Beyond the Strait: PLA Missions Other Than Taiwan

Fueled by double-digit growth in spending in recent years, China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) has undergone a staggering transformation from an anachronistic, unwieldy vestige of the Mao era to a more mobile and high-tech military force. The PLA's capabilities have increased in tandem with China's rising power and expanding national interests, and have seen the force involved in an increasing number and variety of missions at home and abroad, in addition to its traditional focus on contingencies in the Taiwan Strait. Such missions have included disaster and humanitarian relief, United Nations peacekeeping operations, counterterrorism, cyber security and anti-piracy, among others.These new or enhanced PLA missions suggest many important questions: How do these expansive new missions affect the evolution of the PLA's objectives and capabilities? Are they accompanied by new PLA doctrines for their use? How will they affect the security environment of the Asia Pacific and beyond?