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

PLA officials, another key purpose of these delegations
is to learn about how foreign militaries organize,
train, and equip their forces. These officials lamented
the fact that the visits are generally brief and the information
that they are able to gather is limited.
During each visit abroad, PLA delegations meet
with senior civilian and military leaders, sometimes
including the president of the host country, and visit
various military headquarters, academies, and units. 36
High-level military exchanges between China and the
United States from 2007-09 have included:
• The March 2007 visit of General Peter Pace, U.S.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to China;
• The April 2007 visit of PLA Navy Commander
Admiral Wu Shengli to the United States;
• The November 2007 visit of U.S. Secretary of
Defense Robert Gates to China;
• The May 2008 visit of Admiral Timothy Keating,
commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific, to
Beijing;
• The April 2009 visit of the Chief of Naval Operations
Admiral Gary Roughead to attend the
60th anniversary of the PLAN;
• The August 2009 visit of the Chief of Staff of the
Army General George Casey to China.
Figure 1 provides information for 2001-08 about the
number of countries senior PLA delegations visited
and the number of foreign countries that sent highlevel
delegations to China. 37
440