Suchergebnisse

In their repeated attempts to refute the "China threat" syndrome, Chinese leaders stress, among other things, the 25 percent cut of about one million troops in the size of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), announced in the mid-1980s. The author explores demobilization under Mao Zedong and after his death and problems and implications of demobilization. He points out that ostensibly, China's post-Mao demobilization has been remarkable. Within a few years over one million troops, one quarter of the PLA, have reportedly been transferred to civilian life. China's military strength is compared with those of some other countries. (DÜI-Sen)

In recent years, Western and Asian countries have been warning, and warned, against the so-called "China threat." These warnings reflect Beijing's military-related policies, primarily the consistent increase in China's defence expenditures since the early 1990s, its resumed acquisition of arms from the former Soviet Union, its continued nuclear tests, and its contribution to the proliferation of conventional, semi-conventional and, allegedly, non-conventional weapons. In their repeated attempts to refute the "China threat" syndrome, Chinese leaders stress, among other things, the 25 per cent cut of about one million troops in the size of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), announced in the mid-1980s. Reportedly slicing it from about 4.2 million to about 3.2 million, this massive demobilization is usually treated, not only byChina watchers but also by the Chinese themselves, as an essential aspect of their ongoing defence reform which goes hand-in-hand with military-tocivilian conversion.