The United States and China in Power Transition - Strategic Studies ...

In addition to these quantitative changes, China
has also brought about qualitative transformation
through the implementation of the RMA to its military
organization, command and staff, doctrine, education,
logistics, medical support, defense industries, and
many other areas. In recent years, the Chinese military
has also put its new capabilities and improved
war machines to test in frequent military exercises inside
China as well as with foreign militaries abroad. A
more capable military force is unquestionably emerging
in China. 227 Riding the tides of its transformation
and development, China’s military is now eager to
carry out its new mission in the new century, which
in good part will be in contact and conflict with the
United States. 228
This leads us to find answers to the question of
how the Chinese and U.S. militaries get along in this
ongoing power transition between the two nations. As
discussed earlier, neither side wants a war with the
other. Yet the United States and China have plenty of
conflict that can drive the two into unwanted confrontations.
It is imperative that the two sides find ways
to minimize the dangers. The United States and China
presumably can take many different measures to
avoid unintended confrontations, but the most basic
one is arguably to establish an effective, reliable, and
stable contact between the two militaries. It is quite
a problem that more than 30 years after establishing
normal relations, the two nations still have not found
the way to do the same for the most sensitive component
of their national power, the military.
The reasons, incongruously, are simple. The two
sides have incompatible views about the problems in
their military relations and in the words of Chinese
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