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

ties, 118 while enhancing China’s access to commodities,
such as soybeans, iron ore, and oil from Brazil.
For now China remains sensitive to potential worries
about the presence of Chinese military personnel
abroad, in general. In Latin America, however, China
has been even more cautious to avoid “becoming entangled
in Chavez’s larger goal of counterbalancing
U.S. influence in the Western hemisphere” 119 or other
relationships that would antagonize America.
OVERALL ASSESSMENT: SOME POSITIVES
VERSUS NEGATIVES
Historians record many offensive operations as “the
big push.” One might well wonder whether any success
was due to the combat arms’ “pushing” the enemy or
the (logistics) support units’ “pushing the combat arms.
[Logistics units must] maintain the momentum [in the
offense] . . . [In the defense,] the role of the logistician. .
. is to sustain and increase combat power.
Major John E. Edwards, USA (Ret.) 120
The last 10 years of China’s logistics modernization
have been significant in building up a foundation
in the key areas of Joint Logistics, sustainment
abroad, logistics informationalization, and the ability
to leverage commercial assets to support the military
from garrison to operational missions, like China’s
antipiracy operations in the Gulf of Aden. Looking at
these recent advances made to China’s military logistics
compared to its continuing shortcomings, we can
make some observations.
First, military logistics modernization now enjoys
the highest priority it has ever had over the past 30
years of defense modernization in China. Nonethe-
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