全球智库信息集成服务系统

The People's Liberation Army (PLA) Is Becoming More Professional and More Capable

• The PLA's capabilities aimed at deterring or, if necessary, countering U.S. military intervention in the Asia-Pacific region, including systems designed to hold U.S. military bases, aircraft carriers, space systems, and computer networks at risk have improved markedly.

This Transformation Is, However, Incomplete

• Chinese military media and PLA books and journal articles discuss the PLA's problems at length.
• The PLA's senior leadership speaks of the "two incompatibles," perceived gaps between current PLA capabilities and the demands of winning a local war under informatized conditions and successfully executing the PLA's other missions.

PLA's Organizational Structure and Human Capital Issues Are Sources of Concern

• The PLA's organizational structure appears to be an obstacle to its reaching the level of joint operations to which it aspires.
• The human capital shortcomings include such problems as insufficient education and technical proficiency and rampant corruption.

The PLA Also Has Shortfalls in Its Combat Capabilities

• PLA publications highlight shortcomings in joint operations capabilities, training, and combat support and combat service support functions.
• PLA is concerned about the integration of increasingly complex weapons and equipment, the associated training, the level of mastery of critical capabilities, insufficient numbers of key enablers and protecting China's growing interests in space and the electromagnetic spectrum.
• China's defense industry still suffers from a number of problems that have yet to be resolved, including widespread corruption, lack of competition, delays and cost overruns, and quality control issues.