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

oots party entities, government entities, and “the
People.” “To win victories in war, the armed forces
must rely on the support of the people.” 39 According
to Senior Colonel Zhou and his co-authors,
This is so in war operations, and also in military operations
other than war. Without the ardent support
of local governments and the masses, it is hard for the
armed forces to accomplish anything whether the military
operations are war or non-war. An important part
of the political work in non-war military actions is to
do a good job in maintaining the unity and cooperation
between the military and the government, and between
soldiers and civilians. [Moreover,] in carrying out the
tasks of combating terrorists and maintaining stability
in areas inhabited by national minorities, it is necessary
to do a good job of providing personnel support in such
aspects as national minorities, religion, language, and
offering psychological counseling for soldiers . . . .
Outside the country the PLA also would encounter
challenges. Knowledge about “foreign languages,
laws, culture, and folkways in specific regions” is vitally
important. 40
Third Dimension: Discourse Beyond the PLA
Pyramid.
There is a fundamental contradiction between
debunking the “China Threat Theory” and the
continued “rapid rise of China’s national military
power.” 41 This contradiction is rarely, if even openly,
acknowledged; however, the clearest indication that it
exists is the ongoing efforts underway since the mid-
1990s to counter the rising “China threat.” Indeed,
Chinese leaders are making considerable efforts to
persuade other countries that China does not pose a
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