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

fighting a local war, have not been included in China’s
combined exercises. Moreover, it is unlikely that
any of China’s exercise partners, Russia specifically
but also the other land-locked SCO members, would
agree to be associated with actual practice to invade
Taiwan or fight the United States at sea and in the sky
and space.
In the eyes of the senior Chinese leadership, combined
exercises and allowing observers to watch unilateral
PLA exercises contribute to the specific foreign
policy goal of establishing “a fine image of our military
as open, confident, and transparent and reached
the goals of advancing troop development, deepening
pragmatic cooperation with foreign countries, and
improving communications.” 94 Nontraditional security
exercises and real world missions are viewed as
contributing to the cause of “world peace and development.”
Many exercises also have the stated goal
of deterrence towards the “three evils” of “terrorists,
separatists, and extremists” to ensure both regional
and domestic stability.
The Chinese propaganda machine has become
more sophisticated in supplying the media with content
to get its message to both internal and external
audiences. The amount of newspaper, television, and
internet information about recent large combined
exercises has skyrocketed since 2002, especially the
amount of material available in English. While there is
plenty of fluff within this mass of information, many
useful details are also included so that limited judgments
on capabilities can be made.
The PLA and PAP have been at this task for less
than a decade. Based on recent experience, the steady
stream of exercises is likely to continue with scenarios
becoming more challenging, complex, and realistic.
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