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

A specific example is that of the PLAAF Command
College which, as of June 2009, had foreign military
students from 34 countries. 47 Meanwhile, delegations
of graduating students from the Command College’s
Campaign Command Course had visited more than 10
countries, including the United States, Russia, the UK,
France, Germany, Italy, and Singapore. 48 Educational
exchanges between the United States and China are
no exception to this trend. In October 2000, the PLA’s
National Defense University invited two U.S. military
officers to attend the 1-month International Security
Symposium. 49 Since then, several U.S. military officers,
including attaché-designates to USDAO Beijing,
have attended the course. Although the course is held
at NDU’s Changping campus, which is not co-located
with the main campus, PLA officers also attend the
course.
The PLA has also begun to engage in junior and
mid-level officer exchanges. For example, in November
2005, the PLA sent its first delegation of brigade
and division commanders to the United States, where
they visited Hawaii and Alaska. 50 In March 2006,
the U.S. Pacific Command reciprocated by sending
20 field-grade officers to China, where they visited
Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, and Ningbo.
Each of the U.S. and PLA delegations was led by a
flag officer. In addition, in September 2008, the PLA
sent a delegation of 15 company-grade officers to visit
Japan. 51 The visit was initiated by PRC President and
CMC Chairman Hu Jintao during his visit to Japan in
May 2008.
Finally, the PLA has begun to engage in enlisted
force exchanges. An example of a high-profile exchange
took place in June 2008, when the U.S. Pacific
Command’s Senior Enlisted Leader, Air Force Chief
444