Chinese Military Developments (starting Jan 2016)

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

Communist China has an enormous army, called the People's Liberation Army. Much less attention (and money) has been paid to their naval forces, sometimes referred to as the PLAN. Until recently, that is. Since 2011, there has been a new emphasis on the PLA Marine Corps (part of the PLAN), and it appears China is almost mirroring the training of the United States Marine Corps, whose primary role is amphibious assault. An assault on Taiwan was briefly considered back in 1953, and a Marine Corps regiment was formed to allow for the possibility. The experiment was cancelled, and the Marine unit disbanded, however several years later, when then-Chairman Mao apparently decided that a direct assault on Taiwan would most likely fail, suffer huge casualties, and/or bring China into direct conflict with the US. As we all know, however, the continuing existence of a "free" China sticks in Red China's craw, and this may be the impetus for re-opening the idea. The Annual Report to Congress on Military and Security Developments in the People’s Republic of China said in 2011: “the possibility of a military conflict with Taiwan and U.S. military intervention remain the PLA’s most pressing long-term military concerns. A potential cross Strait conflict will drive China’s military modernization as long as China’s leaders judge that the permanent loss of Taiwan could seriously undermine the regime’s political legitimacy and hold on power.” Then, in 2014, the following was added: “amphibious ground forces are conducting joint training exercises that will prepare them for a Taiwan invasion scenario. Training, including amphibious landing training, is often conducted under realistic conditions, including all weather and at night.” And to underscore the operational readiness of the new PLAMC, China has used them several times quite recently both in UN peacekeeping missions and multinational anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden. As for their appearance, once again, they seem to be almost carbon copies of US Marines who would, in the advent of a Taiwanese invasion, be their primary US adversary on the island, along with the Republic of Korea (ROK) armed forces.

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