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

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in the Asia-Pacific region, further consolid<strong>at</strong>ing its military<br />

alliances, adjusting its military deployment <strong>and</strong><br />

enhancing its military capabilities. In addition, terrorist,<br />

separ<strong>at</strong>ists <strong>and</strong> extremist forces are running rampant;<br />

<strong>and</strong> non-traditional security issues such as serious n<strong>at</strong>ural<br />

disasters crop up frequently. <strong>The</strong> mechanisms for<br />

security cooper<strong>at</strong>ion between countries <strong>and</strong> regions are<br />

yet to be enhanced, <strong>and</strong> the capability for coping with<br />

regional security thre<strong>at</strong>s in a coordin<strong>at</strong>ed way has to be<br />

improved. 2<br />

<strong>The</strong> question is: Wh<strong>at</strong> should China do with these<br />

challenges? Chinese President Hu Jintao has a ready<br />

answer: acceler<strong>at</strong>ing moderniz<strong>at</strong>ion of the <strong>PLA</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />

upgrading China’s n<strong>at</strong>ional defense. This is the CCP’s<br />

str<strong>at</strong>egic call made <strong>at</strong> its 17th N<strong>at</strong>ional Convention in<br />

October 2007.<br />

Bearing in mind the overall str<strong>at</strong>egic interests of<br />

n<strong>at</strong>ional security <strong>and</strong> development, we must take both<br />

economic <strong>and</strong> n<strong>at</strong>ional defense development into consider<strong>at</strong>ion<br />

<strong>and</strong> make our country prosperous <strong>and</strong> our<br />

armed forces powerful while building a moder<strong>at</strong>ely<br />

prosperous society in all respects (在全面建设小康社会<br />

进程中实现富国和强军的统一). 3<br />

In fact, this is the first time in its history th<strong>at</strong> the<br />

CCP put the “prosperous n<strong>at</strong>ion with a strong military<br />

(富国强军)” call in its party pl<strong>at</strong>form. <strong>The</strong> call also<br />

found its way into China’s 2008 Defense White Paper. 4<br />

This is a very significant milestone in China’s contemporary<br />

history <strong>and</strong> its ongoing moderniz<strong>at</strong>ion drive.<br />

Ever since China’s fall from grace in the mid 19th<br />

century, gener<strong>at</strong>ions of ambitious Chinese leaders<br />

have wanted to restore the gre<strong>at</strong>ness of China. However,<br />

many of them failed. In all fairness, the CCP<br />

leaders have advanced this mission the most so far.<br />

Now with a rejuven<strong>at</strong>ed <strong>and</strong> prosperous China within<br />

6

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