countries” are adjusting their security and military strategies, reorganizing their militaries, and are developing new types of combat forces to “seize the strategic commanding heights in military competition.”
Defense Policy. The PRC’s stated defense policy is to “resolutely safeguard” its sovereignty, security, and development interests, according to its 2019 defense white paper, which provides continuity with past statements by PRC senior leaders and other official documents. Xi’s work report to the 20th Party Congress reiterated this policy, saying that fast modernization of the PLA’s organization, personnel, and military technology standards, under the absolute leadership of the party, would be key not only to defending China’s sovereignty but also its security and developmental interests. In practice, the PRC’s military power is increasingly a central feature of the CCP’s regional and global ambitions. The 2019 defense white paper also identifies the PRC’s national defense aims that support these interests, in likely order of importance:
- to deter and resist aggression;
- to safeguard national political security, the people’s security, and social stability;
- to oppose and contain “Taiwan independence;”
- to crack down on proponents of separatist movements such as “Tibet independence” and the creation of “East Turkistan;”
- to safeguard national sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity, and security;
- to safeguard the PRC’s maritime rights and interests;
- to safeguard the PRC’s security interests in outer space, the electromagnetic spectrum, and cyberspace;
- to safeguard the PRC’s overseas interests; and
- to support the sustainable development of the country.
Key changes in defense policy for the “New Era” include efforts to improve coordination across the party-state to leverage all organs of national power in a unified approach to support the CCP’s ambitions of a global military capability. Unlike previous defense white papers, China’s National Defense in the New Era explicitly stressed the PRC’s armed forces’ alignment and support to the Party’s broader societal and foreign policy objectives. For example, the white paper states that the PRC’s armed forces must be ready to “provide strong strategic support for the realization of the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation, and to make new and greater contributions to the building of a shared future for mankind.” Also notable is the explicit alignment between the PRC’s defense and foreign policies, particularly in the armed forces’ role in protecting the PRC’s overseas interests and furthering the CCP’s concept of “strategic partnerships” with other countries.
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OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China
