What is the PLA aiming to do?
The white paper says:
China’s armed forces shoulder the following strategic tasks:
n To deal with a wide range of emergencies and military threats, and effectively safeguard the sovereignty and security of China’s territorial land, air and sea;
n To resolutely safeguard the unification of the motherland;
n To safeguard China’s security and interests in new domains;
n To safeguard the security of China’s overseas interests;
n To maintain strategic deterrence and carry out nuclear counterattack;
n To participate in regional and international security cooperation and maintain regional and world peace;
n To strengthen efforts in operations against infiltration, separatism and terrorism so as to maintain China’s political security and social stability; and
n To perform such tasks as emergency rescue and disaster relief, rights and interests protection, guard duties, and support for national economic and social development.
Wen Bing (research fellow with the Academy’s defense policy research center):
China used terms such as “general assignment” and “general aims” in the past to describe the army’s missions. The white paper has for the first time clearly stipulated eight strategic tasks of the Chinese army, which reflect the overall national security outlook and will specifically guide military construction.
China Armed Forces:
“Strategic tasks” serve as a clear guideline for the troops, being definite and transparent both internally and externally. What the PLA has been doing and will do has been explicitly stated in the white paper, so China’s armed forces should no longer be described as “mysterious”.
What does “active defense” mean?
The white paper says:
“China must adhere to the unity of strategic defense and operational and tactical offense; adhere to the principles of defense, self-defense and post-emptive strike; and adhere to the stance that ‘we will not attack unless we are first attacked, but we will surely counterattack if attacked’.”
Chen Zhou (dean of the Academy’s defense policy research center):
“Active defense” is in essence defense with a focus on active. For a long time, thanks to the firmness and consistency of this strategic idea, and the resolution never to invade or to seek hegemony, China has enjoyed a relatively peaceful and stable international environment, and a strategic period for national development. No matter how strong it becomes, China will never discard the strategy of peaceful development, never turn its back on active defense and never seek military expansion.
China Armed Forces:
Active defense, in colloquial terms, means “don’t make trouble out of nothing and don’t be afraid of trouble when it comes.”
