Special Issue on the PLA and China’s Foreign Relations

China’s economic rise has been accompanied by a thorough modernization program for the People’s Liberation Army. Despite assurances of a ‘peaceful rise’, China’s increasing global engagements  combined with the PLA’s rapid advances in areas like precision-guided ballistic missiles, cyberwarfare and emerging ‘blue water navy’ capacity are cause for concern throughout the Asia-Pacific and among policy makers in the United States. These concerns have not been assuaged by stronger PRC positions on existing maritime disputes in the East and South China Seas. In this special issue, specialist contributors adopt various perspectives on the PLA’s modernization, its role in China’s foreign policy and perceptions among regional and global stakeholders. It will run from September 30 to October 10.

Contributors:

Dennis Blasko, Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army (Retired), former army attaché in Beijing and author of The Chinese Army Today.

Harry Kazianis, Managing Editor of The National Interest and former Editor of The Diplomat. @GrecianFormula

J. Michael Cole, Editor at the Taipei Times, regular correspondent for The Diplomat and Janes Defense Weekly, and owner of the Far Eastern Sweet Potato blog. @JMichaelCole1

Jingdong Yuan, Associate Professor in Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney. A specialist in Asia-Pacific security, Chinese defence and foreign policy.

Russell Hsiao, former Editor of the China Brief at The Jamestown Foundation, now non-resident Senior Fellow at Project 2049. @lcrhsiao

Sam Rosegveen, Former Senior Strategic Analyst in Australia’s Office of National Assessments, currently Editor of The Interpreter and Fellow at Lowy Institute for International Policy.  @SamRoggeveen

Dan Garrett, PhD Researcher, City University of Hong Kong. @DanGarrett97

Craig Scanlan, covers North Korea for Asia Security Watch at the New Pacific Institute.  @CraigScanlan

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