DW: How powerful is China's military?
With the second-largest defense spending in the world, measuring over $150 billion in 2017, China is rapidly modernizing the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and could soon pose serious challenges to US military dominance.
For the first time since 2015, China held a live-fire military exercise in the Taiwan Strait on April 18, aiming to intimidate self-governing Taiwan while showcasing its much-improved military strength. Under the rule of President Xi Jinping, China has outlined a major plan to upgrade its weaponry while conducting a personnel reshuffle to modernize the People's Liberation Army (PLA).
In his report to the Communist Party's 19th national congress last October, Xi mandated Beijing to complete the modernization of the PLA by 2035 and transition into a major military power by 2050.
He said that embracing information technology and modern military strategies will help improve the PLA's combat strength and military capability.
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WNU Editor: It is not what China is today that my focus is on .... it is what China will be like tomorrow. 30 years ago I worked in China and had the opportunity to see their military first hand .... and what I saw was sandals instead of boots, simple uniforms, and a military following political indoctrination over everything else. The political indoctrination is still there, but within the military the focus is clearly there to make and deploy a military that will be unmatched in the next two or three decades. My prediction .... they will be matching the U.S., and in Asia they will be clearly be the dominant power.
