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

increased its exchange of military attachés with other
nations. Attaché offices represent direct channels
through which the PLA can communicate with foreign
militaries. In addition, PRC embassy and consulate
websites represent a new mechanism for managing
perceptions of the PLA.
PRC military attaché offices and embassy and consulate
websites represent a key channel for military
diplomacy. China’s exchange of military attachés with
other countries has expanded greatly in the last 2 decades,
and the websites represent a completely new
channel of communication. Five of the six national defense
white papers published by China to date have
given prominent mention to the number of attaché offices
that China has around the world and the number
of foreign attaché offices in China. From 1988 to 2008,
the number of Chinese military attaché offices abroad
has grown from 58 to 109, and the number of foreign
countries with attaché offices in Beijing has more than
doubled from 44 to 100. 19 Based on this data, it appears
that China has markedly expanded its exchange
of attachés with other countries within the last 2 decades.
The majority of China’s military attachés abroad
are Army officers, most of whom are career intelligence
officers. This is in large part a reflection of the
PLA’s ground-force dominated culture. In early 2009,
the PLA had naval attaché billets in only 3 countries
(United States, UK, and Germany) and air force attaché
billets in only 2 countries (United States and
UK). 20 In contrast, 21 of the 100 countries with military
attaché offices in China in early 2009 had air force attachés
and 20 had naval attachés assigned to their embassies
in Beijing. Based on discussions with current
and former U.S. military attachés stationed in Beijing,
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