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November 30, 2011 - Volume XI, Issue 22
IN THIS ISSUE:
- In a Fortnight
By Peter Mattis
- Beijing Adopts Multi-Pronged Approach to Parry Washington’s Challenge
By Willy Lam
- China and Pakistan: Evolving Focus on Stability within Continuity
By Samantha Hoffman
- Chinese Air Force Officer Recruitment, Education and Training
By Kenneth W. Allen
- Burma and China: The Beginning of the End of Business as Usual?
By Ian Storey
By Peter Mattis
- Beijing Adopts Multi-Pronged Approach to Parry Washington’s Challenge
By Willy Lam
- China and Pakistan: Evolving Focus on Stability within Continuity
By Samantha Hoffman
- Chinese Air Force Officer Recruitment, Education and Training
By Kenneth W. Allen
- Burma and China: The Beginning of the End of Business as Usual?
By Ian Storey
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In a Fortnight
By Peter Mattis
CHINESE MILITARY CREATES STRATEGIC PLANNING DEPARTMENT
On November 22, Chinese President Hu Jintao and the Central Military Commission (CMC) issued a directive creating a “Strategic Planning Department” (zhanlüe guihua bu). The new department will fall under the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) General Staff Department as the twelfth such unit (Xinhua, November 22; Beijing Evening News, November 23). CMC Vice Chairman Guo Boxiong stated the new department would improve the quality and effectiveness of the PLA’s strategic management (Xinhua, November 24; Caixin, November 23; PLA Daily, November 23). Indeed, the department marks a departure from the PLA’s previously uncoordinated or personalized efforts at strategic assessment, and it is not clear that those other efforts linked planning to military reforms (Lianhe Zaobao, November 25).
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Beijing Adopts Multi-Pronged Approach to Parry Washington’s Challenge
By Willy Lam
Relations between China and the United States have taken a confrontational turn in the wake of a series of initiatives taken by President Barack Obama in his recent trip to Hawaii and Asia. While taking part for the first time in the East Asia Summit in Bali, Obama and his aides reiterated the U.S. commitment to ensuring freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. They stressed that settlement to sovereignty rows in the area must be in accordance with international law, including the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Obama approved the sale of 24 F16-C/D jetfighters to Indonesia, which—together with the Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan—has disputed China’s claims to the entire South China Sea. During a stopover in Australia, Obama announced that up to 2,500 marines would be stationed at Darwin, North Australia. Given that Darwin is a mere 600 miles from the southern tip of the Sea, the move is interpreted as an effort to boost U.S. ability to intervene in the flashpoint zone. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is scheduled to visit Burma next month in an apparent effort to improve ties with China’s long-standing client state. Finally, at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum in Hawaii, Obama made a big push for the Transpacific Partnership (TPP), a potential free trade area for some ten nations that do not include China. All these measures seem to exacerbate what Beijing perceives as an “anti-China containment policy” spearheaded by Washington (Washington Post, November 15; Associated Press, November 17; Wall Street Journal, November 18).
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China and Pakistan: Evolving Focus on Stability within Continuity
By Samantha Hoffman
On November 16th, a two-week joint anti-terrorism exercise, Friendship-2011 (Youyi-2011), commenced between China and Pakistan. The exercise was the fourth instalment of the “Friendship” counter-terrorism series. The initial 2004 exercise took place in Xinjiang, China, near the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and marked the first time a foreign army was on Chinese soil for a military exercise. This year, the exercise took place in Mangla, Pakistan, not far from Islamabad (People’s Daily, November 21). The anti-terror drills simulated low-intensity conflict scenarios and emphasized cooperation and information sharing (Xinhua, November 14; CNTV, November 15). Friendship-2011 included 260 Chinese soldiers, under deputy commander of the Lanzhou Military Region Zhao Jianzhong, and 230 Pakistani soldiers (Xinhua, November 18; People’s Daily, November 15). In May this year, Pakistani President Yousaf Raza Gilani visited Beijing to mark the 60th anniversary of the China-Pakistan relations. During the visit, China agreed to give Pakistan an emergency supply of 50 JF-17 multirole fighter jets (Xinhua, May 21). Pakistan currently has 38 indigenously manufactured JF-17s, which first came into service in 2009, but these use a Chinese manufactured avionics system [1]. The new 50 will include a more advanced Italian avionics system (Xinhua, June 7). In a year where questions were often raised about the significance of the Sino-Pakistani "strategic partnership," these neither outstanding nor surprising events once again highlighted the complexities of this relationship. Friendship-2011 demonstrates China’s more recent emphasis on counter-terrorism in its relationship with Pakistan, whereas the JF-17 agreement is just one example of China’s continuing status as Pakistan’s closest friend.
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Chinese Air Force Officer Recruitment, Education and Training
By Kenneth W. Allen
As the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) continues to emphasize the need to raise the quality of its personnel, analyzing the recruitment, education and training of the officer corps becomes all the more important for assessing Chinese military modernization, especially for the technology-dependent PLA Air Force (PLAAF). Based on the available information, it is unclear whether the PLAAF has succeeded in reforming officer recruitment, education and training to build a more highly-educated officer corps capable of commanding, operating and supporting a growing high-tech force in a combined-arms and joint environment. It is clear however that a number of challenges remain, including limited opportunities for joint training in the academy and a lack of centralized management.
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Burma and China: The Beginning of the End of Business as Usual?
By Ian Storey
The introduction of a slew of economic reforms and political initiatives by the Burmese government in the second half of 2011 have significant implications for the carriage of Burmese foreign policy. Indeed, the surprise announcement in September suspending construction of a major Chinese-funded hydroelectric dam is an indication that China’s privileged place in the hierarchy of Burma’s foreign relations―a position it has greatly benefited from since the West shunned Burma in 1988—can no longer be taken for granted. Nevertheless, even as these changes unfold, the two neighbors will seek to maintain close and cordial relations in recognition of inescapable geographical realities and to protect important shared interests.
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