China that needs to be sec u red ,

and its attem pt to match this agi t a ti on with military capabi l i ti e s ,m ay be another cru c i a l

f actor con tri buting to the rise of n a ti onalism in Ch i n a .

Yet the rise of Chinese nati onalism needs to be qu a l i f i ed in several ways .Am ong those

who ben efit on ly margi n a lly from the wealth and tech n o l ogies of m odern i z a ti on ,for

i n s t a n ce ,the preva l ent sense may be one of f ru s tra ti on , vu l n era bi l i ty, d i s con ten t ,a n d

d i s f ra n ch i s em en t ,ra t h er than con f i den ce and em powerm en t . The nati onalizing ef fect of

c ro s s - regi onal mobi l i ty may be som ewhat miti ga ted by a market - i n du ced co u n terva i l i n g

tren d : devo lving dec i s i on making from nati onal bu re a u c racies to loc a l i ti e s ,f i rm s ,a n d

i n d ivi du a l s .In c re a s ed con t act with forei gn cultu res may have the ef fect of devel op i n g

mu l tiple or new iden ti ties just as plausibly as its leading to the rei n forcem ent of the old

i den ti ty and rej ecti on of the newer on e s .Al s o, the liberalizing and plu ralizing tren d

a s s oc i a ted with the more diffused we a l t h , tech n o l ogy, and inform a ti on may be so sign i ficant that the regi m e’s ef fort to ch a n n el public consciousness tow a rd nati onalist and

co ll ectivist goals may prove to be qu i te difficult.While in the minori ty, t h ere is also a

h i gh ly re s onant and expanding liberal voi ce among Ch i n a’s intell ectu a l s ,who could prove

to be dec i s ive in elu c i d a ting the linkages bet ween gl ob a l i s m ,m a rketi z a ti on , and the

d i f f u s i on of l i beral-capitalist va lu e s .6 8

Fu rt h erm ore , because of bu d get a ry, tech n o l ogi c a l , and or ga n i z a ti onal con s tra i n t s ,i t

m ay be difficult for the PLA to devel op the military capabi l i ties that can match its

pron o u n ced irreden tist cl a i m s ,p a rti c u l a rly if its po ten tial advers a ries also en ga ge in

m i l i t a ry modern i z a ti on . Even though ex ternal events su ch as the Gu l f War and the

con f l i ct in Ko s ovo may serve as catalysts for accel era ting PLA modern i z a ti on ,t h ey may

also remind the PLA that the cost of m i l i t a ry adven tu rism may sti ll be too high because of

the su b s t a n tial gap in tech n o l ogy bet ween the We s tern militaries and the PLA , and the

h i gh er prob a bi l i ty of We s tern military interven ti on in intra s t a te affairs .F i n a lly, t h e

po s s i ble loss of ben efits from the disru pti on of econ omic ties bet ween China and other

a reas of the world may also persu ade the Chinese leaders not to pursue irreden tist cl a i m s

t h ro u gh the threat or use of force .

N ationalism and the PRC’s 

N ational Security Decision Making 

One should recogn i ze that China is not a liberal dem oc rac y, n or even a dem oc ra ti z i n g

po l i ty, but ra t h er a po s trevo luti on a ry aut h ori t a rian regime in wh i ch po l i tical power is 

s ti ll high ly mon opo l i zed by a Leninist party. Even though the CCP has su rren dered

su b s t a n tial dec i s i on making to the market in order to invi gora te the econ omy (wh i ch 

does not con trad i ct and may very well serve the party ’s merc a n tilist goal of en h a n c i n g

“com preh en s ive nati onal power ” ) , it sti ll con trols the media and makes import a n t

dec i s i ons on all oc a ting su b s t a n tial material re s o u rce s .As shown in Ch i n a’s re acti on to the

bom bing of its embassy in the Federal Rep u blic of Yu go s l avi a , the party can manipulate

the meaning of ex ternal events and public sen ti m ent for its own purpo s e ,p a rti c u l a rly if

the party ’s legi ti m acy relies more and more on a managed nati onalist agenda and less and

less on a revo luti on a ry agenda based on class stru ggl e .It can also ch oose to be

Chinese Nationalism and Civil–Military Relations 3 5
“persu aded ”by the PLA to increase funding for defense modern i z a ti on to match

c a p a bi l i ties with irreden tist cl a i m s .F i n a lly, p a rty and PLA leaders can remain insen s i tive

to the put a tively high cost that Ch i n a’s bell i cose beh avi or incurs in disru pting econ om i c

ti e s , as shown in the 1996 Ta iwan Strait cri s i s .Aggre s s ive beh avi or may also take place if

p a rty and PLA leaders calculate that the cost may be high er for taking too little or too

mu ch acti on , or that the cost of a middl e - ra n ge re s ponse may be lower than the cost the

re s ponse may incur to the advers a ry. For these re a s on s ,the rise of Chinese nati on a l i s m

and its implicati ons for Asian sec u ri ty may de s erve more careful analys i s .

With rega rd to the military - p a rty - s t a te rel a ti on s h i p, the premise that the new disco u rs e

repre s ents a PLA vi ew that is fundamen t a lly different from that of the party may not be

em p i ri c a lly va l i d .As poi n ted out previ o u s ly, it is the party that initi a ted the nati on -

building program at the ex pense of class stru ggle and world revo luti on ; the PLA actu a lly

l a gged behind in fo ll owing the party line. Within the gen eral new parad i gm of n a ti on

building and defen s e ,h owever, d i f ferent bu re a u c racies have devel oped their own

i n s ti tuti onal biases and pri ori ties that may differ from one another. To be su re , the PLA’s

su pport of the ideo l ogical shift may be vi ewed as a tactical maneuver in the mu n d a n e

realm of bu re a u c ra tic po l i ti c s .Vi ewed in su ch a way, the PLA is simply another actor in

the Chinese po l i tical arena that is com peting for atten ti on and material re s o u rce s . Bec a u s e

the PLA is the cen tral insti tuti on that deals with ex ternal thre a t s , it is on ly natu ral that,

com p a red with civilian insti tuti on s , it tends to take a bl e a ker vi ew of Ch i n a’s sec u ri ty

envi ron m en t . For instance , it has become almost ro utine for the PLA to con f ront the

m ore dovish Mi n i s try of Forei gn Af f a i rs ,wh et h er the issue invo lves we a pon s

pro l i fera ti on , the So uth China Se a , or Ta iw a n .

In the en d ,i n ter- i n s ti tuti onal con f l i cts are arbi tra ted by top party leaders . On many of

these issu e s , the party ’s arbi tra ti on has favored the PLA , and su ch su pport may em bo l den

the army to be more assertive in the deb a te over nati onal sec u ri ty po l i c y. Un l i ke We s tern

m i l i t a ri e s ,wh i ch are more narrowly foc u s ed on the functi onal and technical issues of t h e

m i l i t a ry profe s s i on and leave nati onal iden ti ty and sec u ri ty issues in civilian hands,t h e

P LA app a ren t ly is invo lved heavi ly in both are a s .This is not to say that We s tern militari e s

a re to t a lly divorced from nati onal iden ti ty and sec u ri ty policy deb a tes or that Ch i n e s e

c ivilian officials are com p l etely exclu ded from su ch deb a tes in their co u n try. Ra t h er, i t

su ggests on ly that because this policy arena tends to be dom i n a ted by civilians in We s tern

co u n tries and by the PLA in Ch i n a , the role of the militaries in the West and the role of

c ivilians in China tend to be marginal and we a k .

A Model for Civilian Control of the PLA

A cen tral re a s on for the seem i n gly weak civilian con trol of the PLA may be that the arm ed

forces are acco u n t a ble on ly to the party, not to state aut h ori ties su ch as the Na ti on a l

Peop l e’s Con gress (NPC) and the State Co u n c i l .6 9 The cozy rel a ti onship bet ween the 

P LA and the party, Ch i n a’s two most powerful insti tuti on s , co u p l ed with the almost to t a l

s ep a ra ti on of the PLA from the con trol of s t a te aut h ori ti e s ,m ay not bode well for Ch i n a’s

f utu re sec u ri ty policy beh avi or.7 0 The PLA’s current advoc acy of a con s erva tive and

defen s ive nati onalist agen d a ,ra t h er than a more ex p a n s i onist on e ,s tems from its

c a l c u l a ti on that the Chinese econ omy is not yet large en o u gh to sustain a bi gger defen s e

3 6 Chinese Nationalism and Civil–Military Relations
bu d get and that the PLA is sti ll far less powerful than the We s tern militari e s , but mu ch less

beh o l den to insti tuti onal ch ecks and balance s .

To establish more ef fective civilian con trol of the PLA ,t wo insti tuti onal ch a n ges may

be nece s s a ry. One would sep a ra te the PLA from the party and place it under the con trol of

the NPC and the State Co u n c i l . This means that the Cen tral Mi l i t a ry Com m i s s i on wo u l d

a n s wer to the NPC but not the CCP Po l i tbu ro, and that a genuine Mi n i s try of Na ti on a l

Defense would be establ i s h ed within the State Co u n c i l .7 1 The second would expand the

role of c ivilian policy and re s e a rch insti tuti ons in the deb a tes over nati onal iden ti ty and

s ec u ri ty po l i c y, and redu ce and minimize the role of the PLA in this arena so that it can be

con f i n ed to its narrower military - technical con cern s .Both ch a n ges may not on ly establ i s h

m ore ef fective insti tuti onal ch ecks and balance s , but also all ow for more of the qu a s i -

l i beral voi ce to con test and contain the nati on a l i s tic rh etoric of the PLA .These ch a n ge s

m ay become incre a s i n gly nece s s a ry, p a rti c u l a rly if the PLA adopts a more aggre s s ive

n a ti onalist agenda as it becomes stron ger in the futu re .

Rega rding the influ en ce of the new disco u rse on intra - P LA rel a ti on s h i p s ,s om e

ob s ervers su ggest that the new disco u rse repre s ents a group of d i sgru n t l ed military

i n tell ectuals in a facti onal power stru ggle within the PLA leaders h i p. It is cert a i n ly tru e

that there was a wi tch hunt for those who advoc a ted a “bo u r geois ideo l ogy ” of

“n a ti on a l i z i n g”or “s t a ti z i n g”the army (jundui guojia hua) ri ght after the 1989 Ti a n a nm en pro te s t s , and a reem phasis on the class iden ti ty (jieji xing) of the PLA . However,t h i s

bri ef ch a n ge of co u rse may have been an excepti on to the norm ,s i n ce major po l i ti c a l

battles had been fo u ght pri or to 1985, battles that the Den gists had largely won .Af ter the

rem oval of Yang Ba i bin as director of the PLA’s Gen eral Po l i tical Dep a rtm ent in 1992,t h i s

ch a n ge of co u rse was revers ed , and nati onal defense and military modern i z a ti on aga i n

became the cen tral theme of the PLA disco u rs e , even though the party ’s absolute

l e adership of the PLA has also been stre s s ed .7 2

C o n s e r vat i ve Nationalism as Pa ra d i g m atic Shift 

or Doctrinal Change?

The focus of this stu dy is to doc u m ent the shift of meaning in Chinese military disco u rs e .

As em ph a s i zed thro u gh o ut this work , the pri m a ry purpose of the new disco u rse seems to

be edu c a ti on a l — n a m ely, to tra n s form the cogn i tive parad i gm that shapes the way the

P LA thinks abo ut ex ternal threats and internal iden ti ty. The issue of h ow ef fective the new

d i s co u rse has been in causing a parad i gm a tic shift may requ i re a sep a ra te analys i s .

However, a n ecdotal evi den ce su ggests that su ch a shift is occ u rri n g.A su rvey of recen t

a n a lyses on the PLA and intervi ews with PLA pers on n el su ggest that the Ma oist parad i gm

has gen era lly lost its appe a l , because little evi den ce exists to show that China has any active

program in prom o ting dom e s tic class stru ggle and su pporting radical insu r gent groups in

forei gn co u n tri e s .7 3

On sec u ri ty po l i c y, the cen tral con cern is def i n ed by a neo - n a ti onalist disco u rse and

dwells on nati onal iden ti ty issu e s ,su ch as the mainland’s reu n i f i c a ti on with Ta iw a n ,a n d

on nati onal sec u ri ty issu e s ,su ch as defending nati onal terri tory and sec u ring trad i n g

ro ute s , econ omic re s o u rce s , and indu s trial infra s tru ctu re . On warf i gh ting doctri n e ,t h e

n ew em phasis has been placed on prep a ring for tech n o l ogy - b a s ed loc a l ,l i m i ted wars ,i n

Chinese Nationalism and Civil–Military Relations 3 7
wh i ch pre - em ptive stri kes and qu i ck re s o luti on are stre s s ed . These are sign i f i c a n t

dep a rtu res from the Ma oist em phasis on prep a ring for a total war based on nu m eri c a l

su peri ori ty in troop level s , in wh i ch second stri kes and pro tracti on play the cen tral ro l e .7 4

If su ch a new parad i gm has come to shape the con to u rs of Ch i n a’s nati onal sec u ri ty

po l i c y, what do these new policies call for rega rding spec i f i c , proximal “t h re a t s”? More

i m port a n t ,h ow should the Un i ted States ad just its policies for the managem ent of As i a n

s ec u ri ty in light of these new threat percepti on s ?

3 8 Chinese Nationalism and Civil–Military Relations
I

f the Chinese military ’s new disco u rse has indeed re su l ted in a new parad i gm for

assessing nati onal sec u ri ty thre a t s ,what should be the appropri a te U. S .re s ponse to this

p a rad i gm a tic shift? Su ch a re s ponse may need to invo lve two major el em en t s :b a l a n c i n g

and en ga gem en t .

With rega rd to balancing,t h ere are three altern a tive s : Cold Wa r – s tyle con t a i n m en t ,

b a l a n ce of power, and balance of t h re a t . The Cold Wa r – s tyle con t a i n m en t ,wh i ch invo lve s

an all - o ut military bu i l du p, trade em b a r go, and linking human ri ghts vi o l a ti ons to

econ omic and military sancti on s , is app a ren t ly unw a rra n ted .Ch i n a’s sec u ri ty goals now

cen ter on nati on a l i s t - b a s ed irreden tist claims over areas close to Ch i n a’s borders ,not on

an ideo l ogy - d riven gl obal cru s ade and hegem ony. But these proximal claims are not yet

m a tch ed with appropri a te capabi l i ti e s . This means that China is not going to com pete

with the Un i ted States in Eu rope , So uth Am eri c a ,Af ri c a ,a n d ,to a lesser ex ten t , in the

Mi d dle East, as did the Sovi et Un i on ;n or is China intere s ted in or ganizing a com peti n g

a ll i a n ce .

Im posing econ omic sancti ons as a com pon ent of the con t a i n m ent policy may hu rt

ord i n a ry Chinese mu ch more than they hu rt the regi m e .Con t a i n m ent may also fuel

xen oph obia in Ch i n a ,l e ading to a bell i cose Chinese policy that may hu rt We s tern intere s t s

in both China and As i a .As suming a con t a i n m en t - i n du ced ten s i on that escalates into a

hot or cold war in wh i ch China is defe a ted (as happen ed to Germ a ny and Japan in Worl d

War II and to the Sovi et Un i on in the Cold War) and fra gm en t s , the Un i ted States may be

u nwi lling to deal with the high cost of po s tco llapse assistance ,i n cluding handling a

po s s i ble civil war, m a s s ive ref u gee exodu s , and pro l i fera ti on of we a pons of m a s s

de s tru cti on into unde s i ra ble hands, as well as occ u pying China militari ly and financing

recon s tru cti on .

Because Chinese sec u ri ty policy is being “n orm a l i zed ”f rom revo luti on a ry

i n tern a ti onalism to nati on a l i s m , and the sec u ri ty ch a ll en ges that China poses may be

regi onal ra t h er than gl ob a l ,regi onal balance of power may be a bet ter stra tegy than gl ob a l

con t a i n m en t .Yet this stra tegy may su f fer from two inadequ ac i e s .F i rs t ,b a l a n ce - of - power

advoc a tes tend to be con cern ed less with the specific threats than with the overa ll regi on a l

s ec u ri ty ch a ll en ges that a nati on a l i s tic China may po s e . The lack of c a reful analysis of

s pecific thre a t s ,h owever, m ay produ ce overre acti on . On the basis of gen eral con cern s ,

maximalist measu res su ch as or ganizing all i a n ces and forw a rd dep l oym ent of m i l i t a ry

forces soon fo ll ow. Su ch measu res are not on ly likely to cause a waste of re s o u rces in

re s ponse to ex a ggera ted sec u ri ty ch a ll en ge s , but may also tri gger ten s i on prem a tu rely. Th e

l ack of c a reful analysis of t h reats may cause underre acti on as well — n a m ely, a minimalist 3 9

F i ve

I m p l i c ations of China’s New Military

D i s c o u rse for U. S. Po l i cy and the

Management of Asian Security
i n s en s i tivi ty tow a rd ch a n ge s . Su ch a myopic policy wi ll not be hel pful in en h a n c i n g

n a ti onal interests or regi onal sec u ri ty.7 5

The second inadequ acy is that balance - of - power advoc a tes sel dom examine the

po s s i ble ef fects that internal factors su ch as regime type may produ ce on forei gn po l i c y

beh avi or and therefore may negl ect the plausible assu m pti on that while modern i z a ti on

m ay em power and nati on a l i ze Ch i n a , it may also libera l i ze it. To the ex tent libera l

dem oc racies may be more pe aceful with one another than with aut h ori t a rian or revo luti on a ry regi m e s , a libera l i zed , dem oc ra ti zed China may be the ulti m a te soluti on to the

s ec u ri ty ch a ll en ges of As i a . To com pen s a te for these two inadequ ac i e s , a balance - of - t h re a t

s tra tegy and an en ga gem ent stra tegy may be nece s s a ry.

What sep a ra tes balance of t h reat from balance of power is that the form er deals wi t h

s pecific thre a t s ,while the latter rel a tes to the gen eral con cern of a rising power that may

ch a ll en ge the status qu o. The latter may not be an appropri a te stra tegy because in gen era l

term s , the kind of Chinese nati onalism discussed here is defen s ive and con s erva tive in

n a tu re , but not yet imperi a l i s tic and of fen s ive . Faced with an array of proximal sec u ri ty

ch a ll en ge s ,Ch i n a’s po l i c ym a kers seek to all evi a te them thro u gh anti c i p a ting po s i tive

ex ternal ch a n ge s , en ga ging in diplom ac y, and prom o ting econ omic and cultu ra l

i n teracti on ,wh i ch may redu ce the need to re s ort to force .

C h i n a ’s Security Challenges

With the end of the Cold Wa r, China cert a i n ly feels mu ch less vu l n era ble rega rding its lon g

border with Ru s s i a .This fact can be attri buted to several devel opm en t s : the breakup of t h e

Sovi et Un i on and the decline of Russian econ omic and military power; the su cce s s f u l

con clu s i on of a 1997 bi l a teral arms redu cti on tre a ty and the most recent border

dem a rc a ti on nego ti a ti on s ;Russian fear of NATO ex p a n s i on ,wh i ch motiva tes Russia to

devel op a more coopera tive rel a ti onship with Ch i n a ,i n cluding sales of adva n ced arms to

Ch i n a ; and incre a s ed econ omic interacti on stemming from direct forei gn inve s tm ent and

trade .

Nevert h el e s s ,t h ere are sti ll sources of f ri cti on ,su ch as Russian su s p i c i on of Ch i n e s e

i n ten ti ons after acqu i ring Russian adva n ced arm s ;d i s a greem ent over the own ership of

s ome islands in the Us su ri and Hei l ong Rivers ; and Russian complaints of too many

Chinese laborers and traders in Ru s s i a’s Far East. However, it is difficult to see how these

s o u rces of ten s i on may cause military con f l i ct s .The prom i n en ce of nu clear warf i gh ting in

Russian military doctrine to com pen s a te for its decline in conven ti onal capabi l i ti e s ;Ch i n a’s

a greem ent to dep l oy of fen s ive arms acqu i red from Russia su f f i c i en t ly far aw ay from Ru s s i a ;

Chinese depen den ce on Russia as the pri m a ry source of h i gh - tech arm s ; and Russia as a

po ten tial ally in deterring We s tern “h egem on i s m”m ay help to redu ce the incen tive for

China to adopt an of fen s ive military po s tu re rega rding Ru s s i a .Al s o, the nu m ber and scope

of d i s p utes over islands have been redu ced in recent nego ti a ti on s , and pro s pects for them

to be re s o lved are reportedly good .S trenuous ef forts are also being made to reg u l a te border

tra n s acti ons on both side s ,s ome of wh i ch have tu rn ed out to be rel a tively su cce s s f u l .7 6

F i n a lly, Chinese leaders cert a i n ly may be more con cern ed with other pri ori ties and wo u l d

l i ke to see a rel a tively tra n qu i l ,s t a tus quo rel a ti onship with Ru s s i a .

Ch i n a’s rel a ti onship with Mon golia and the Cen tral Asian states may be com p l i c a ted

4 0 Implications for U.S. Policy and the Management of Asian Security
by the fact that nort hwe s tern China contains su b s t a n tial ethnic minori ty com mu n i ti e s

m ade up of the predominant nati on a l i ty in those co u n tri e s . But the po ten tial for any

s i gnificant con f l i ct is miti ga ted by su ccessful mu l ti l a teral arms redu cti on and bi l a tera l

border dem a rc a ti on nego ti a ti on s , as well as agreem ents on inve s tm en t , trade , and aid.

Both may redu ce the incen tive for these co u n tries to ei t h er actively su pport or provi de

s a fe haven for ethnic and rel i gious sep a ra tist movem ents from these regi ons of Ch i n a .

These agreem ents are accom p a n i ed by Ch i n a’s dom e s tic policies of prom o ting inve s tm en t

and trade ,a f f i rm a tive acti on progra m s ,m i gra ti on , and repre s s i on of “s ep a ra ti s t”gro u p s

within provi n ces ad jacent to these state s . These policies may ach i eve va rying degrees of

su cce s s , and some may have the uninten ded ef fect of a ggrava ting interethnic ten s i on in

these provi n ce s .Yet it may be prem a tu re to argue that su ch ten s i on is so ac ute that som e

s ort of i n terethnic civil war is in the making that may escalate to inters t a te arm ed con f l i ct

because of o ut s i de interven ti on or Chinese cro s s - border incurs i ons to de s troy the sep a ra ti s t s’“s a fe haven s .”

China may also feel less vu l n era ble in its rel a ti onship with the So utheast As i a n

co u n tries and North Kore a . Even though China has disputes with some So utheast As i a n

co u n tries over mari time and land terri tori e s ,t h ey are nei t h er nece s s a ry nor su f f i c i ent to

l e ad to military con f l i ct s . The seeming lack of m i l i t a ry capabi l i ties to sustain an of fen s ive

opera ti on over the disputed Spra t l ey Is l a n d s ; the high cost of con s tru cting and

maintaining stru ctu res on those faraw ay, u n pro tected reefs ; the po s s i ble high cost of oi l

and natu ral gas ex p l ora ti on in rem o te ,i n s ec u re mari time regi on s ; and the po s s i bl e

d i s ru pti on of trade and inve s tm ent with these co u n tries all may con tri bute to Ch i n a’s

i n cl i n a ti on tow a rd diplom a tic ra t h er than military soluti ons to these dispute s . Th i s

i n cl i n a ti on may explain Ch i n a’s incre a s i n gly vi s i ble profile in regi onal coopera tive bod i e s

su ch as the As s oc i a ti on of So utheast Asian Na ti ons (ASEAN) Regi onal Foru m .7 7

China has also come close to re s o lving its land border dispute with Vi etn a m ,a n

i n i ti a tive that has been accom p a n i ed by cl e a ring land mines in border regi ons and

building cro s s - border road s . Devel oping cro s s - border infra s tru ctu re also ch a racteri ze s

Ch i n a’s rel a ti onship with other ad jacent So utheast Asian co u n tri e s ,a ll of wh i ch

con tri bute to incre a s ed bi l a teral inve s tm ent and trade . Fri cti ons may arise from incre a s ed

i n teracti on , but few may warrant the need to re s ort to force .In the case of North Kore a ,

China attem pts to improve its rel a ti onship by providing fuel and food aid and

en co u ra ging North Korean leaders to adopt Ch i n e s e - s tyle econ omic reform policies so

that econ omic con d i ti ons can be improved and the flow of ref u gees can be redu ced .

China also works with So uth Korea and the Un i ted States to redu ce ten s i on on the Kore a n

Pen i n sula and to re s o lve nu clear pro l i fera ti on issu e s .While some of these policy progra m s

m ay work bet ter than others , and while disagreem ents remain bet ween China and som e

of the regi on’s co u n tri e s , it is difficult to fore s ee any imminent and major military con f l i ct

in wh i ch China plays a cen tral ro l e .

However, China may feel high ly vu l n era ble in its rel a ti onship with In d i a . Th i s

vu l n era bi l i ty may be ex acerb a ted by several major devel opm en t s ,i n cluding In d i a’s con tro l

of l a r ge chunks of terri tory that China cl a i m s ; the disru pti on of recent bi l a teral ef forts to

a ll evi a te border ten s i on and re s o lve terri torial disputes by In d i a’s recent te s ting of nu cl e a r

we a pon s ,wh i ch has cre a ted another ob s t acle in improving their rel a ti on s h i p ;t h e

Implications for U.S. Policy and the Management of Asian Security 4 1
opera ti on from India of an active Ti betan indepen den ce movem en t ,wh i ch is qu i te

su ccessful in intern a ti onalizing the Ti bet issue and enhancing an indepen den ce

consciousness within Ti bet ; and a rel a tively low level of bi l a teral inve s tm ent and trade .

In ad d ressing its vu l n era bi l i ty with In d i a ,h owever, China is most likely to take a

defen s ive po s i ti on that focuses on con s erving what is in its po s s e s s i on ,ra t h er than an

of fen s ive po s tu re that places an em phasis on acqu i ring what it cl a i m s . Su ch a defen s ive

po s i ti on may entail stockpiling materi el and improving com mu n i c a ti ons and road

l i n k a ges at forw a rd po s i ti ons along the borders and devel oping infra s tru ctu re that links

these po s i ti ons with the rear so that rei n forcem ents may be more swi f t ly dep l oyed in the

event of con f l i ct . Some interm ed i a te - ra n ge ball i s tic missiles (IRBMs) may also be

redep l oyed to en h a n ce nu clear deterren ce . Su ch ef forts would most likely be accom p a n i ed

by providing military aid to Pa k i s t a n ,wh i ch may in tu rn def l ect Indian military pre s su re

on the Si n o - Indian border.

Several factors may en co u ra ge China to take su ch a defen s ive stance ,i n cluding In d i a’s

acqu i s i ti on of nu clear we a pon s ; difficult logi s tics to sustain an of fen s ive opera ti on on

h i gh ,rem o te , and geogra ph i c a lly harsh plate a u s ; and the gen eral percepti on of t h e

d i s p uted terri tories as barren mountain ra n ges that have little econ omic va lu e .An excepti on to this percepti on is the land under Indian con trol call ed Aru n ach a l ,wh i ch Ch i n a

also claims as its terri tory. But the Chinese claim may be used more as levera ge in negoti a ting with India over terri tories that are under Chinese con tro l , but also cl a i m ed by

In d i a , than as an agenda item to be acted upon .Chinese sec u ri ty analysts at least priva tely

ack n owl ed ge that it may be immen s ely difficult for China to rec a ptu re this land in the

near futu re .7 8

Uncertainty about Ta i wa n

Within this gen eral fra m ework of con s erva tive and defen s ive nati on a l i s m ,h owever,t h ere

is one el em ent of Chinese nati onal sec u ri ty policy that thre a tens an of fen s ive po s tu re ,a n d

that is Ta iw a n . Ch i n a’s leaders have hoped that po l i tical nego ti a ti on s ,i n c reases in cro s s -

s trait inve s tm ent and trade , and cultu ral affinity may even tu a lly lead to pe aceful reu n i f ic a ti on .Yet uncert a i n ty abo ut this opti m i s tic scen a rio is en h a n ced by Beij i n g’s lack of re a l

ju ri s d i cti on over Ta iw a n ; the gl a ring gap in per capita wealth bet ween the two ;a n d

Ta iw a n’s movem ent tow a rd dem oc rac y, wh i ch draws sym p a t hy and su pport from

We s tern co u n tri e s .All of these factors may con tri bute to Ta iw a n’s devel oping a disti n ctive

i den ti ty that may become incre a s i n gly different and sep a ra te from that of the mainland.

This new iden ti ty in tu rn may redu ce Ta iw a n’s wi ll i n gness to reunify and stren g t h en its

de s i re for indepen den ce . On the other hand, with the decline of revo luti on a ry ideo l ogy in

Ch i n a ,i rreden tist nati onalism is tu rning into a corn ers tone of regime legi ti m ac y; h en ce ,

reu n i f i c a ti on becomes an issue of almost cen tral sign i f i c a n ce , and an of fen s ive military

po s tu re may be exerc i s ed to prevent this cen tri f u gal tren d ,i f not to pursue steps for

i m m ed i a te reu n i f i c a ti on .

Th erefore , a balance - of - t h reat stra tegy essen ti a lly serves to increase the cost of su ch

of fen s ive threats so that on ly pe aceful means can be pursu ed to re s o lve dispute s .Even

t h o u gh Ch i n a’s more of fen s ive ,t h re a tening po s tu re may increase Ta iw a n’s vu l n era bi l i ty,

s everal factors may serve to all evi a te this vu l n era bi l i ty. The fact that Ta iwan is in a

4 2 Implications for U.S. Policy and the Management of Asian Security
defen s ive po s tu re means that it can inflict very high casu a l ties on an invading force even

wi t h o ut significant su peri ori ty in the qu a l i ty and qu a n ti ty of a rms (because the defen s ive

s i de is mu ch less vu l n era ble behind forti f i c a ti ons than the of fen s ive side ,wh i ch is in the

open ) . The provi s i on of a large nu m ber of adva n ced air defen s e ,a n ti s h i p, a n d

a n ti su bm a rine we a pons sys tems by the Un i ted States and Eu ropean co u n tries to Ta iw a n

m ay have also made it ex trem ely difficult for the PLA to establish air and sea su peri ori ty

over the ninety - m i l e - wi de Ta iwan Stra i t , a requ i s i te for su ccessful sea-crossing and

a m ph i bious landing opera ti on s .In ad d i ti on ,the PLA sti ll has inadequ a te air and sea

of fen s ive capabi l i ti e s .All these factors may persu ade the PLA that the cost of i nvad i n g

Ta iwan is too high .

However, the PLA has one com p a ra tive adva n t a ge in its we a pons inven tory that is

h i gh ly of fen s ive and thre a tening and may increase Ta iw a n’s vu l n era bi l i ty for its lack of

ef fective co u n term e a su re s :t h e a ter ball i s tic missiles (T B M s ) . TBMs alone may not cause

an inva s i on and occ u p a ti on of Ta iw a n ,n or are they precise en o u gh to con s ti tute a

s i gnificant threat to military target s . Nevert h el e s s , the use of TBMs against civi l i a n

pop u l a ti on cen ters and infra s tru ctu re might cause wi de s pre ad panic, wh i ch could tri gger

an econ omic mel tdown because of a loss of con f i den ce among inve s tors and con su m ers .

Th eir use might also disru pt sea tra n s port a ti on around Ta iw a n , on wh i ch the island’s

trade - b a s ed econ omy depends heavi ly. Th erefore , a balance - of - t h reat stra tegy may cen ter

on how to diffuse this missile thre a t ,for instance , by devel oping a missile defense sys tem .

However, the balance - of - t h reat stra tegy based on missile defense may be accom p a n i ed

by an en ga gem ent stra tegy that aims to modify Chinese beh avi or so that it becomes more

receptive to intern a ti onal norm s .Wi t h o ut en ga gem en t , the sec u ri ty ch a ll en ges po s ed by a

n a ti on a l i s tic China may be difficult to re s o lve . Some ob s ervers argue that an en ga gem en t

s tra tegy amounts to bandw a goning and appe a s em en t , but su ch an argument is

convincing on ly if an en ga gem ent stra tegy is not accom p a n i ed by a balance - of - t h re a t

s tra tegy that may incur high er costs for free - riding beh avi or.

By the same logi c , an en ga gem ent stra tegy itsel f should also be formu l a ted so that

ben efits are match ed by obl i ga ti on s .Joint programs on defense convers i on ,for ex a m p l e ,

should not become a con duit for tra n s ferring dual-use tech n o l ogies to military

a pp l i c a ti on s ;i f t h ey do, pen a l ties should be impo s ed .Programs to redu ce the asym m etry

of i n form a ti on should also be rec i proc a l . Si m i l a rly, track - t wo diplom acy in the realm of

s ec u ri ty should be more specific and cl e a rer abo ut its obj ectives so that it can be bet ter

i m p l em en ted and ad ju s ted . Be s i des tra n s p a rency of m i l i t a ry inten ti ons and capabi l i ti e s ,

acc i dent preven ti on , deb a tes on sec u ri ty issu e s , and regular meeti n gs bet ween top military

pers on n el from both sides to redu ce mispercepti ons and misu n ders t a n d i n g, su ch

programs may go one step furt h er to inclu de edu c a ti on on the functi ons and role of t h e

m i l i t a ry in a ru l e - of - l aw - b a s ed con s ti tuti onal set ti n g. As shown in this essay,t h ere indeed

exists a minori ty of qu a s i - l i berals in the PLA who are more receptive to new ideas and

n orm s , and they may serve as points of en try and ex p a n s i on for the en ga gem ent stra tegy.

In deed , by mod i f ying dom e s tic norms so that they become more com p a ti ble wi t h

i n tern a ti onal norm s , the ch a n ces of mutual mispercepti on , defecti on , and con f l i ct should

be gre a t ly redu ced .

Implications for U.S. Policy and the Management of Asian Security 4 3
1 . For major works on national identity construction and nationalism, see Benedict Anderson,

Imagined Communities (London: Verso, 1991); Eric Hobsbawm and Terence Ranger, eds., T h e

Invention of Tradition (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1983); and the collection of essays

and extracts in John Hutchinson and Anthony Smith, eds., N a t i o n a l i s m (New York: Oxford

University Press, 1994). For major works on civil-military relations, see Samuel P. Huntington, T h e

Soldier and the State (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1957); and Morris Janowitz,

The Professional Soldier: A Social and Political Portrait (Glencoe, Ill.: The Free Press, 1960).

2 . The rise in the PLA’s role in reconceptualizing Chinese national identity and security policy

somewhat corresponds with its withdrawal from both the domestic class-struggle politics of the

Cultural Revolution and the support of radical Maoist movements abroad. The PLA, for instance,

became highly vocal in the internal debates over the Spratley Islands crisis in the late 1980s, over

proliferation issues, and most recently over the issue of Taiwan. For the extent of the PLA’s withdrawal from the domestic politics of the Cultural Revolution, see Nan Li, “Political-Military

Changes in China, 1978–89,” Security Studies 4, no. 2 (Winter 1994/95): 428–29. The impression

on the increasingly assertive role of the PLA in foreign and security policy was gained in interviews with analysts from the National Defense University, Beijing, February 1998. See also David

Shambaugh, “China’s Military in Transition: Politics, Professionalism, Procurement, and Power

Projection,” China Quarterly, no. 146 (June 1996): 273; and Michael Swaine, “The PLA in China’s

National Security Policy: Leaderships, Structures, Processes,” China Quarterly, no. 146 (June

1996): 375.

3. For an overview of these changes, see Shambaugh, “China’s Military in Transition.” For

changes in civil-military relations, see David Shambaugh, “The Soldier and the State in China:

The Political Work System in the People’s Liberation Army,” China Quarterly, no. 127

(September 1991); Li, “Political-Military Changes in China”; and Ellis Joffe, “Party-Army

Relations in China: Retrospect and Prospect,” China Quarterly, no. 146 (Summer 1996). For the

PLA’s role in national security policy, see Swaine, “The PLA in China’s National Security Policy.”

For doctrinal changes, see Alastair I. Johnston, “China’s New ‘Old Thinking’: The Concept of

Limited Deterrence,” International Security 20, no. 3 (Winter 1995/96); Paul Godwin, “From

Continent to Periphery: PLA Doctrine, Strategy and Capabilities toward 2000,” China Quarterly,

no. 146 (June 1996); and Nan Li, “The PLA’s Evolving Warfighting Doctrine, Strategy, and

Tactics, 1985–95: A Chinese Perspective,” China Quarterly, no. 146 (June 1996). For budgetary

analysis, see Shaoguang Wang, “Estimating China’s Defense Expenditure: Some Evidence from

Chinese Sources,” China Quarterly, no. 147 (September 1996). For defense industry and technology, see John Frankenstein and Bates Gill, “Current and Future Challenges Facing Chinese

Defense Industries,” China Quarterly, no. 146 (June 1996). For organizational changes, see Nan

Li, “Organizational Changes of the PLA, 1985–97,” China Quarterly, no. 158 (June 1999).

4 . For this shift, see Li, “The PLA’s Evolving Warfighting Doctrine.”

5 . See Mao Zedong, “Analysis of Classes in Chinese Society,” in Selected Works of Mao Zedong

(Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1975), 13–21.

6 . From 1967 to 1972, 2.8 million PLA personnel, including one-third of the PLA officers,

directly participated in the class struggles of the Cultural Revolution, leading to purges and

counter-purges within the PLA. See Teaching and Research Faculty on Party History and Political

Work, Zhongguo renmin jiefangjun zhengzhi gongzuo shi (A History of the Chinese People’s

Liberation Army’s Political Work) (Beijing: National Defense University, 1988), 119–50, 233–35,

4 4 and 297–98.

N o t e s
7 . For major related literature, see Tang Tsou and Morton Halperin, “Mao Tse-Tung’s

Revolutionary Strategy and Peking’s International Behavior,” American Political Science Review,

no. 69 (March 1965); Peter Van Ness, Revolution and Chinese Foreign Policy ( B e r k e l e y :

University of California Press, 1970); Lyman Van Slyke, Enemies and Friends (Stanford, Calif.:

Stanford University Press, 1967); and J. D. Armstrong, Revolutionary Diplomacy: Chinese Foreign

Policy and the United Front Doctrine (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1977).

8 . On PLA support for communist forces in Vietnam and Laos, see Military History

Department of the Academy of Military Sciences, Zhongguo renmin jeifangjun qishi nien

1927–1997 (Seventy Years of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army 1927–1997)(Beijing: Military

Science Press, 1997), 585–91; Li Cheng et al., eds., Jianguo yilai junshi baizhuan dashi ( O n e

Hundred Major Events in Military History since the Founding of the State) (Beijing: Knowledge

Press, 1992), 220–23.

9 . The idea of “the people” is essentially a class concept, because those who had “bad” class

backgrounds did not belong to the category of “the people” but, rather, to that of “enemy of the

p e o p l e . ”

1 0 . For the so-called realist, or national interest–based, interpretation of Chinese foreign policy,

see Allen Whiting, China Crosses the Yalu: The Decision to Enter the Korean War (Stanford, Calif.:

Stanford University Press, 1960) and The Chinese Calculus of Deterrence(Ann Arbor: University of

Michigan Press, 1975); Donald Zagoria, Vietnam Triangle (New York: Pegasus, 1967); Michael

Yahuda, China’s Role in World Affairs (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1978); and Melvin Gurtov

and Byong-moo Hwang, China under Threat: The Politics of Strategy and Diplomacy ( B a l t i m o r e ,

Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1980).

1 1 . Former CCP secretary Hu Yaobang, for instance, acknowledged that about 200 million

Chinese were persecuted one way or another during the Cultural Revolution.

1 2 . See Bruce Cummings, The Origins of the Korean War (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton

University Press, 1990).

1 3 . For revolutionary, ideology-driven, and other idiosyncratic and nondefensive interpretations of China’s entry into the Korean War, see Chen Jian, China’s Road to the Korean War: The

Making of the Sino-American Confrontation (New York: Columbia University Press, 1994);

Shuguang Zhang, Mao’s Military Romanticism: China and the Korean War, 1950–1953 (Lawrence:

University of Kansas Press, 1995); Michael M. Sheng, Battling Western Imperialism: Mao, Stalin,

and the U.S. (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1997). For an interpretation of Chinese

foreign policy behavior under Mao that combines ideology and domestic politics, see Thomas

Christensen, Useful Adversaries: Grand Strategy, Domestic Mobilization, and Sino-American

Conflict, 1948–1956 (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1996); and Sergie N. Goncharov,

John W. Lewis, and Xue Litai, Uncertain Partners: Stalin, Mao, and the Korean War ( S t a n f o r d ,

Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1993).

1 4 . John L. Gaddis, We Now Know: Rethinking Cold War History (New York: Oxford

University Press, 1997).

1 5 . Stephen Walt, “Revolution and War,” World Politics 23, no. 3 (April 1992): 323–33. Walt,

however, suggests that revolutionary regimes are not inherently expansionist. But the perception

of them challenging the status quo may trigger pre-emption by the alliance of status quo powers

before the assumed challenge becomes credible. This tends to draw revolutionary regimes into

external wars more frequently than nonrevolutionary regimes.

1 6 . Conversations with Chinese bureaucrats, analysts, intellectuals, and college students,

Beijing, February and October 1998. While some do believe that a number of Maoist foreign 

Notes 4 5
policy programs had enhanced Chinese national prestige, identity, and security, many argue that

most of these programs were ill-conceived, because many conflicts could have been either avoided

or contained so that loss of Chinese lives and resources could have been substantially reduced.

Some are particularly resentful that certain countries took a “free ride” on generous Chinese aid,

showed little gratitude, later used debt payment as a leverage in extracting further concessions

from China, or even fought a war against China. 

1 7 . For the new, structuralist variant of realism, which may reflect the context of rigid bipolar

competition of the Cold War, see Kenneth Waltz, Theory of International Politics (Reading, Mass.:

Addison-Wesley, 1979). For the “soft” variant that still allows human intervention to modify

structure, see Hans J. Morgenthau, Politics Among Nations: The Struggle for Power and Peace ( N e w

York: Knopf, 1966). See also E. H. Carr, The Twenty Years’ Crisis, 1919–1939: An Introduction to

the Study of International Relations (London: Macmillan, 1939).

1 8 . See Qin Chaoying et al., “Qiantan guojia liyi xueshuo” (An Elementary Discussion of the

Doctrine of National Interests), Liberation Army Daily, July 29, 1988, collected in Guofang sibian

lu (Reflections and Debates on National Defense), ed. Zeng Guangjun (Beijing: Long March

Press, 1992), 52. The literary meaning of the Chinese term g u o j i a is “country and family.” It can

be translated into either “nation” or “state,” according to A Chinese-English Dictionary p u b l i s h e d

by China’s prestigious Commercial Press. The English term “nation” is used here because it has a

culturalist connotation that is closer to the meaning of “country and family.”

1 9 . Cui Yuchen et al., “Da guofang yu minzu ningjuli” (Grand National Defense and National

Cohesiveness), Liberation Army Daily, December 2, 1988, collected in Zeng, Reflections and

Debates, 78; Zeng Guangjun, “Menglong xintai xi” (An Analysis of the Ambivalent Mentality),

Liberation Army Daily, March 31, 1989, collected in Zeng, Reflections and Debates, 63. See also

Fang Min et al., Da Guofang (Grand National Defense)(Shanghai: Shanghai People’s Press), 46;

even though this book is not published by a military press, the main author is a PLA colonel who

teaches at a military school.

20. Zhang Xinsheng et al., “Guojia liyi wansui” (Long Live National Interests), Liberation Army

D a i l y , July 15, 1988, collected in Zeng, Reflections and Debates, 4 6 .

2 1 . Ibid., 44.

2 2 . See Li, “Organizational Changes of the PLA.”

23. See Shambaugh, “The Soldier and the State in China,” 553–67.

2 4 . Interview with Chinese scholars at the China Institute for Marine Development Strategies,

February 1998.

2 5. Chen Xiaogong, “Jiushi niandai de shijie junshi xingshi” (The World Military Situation in

the 1990s), Liberation Army Daily, September 7, 1990, collected in Zeng, Reflections and Debates,

26–27. This observation is in line with the 1998 SIPRI report on world military spending. The

report identifies the Middle East and Asia as the only exceptions to the general decline of military

spending because of the Cold War’s end. The Asian financial crisis may cause a decline of military

spending in Asian countries that are affected by the crisis, but such a decline is cancelled out by

increased spending in the Indian-Pakistani conflict, the tension between Taiwan and mainland

China, and the Sri Lankan civil war.

2 6 . Ibid.; Dong Wenxian, “Hehou shidai, haishi houhe shidai?” (Post-Nuclear Era or Late

Nuclear Era?), Liberation Army Daily, January 19, 1990, collected in Zeng, Reflections and

Debates, 3 4 – 3 9 .

2 7 . Sa Benwang, “Haiwan weiji dui shijie junshi xingshi de yingxiang” (The Impact of the Gulf

Crisis on the World Military Situation), Liberation Army Daily, January 11, 1991, collected in

4 6 Notes
Zeng, Reflections and Debates, 40–43; Liu Xiaokun et al., Dangdai shijie junshi redian touxi

(Perspective on Military Flash Points in the Contemporary World) (Beijing: Military Sciences

Press, 1996), 116–37; Chen, “The World Military Situation,” 23–24.

2 8 . Xi Runchang et al., Shijie zhengzhi xin geju yu guoji anquan (New Configuration of World

Politics and International Security) (Beijing: Military Sciences Press, 1996), 279–81, 295–96; Liu et

al., Perspective on Military Flash Points, 29–31; and Li Qingshan, “Ziyuan zhengduo yu weilai junshi chongtu” (Competition over Natural Resources and Future Military Conflicts), L i b e r a t i o n

Army Daily, April 27, 1990, collected in Zeng, Reflections and Debates, 9 7 – 9 9 .

2 9 . Xi et al., New Configuration, 276; Chen Xiaogong et al., “Shijie zheng chuzai xinjiu zhanlue

geju jiaoti de guodu shiqi” (The World Is in the Transitional Period from the Old Strategy to the

New Strategy), Liberation Army Daily, January 4, 1991, collected in Zeng, Reflections and

D e b a t e s , 2 0 .

3 0 . Xi et al., New Configuration, 298–99; Liu et al., Perspective on Military Flash Points, 3 1 – 3 2 ;

and Chen, “The World Military Situation,” 28–29.

3 1. Xi et al., New Configuration, 294; Liu et al., Perspective on Military Flash Points, 2 6 – 2 8 .

3 2 . Zhang Jingyi, “Gaixi xiashiji chu quanqiu zhanglue huanjing” (A General Analysis of the

Global Strategic Environment Early in the Next Century), a speech delivered at an academic conference on army building, August 12, 1988, collected in Zeng, Reflections and Debates, 1 – 7 .

3 3 . Fang, Grand National Defense, 47–61; Cai Wenyi, “Zhai taikong jinzheng mianqian de

xuanzhe” (Choices in Face of Competition in Outer Space), Liberation Army Daily, August 23,

1987; Jiang Guoling, “Jiang Yanguang touxiang zhanlue zhigaodian” (Focus Attention on

Strategic Commanding Heights), Liberation Army Daily, March 27, 1987. Both in Zeng,

Reflections and Debates, 104–109. 

3 4 . Cai Wenyi, “Cong ziyuan weiji kan guofang” (Natural Resources Crises and National

Defense), Liberation Army Daily, November 18, 1988, collected in Zeng, Reflections and Debates,

91–92. 

3 5 . Ibid., 92.

3 6 . Ibid., 93.

3 7 . Fang, Grand National Defense, 42; Chen Fangyou et al., “Junren xuyao haiyang guan” (It

Is Necessary for the Military Personnel to Develop Maritime Consciousness), Liberation Army

D a i l y , May 29, 1987, collected in Zeng, Reflections and Debates, 1 0 0 – 1 0 3 .

3 8 . Cai, “Natural Resources Crises,” 93–94.

3 9 . One recent account complains that “China’s transfer of the Bailongwei Island (in the center

of the Tonkin [Beibu] Gulf) to Vietnam in supporting the revolutionary struggle of the North

Vietnam people in 1957” has immensely complicated bilateral negotiations on demarcating

waters in the gulf. See Mao Zhenfa et al., Bianfang lun (Theory of Border Defense) (Beijing:

Military Sciences Press, 1996), 137; this work is neibu faxing, or for internal circulation.

4 0 . Ibid., 34–36.

4 1 . Li Jijun, Junshi zhanlue siwei (Mode of Thinking for Military Strategy) (Beijing: Military

Sciences Press, 1996), 156. Li is a deputy commandant of the Academy of Military Sciences.

4 2 . Ibid., 156–57.

4 3 . Mao, Theory of Border Defense, 1 3 5 – 3 7 .

4 4 . Ibid., 137–39, 209–10; Li, Mode of Thinking, 158–59; Fang, Grand National Defense,

Notes 4 7
44–47; Li Shizhong, “Qianghua haiyang guotu yishi sanyi” (Three Comments on Strengthening

the Consciousness of Maritime Territory), in Lun junxin ningju (On Cohesiveness of Military

Morale), ed.Wong Shiping et al. (Beijing: Liberation Army Press, 1990), 43–48; this work is 

junnei faxing, or for circulation within the military.

4 5 . Mao, Theory of Border Defense, 1 4 1 – 4 3 .

4 6 . Ibid., 132–35, 139–41.

4 7 . Some PLA personnel, however, hold the view that the prospect for stability on the Korean

Peninsula is good. They argue that famine in North Korea is not as acute because of international

relief efforts. Also, the regime is introducing some economic reform measures. Moreover, there is

no political opposition in the North. Finally, the economic crisis in the South and the election of

Kim Dae-jung as the president of South Korea may lead to a more accommodating policy on the

part of the South. Interviews with the faculty of the National Defense University and analysts of

the Academy of Military Sciences, Beijing, February 1998.

4 8 . Cui et al., “Grand National Defense,” 75–76.

4 9 . Zhang, “Long Live National Interests,” 45–46. 

5 0 . Cui et al., “Grand National Defense,” 76.

5 1 . Ibid., 78.

5 2 . Mao, Theory of Border Defense, 2 2 2 – 2 3 .

5 3 . Ibid., 224.

5 4 . Ibid., 226.

5 5 . Ibid., 223–24.

5 6 . Ibid., 227–29.

5 7 . Liu Jixian et al., Haiyang zhanlue huanjing yu duiche yanjiu (Research on Maritime

Strategic Environment and Policy Response) (Beijing: Liberation Army Press, 1996), 309–10; this

work was for internal circulation.

5 8 . Zhang Zhaozhong, “Junshi geming jiqi dui weilai haijun fazhan de yingxiang” (Revolution

in Military Affairs and Its Impact on the Future Development of the Navy), Zhanlue yu guanli

(Strategy and Management), no. 19 (June 1996): 53–54. Zhang is the director of the Science and

Technology Teaching and Research Section at the National Defense University in Beijing.

5 9 . Zhang, “Long Live National Interests,” 45; Zeng Guangjun, “Shijie yuan weidao hua jian

weili de shihou” (The World Is Still Far from the Time to Beat Swords into Ploughshares),

Liberation Army Daily, April 28, 1989, collected in Zeng, Reflections and Debates, 66–70. 

6 0 . Bin Yan, “Zhai junshi xunlian zhong peiyang jituan jinzheng yishe” (Cultivate the

Consciousness of Group Competition in Military Training), Liberation Army Daily, March 10,

1989, collected in Zeng, Reflections and Debates, 4 7 4 .

6 1 . Zhang Xinsheng, “Zhiliang, jundui de shengming” (Quality, the Life of the Military),

Liberation Army Daily, January 3, 1992, collected in Zeng, Reflections and Debates, 1–7 (separate preface).

6 2 . Mao, Theory of Border Defense, 1 7 – 1 8 .

6 3 . Ibid., 26.

6 4 . Interview with the faculty of the National Defense University, Beijing, February 1998.

4 8 Notes
Notes 4 9

6 5 . Mao, Theory of Border Defense, 1 6 – 1 7.

6 6 . Ibid., 5–6.

6 7 . For a discussion of intellectuals’ “dream of an empowered China,” see Suisheng Zhao,

“Chinese Intellectuals’ Quest for National Greatness and Nationalistic Writing in the 1990s,”

China Quarterly, no. 152 (December, 1997): 725–45. For foreign policy analysts’ emphasis on

great power diplomacy to construct China’s great-power identity, see Gilbert Rozman, “China’s

Quest for Great Power Identity,” Orbis 43, no. 3 (Summer 1999): 383–402. Widely publicized

mass demonstrations in front of Western diplomatic compounds in China after the Chinese

embassy bombing in Belgrade may have reflected the surge of populist nationalism.

6 8 . See Yong Deng, “The Chinese Conception of National Interests in International Relations,”

China Quarterly, no. 154 (June 1998): 311–16.

6 9 . The CMC, for instance, answers to the CCP Politburo, but not to the NPC. Similarly, the

Ministry of National Defense is an official facade because all its functions are divided among the

four PLA general departments (General Staff, General Political, General Logistics, and General

Armament). The four departments are accountable to the CMC, but not to the premier of the

State Council. Therefore, there is very little regular legislative oversight and executive control over

military affairs in China. See Li, “Organizational Changes of the PLA,” 322.

7 0 . Informal arrangements do exist for central policy coordination. In foreign affairs, for example, there is the CCP Foreign Affairs Leading Small Group (FALSG). It is difficult, however, to tell

how effectively this small group can rein in the PLA, because the army’s representation in it is

minimal. Also, the CCP’s propensity for small informal groups for policy coordination may

reduce the need for establishing state-based coordinating mechanisms, such as a national security

council. These informal arrangements may also hinder the development of norms regarding the

rule of law by undermining the legitimacy of formal state institutions. On FALSG, see Swaine,

“The PLA in China’s National Security Policy,” 372–77.

7 1 . Besides strengthened civilian control of the PLA, this change may have two other benefits. If

China introduces genuine political reform such as multiparty competition for political offices, for

example, gradually separating the PLA from the party may make it easier for the army to finally

become a nonpartisan, politically neutral institution concerned primarily with functional and

technical issues. This in turn reduces the likelihood of the PLA’s meddling in democratic politics.

Also, a genuine Ministry of National Defense (desirably civilianized) may remove and absorb a

large number of political-military and administrative functions out of the current PLA general

departments and thus make it possible to develop a more streamlined higher-command structure

that is focused more on military-technical matters.

7 2 . Current political epithets, such as building the PLA into a “revolutionary, regular, and

modern army” and Jiang’s admonition that the PLA “pay attention to politics” (jiang zhengzhi)

carry very different meanings from what they did earlier. “Revolution” and “politics” now really

mean that the PLA remains loyal to the party and to no other institution. In other words, these

terms no longer mean promoting intra-PLA class or “lines” struggle, as they did during the

Cultural Revolution.

7 3 . This is the general impression the author gained from several interviews with PLA analysts,

Beijing, February and October 1998.

7 4 . See Li, “The PLA’s Evolving Warfighting Doctrine.”

7 5 . One balance-of-power advocate, for example, suggests that Taiwan is not vital to U.S.

strategic interests in Asia because the United States has maintained its maritime preponderance in

the region even though it ended its military cooperation with Taiwan in the early 1970s. But
5 0

China was weak relative to Taiwan in the early ‘70s. As long as Taiwan could effectively defend

itself and remained friendly to the United States, a formal military alliance was unnecessary for

continued U.S. preponderance. At that time, China also had to devote considerable attention to

the Soviet threat from the north and the Vietnamese threat, which distracted its attention from its

southeastern maritime flank. The Chinese economy was also highly agrarian and self-sufficient

then; its dependence on trading routes, oceanic raw materials, and overseas markets for economic

growth was minimal. This self-sufficiency certainly reduced China’s incentive to challenge U.S.

preponderance. Also, China acquiesced to a heavy U.S. military presence in Asia at that time

because it served Chinese interests by reducing Soviet influence in the region. Most of these conditions, however, have changed during the past two decades. It now seems that China’s dominance over Taiwan may greatly enhance its bargaining leverage, particularly if it chooses to

negotiate a reduction of the U.S. military presence in Asia. For the minimalist position, see Robert

Ross, “The Geography of the Peace: East Asia in the Twenty-First Century,” International Security

23, no. 4 (Spring 1999): 113–14. 

7 6 . For a recent account of Sino-Russian border conditions, see “Russians Gaze with Envy

across the Border at China,” New York Times, July 20, 1999.

7 7 . For an account of Chinese diplomatic success in Southeast Asia, see “Softly, Softly,” F a r

Eastern Economic Review, June 10, 1999, 28–30.

7 8 . Interview with the faculty of the National Defense University, Beijing, February 1998. See

also Mao, Theory of Border Defense, 1 4 0 .

Notes
5 1

About the Au t h o r

Nan Li currently teaches political science at the University of Cincinnati, having also taught

courses on international relations and Asian politics at Dartmouth College, the University of

Massachusetts at Amherst, and Eastern Kentucky University. From 1993 to 1994, Nan was a

postdoctoral fellow and associate at Harvard University’s John M. Olin Institute. He was a senior

fellow at the United States Institute of Peace in 1997–98, during which he conducted the initial

research for this Peaceworks report. Nan has published articles on Chinese civil-military relations

and military doctrine in China Quarterly, Security Studies, and Armed Forces and Society. He

completed his undergraduate education at Jilin University in China and earned a master’s degree

in journalism and political science from the University of Missouri, Columbia; he holds a Ph.D. in

political science from Johns Hopkins University.

About the Institute

5 3

` About the Institute

The United States Institute of Peace is an independent, nonpartisan federal institution

created by Congress to promote research, education, and training on the peaceful management and

resolution of international conflicts. Established in 1984, the Institute meets its congressional mandate

through an array of programs, including research grants, fellowships, professional training, education

programs from high school through graduate school, conferences and workshops, library services, and

publications. The Institute’s Board of Directors is appointed by the President of the United States and

confirmed by the Senate.

Chairman of the Board: Chester A. Crocker

Vice Chairman: Seymour Martin Lipset

P r e s i d e n t : Richard H. Solomon

Executive Vice President: Harriet Hentges

Board of Directors

Chester A. Crocker ( C h a i r m a n ) , James R. Schlesinger Professor of Strategic Studies, School of Foreign 

Service, Georgetown University

Seymour Martin Lipset (Vice-Chairman), Hazel Professor of Public Policy, George Mason University

Betty F. Bumpers, President, Peace Links, Washington, D.C.

Holly J. Burkhalter, Advocacy Director, Physicians for Human Rights, Washington, D.C.

Zalmay Khalilzad, RAND Corporation, Washington, D.C.

Marc E. Leland, E s q ., President, Marc E. Leland & Associates, Arlington, Va.

Mora L. McLean, E s q ., President, Africa-America Institute, New York, N.Y.

María Otero, President, ACCION International, Somerville, Mass.

Barbara W. Snelling, State Senator and former Lieutenant Governor, Shelburne, Vt.

Shibley Telhami, Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development, University of Maryland

Harriet Zimmerman, Vice President, American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Washington, D.C.

Members ex officio

Paul G. Gaffney II, Vice Admiral, U.S. Navy; President, National Defense University

Colin L. Powell, Secretary of State

Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense

Richard H. Solomon, President, United States Institute of Peace (nonvoting)