China's Quest for Military Supremacy

by Joel Wuthnow, Phillip C. Saunders

Overview

China's military has entered a new era. It has acquired modern weapons to rival the world’s finest, undergone a massive restructuring under Xi Jinping, and been on the frontlines of territorial disputes with Japan, India, Vietnam, and the Philippines. It is readying forces to be able to seize Taiwan sometime in the next decade. It aims to be a "world-class" military on par with the United States.

China's Quest for Military Supremacy provides a broad and accessible exploration of Chinese military power, including relations between the Chinese Communist Party and its army, the strategic worldview of Chinese leaders, military strategy and resourcing, conventional and nuclear modernization, military diplomacy and coercion, preparations for war, and the People's Liberation Army’s emerging global role. It also identifies the challenges facing China’s military and shows how its focus on supremacy in the region means that it is not yet prepared to fight with the same lethality beyond Asia. Different futures are possible, and the book concludes with a preview of what it might take for a truly "world-class" Chinese military to take the global stage.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781509556946
Publisher:	Polity Press
Publication date:	03/10/2025
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.70(w) x 9.50(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Dr Joel Wuthnow is a senior research fellow in the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the U.S. National Defense University.

Dr Phillip C. Saunders is director of the Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs within the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the U.S. National Defense University.

Table of Contents

Maps, Figures and Tables
Acknowledgments

Introduction
1  The Party’s Army
2  Threat Perceptions
3  Strategy, Organization and Resources
4  Conventional Forces
5  Nuclear, Space and Cyber Forces
6  Shaping the New Security Environment
7  Preparing for War with Taiwan
8  A Global PLA

Endnotes

Editorial Reviews

As Sun Tzu once said, one must know one’s adversary as well as oneself to succeed. Today we all need a better understanding of the pacing challenge posed by the Chinese military. China’s Quest for Military Supremacy is current, comprehensive, and presents critical information in an easy-to-read style from two dedicated experts. This is a must-read for all military professionals and anyone who needs to learn about the People’s Liberation Army.”
General James N. Mattis, USMC (ret.), 26^th U.S. Secretary of Defense

“The most comprehensive and detailed book to date on China's military development. A must-read for defense and military officials and a great reference for anyone who cares about peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”
Admiral (ret.) Lee Hsi-Min, 26^th Chief of the General Staff, Republic of China (Taiwan)

“An excellent primer on the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and a must read for those trying to understand the Chinese military.”
Bonny Lin, Center for Strategic & International Studies

“Saunders and Wuthnow deliver an accessible, balanced, and historically grounded overview of the People’s Liberation Army, its breathtaking modernization, and the challenges it faces realizing Beijing’s vision for its role in China’s emergence as a global leader in every domain.”
Daniel Tobin, Senior Associate (non-resident), Freeman Chair in China Studies, Center for Strategic and International Studies

“A master class on the Chinese military. Joel Wuthnow and Phillip Saunders deliver a mental accelerant for those seeking to get smart on the world’s most dangerous authoritarian war machine. Erudite and crisply written, this brilliant book shines a broad and searching light on its object, showing the PLA’s remarkable strengths — and potential weak points that could be targeted.”
Ian Easton, author of The Chinese Invasion Threat: Taiwan’s Defense and American Strategy in Asia

“Practically obligatory reading…”
Revista Ejercitos

''important if unsettling''
Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2025-01-16
How the world’s largest army got its act together.

Wuthnow and Saunders, of the Institute for National Strategic Studies, emphasize that just as the 2008 Olympics marked China’s emergence as a global heavyweight, the recent military demonstrations against Taiwan symbolize a new era for the People’s Liberation Army. It’s stronger, more modern, and more confident today, yet there remain intrinsic flaws that neither technology nor money will solve. American soldiers swear allegiance to the Constitution, the PLA to the Communist Party. Almost all officers and many lower ranks are Party members, and political indoctrination takes up a major part of their time even after basic training. Mao Zedong’s word was law until his death in 1976, when, following the disastrous Cultural Revolution, his successors aimed to clean up the mess he left. Few deny their success, which included reforming the PLA, although that remains a work in progress. The authors remind readers that authoritarian states must pay especially close attention to their military, whose professionals, like soldiers everywhere, look down on civilians. They add that, during its early decades, the military budget was not a top priority, and the PLA continued its tradition of raising money by commercial activity, which institutionalized a great deal of corruption. They recount 50 years of efforts to modernize as well as shrink the army and rein in the three negative consequences of party-army relations—autonomy, corruption, and ideological divergence. They conclude that it has been largely successful, although the PLA remains a quasi-independent self-policing organization. Along the way, readers will learn more Chinese acronyms, Chinese bureaucratic maneuvering, technical details, and scholarly military minutiae than they want to know, but they will also receive genuine insights into the transformation of this former shambling empire into a global superpower and rival.

Important if unsettling.

Kirkus Reviews