The PLA at Home and Abroad - Strategic Studies Institute - U.S. Army

CHAPTER 3
DISCOURSE IN 3-D:
THE PLA’S EVOLVING DOCTRINE, CIRCA 2009
Andrew Scobell*
The release of the 2008 Defense White Paper provides
an opportunity to assess current thinking in the
People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and its future trajectory.
Of course, the white paper is a consensus document
issued by the State Council, not the Central Military
Commission (CMC) or any other military entity.
Nevertheless, we know the PLA has substantial input. 1
This chapter considers PLA discourse on evolving
doctrine circa 2009 in light of the 2008 White Paper. As
important as the white paper is—providing valuable
insights and useful nuggets of information—it is not
the bible of Chinese defense policy and military modernization.
One needs to look further afield and back
in time before the People’s Republic of China (PRC)
began to publish white papers.
WHERE DOES PLA DOCTRINE COME FROM?
Doctrine is important because “it consists of the
fundamental principles by which those planning the
application of military force guide their actions.” 2 So
where does the PLA’s doctrine come from? It does not
come straight from Defense White Papers. Rather, doctrine
comes from authoritative doctrinal pronouncements
issued by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)
Central Military Commission (CMC), usually coming
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*The author thanks Daniel Alderman of the National Bureau of
Asian Research for his expert research assistance.
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