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

even the interference with Beijing’s Olympic Torch
Relay. Future progress, General Liang states, depends
on eliminating the misunderstanding and suspicion
that now pervades China’s relations with the EU.
Military diplomacy with China’s neighbors is seen
as successful. With Russia, “mutual trust” is deepening
as cooperation in international and regional affairs
continues to be strengthened—mutual trust is
not a term used in assessing military relations with
the United States. With other neighboring countries,
cooperative ties with their armed forces have been
enhanced together with consultations over coastal defense
and disputes over land and maritime territories.
Since 2002, security mechanisms and consultations
have been established with Mongolia, Vietnam, Indonesia,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Pakistan,
and India, all of which contribute to the building of
trust in military affairs with China’s major neighbors.
These bilateral relations with neighbors are complemented
by PLA involvement in regional security
dialogues and mechanisms. General Liang points to
PLA participation in the ARF, SCO, the Western Pacific
Naval Symposium (WPNS), and the annual Shangri-La
Dialogue.
As progress has been made in the PLA’s military
diplomacy efforts, General Liang asserts China’s military
establishment has grown more confident and that
this is reflected in the PLA’s increasing transparency.
Not the least of this increasing transparency is the
steady opening of PLA exercises to foreign military
observers and the PLA’s now frequent participation in
combined exercises with foreign armed forces. These
are not only regional bilateral exercises but also multilateral
exercises with armed forces from outside the
Asia-Pacific Region.
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