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

advances, current Chinese leaders are quick to grasp
the significance of the RMA and are supportive of the
PLA’s quest for transformation. Xiong Guangkai (熊
光楷), a retired PLA general and former Deputy Chief
of Staff of the PLA, recalls that, while the Gulf War of
1991 was still going on, Chinese President Jiang Zemin
tasked the PLA to study it; shortly after the war in
1992, Jiang instructed the Chinese CMC to host seminars
to discuss the key aspects and lessons learned
from the American new fighting power. They subsequently
published their study in a book entitled 海湾
战争纵览 (Aspects of the Gulf War). 16 Jiang’s following
remarks also give China’s efforts a sense of urgency:
From now to the first 2 decades of the 21st century, we
have a very critical time period. During this time period,
the world’s new revolution in military affairs will
be at its early stage. If we can make good observation
and take appropriate measures, we can achieve a big
stride in our national defense and armed forces modernization,
greatly reducing the gap between us and the
world’s advanced powers, and laying a solid foundation
for our further development. 17
In subsequent years, Jiang became instrumental in
initiating major changes in the PLA’s strategic design
and setting the course for China’s transformation in
military affairs. 18 In December 1993 at an expanded
CMC meeting, Jiang put forward a new military strategy
guideline (军事战略方针) for the PLA to pursue
the following: (1) China’s defense strategy to move
from sole protection of national boundaries to protect
national unity, and however reluctant, to win a local
war if forced to do so (read as by the United States
and unmistakably over Taiwan); (2) China’s defense
forces to make two fundamental transformations (两
14