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

from the lips of the paramount political ruler who, by
tradition, serves as chair of the Party CMC (and since
1982 simultaneously as chair of the State CMC). 3 The
highest level directives are known as the “Military
Strategic Guidelines” (军事战略方针— MSG) and outline
the general direction for defense policy and military
modernization. They tend to remain in effect for
approximately 10-15 years until they are replaced by
a new set of guidelines. During the period, modifications
are invariably issued. While these modifications
are significant and authoritative, they do not fundamentally
change or negate the guidelines in effect.
The MSG are “the highest level of national guidance
and direction to the armed forces of China” and are
roughly equivalent to the “National Military Strategy”
issued by the U.S. military, although the Chinese
version is better understood as a “rolling [or evolving]
national military strategy” because of the number of
periodic modifications. 4
Since 1949, only five sets of MSG have been issued.
5 The most recent set was issued in 1993 in the
name of the then paramount ruler, Jiang Zemin. The
guidelines maintained the overall thrust of the 1985
guidelines issued in the name of the former paramount
ruler, Deng Xiaoping, and restated that peace
and development were the main trends in world and
that a world war or similar type of all-out war was
unlikely. Consistent with the 1985 MSG, the 1993 MSG
stipulated that China’s military should be prepared to
fight a “local, limited war” (局部有限战争) on China’s
periphery; however, waging mechanized warfare was
no longer enough. The performance of the U.S. military
in Operation DESERT STORM (1991) convinced
China’s leaders that a sweeping revolution in military
affairs (RMA) demanded a PLA that could wage war
100