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

contribute to China’s foreign and security policy objectives.
However, Blasko also finds some shortcomings
in the PLA’s combined exercises. Exercise artificialities,
such as compressing the battlefield so it can be
observed from nearby reviewing stands, limited timeframes
(often counted in minutes or hours), and daylight
operations only are all problems with the PLA’s
current combined exercises with its foreign counterparts—they
lack the reality of modern combat against
either an unconventional enemy or larger, modern
military opponent. In addition, most combined exercises
China has conducted are tiny compared to the
combined exercises NATO conducted during the Cold
War or the U.S. and South Korea have done for decades.
Based on recent experience, the steady stream of
exercises is likely to continue with scenarios becoming
more challenging, complex, and realistic. As such,
they will help the PLA tremendously. At the same
time, they will present outsiders an opportunity to
better understand both China’s military capabilities
and its intentions.
In Chapter 9, Heidi Holz and Kenneth Allen provide
an assessment of recent trends in the pace, scope,
goals, and degree of success of the PLA’s military to
military exchange activities. It has been 10 years since
Kenneth Allen and Eric A. McVadon produced a comprehensive
study of the PLA’s foreign military relations.
38 This chapter is a timely addition to the previous
study.
Through their analysis of the PLA’s foreign military
relations in the last 2 decades, Holz and Allen
find that the PLA has interacted with the international
community in more ways, more often, and more effectively.
The increased frequency and sophistication
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