China's Use of Military Force

Abstract

In this 2003 study of China's militarism, Andrew Scobell examines the use of military force abroad - as in Korea (1950), Vietnam (1979), and the Taiwan Strait (1995–6) - and domestically, as during the Cultural Revolution of the late 1960s and in the 1989 military crackdown in Tiananmen Square. Debunking the view that China has become increasingly belligerent in recent years because of the growing influence of soldiers, Scobell concludes that China's strategic culture has remained unchanged for decades. Nevertheless, the author uncovers the existence of a 'Cult of Defense' in Chinese strategic culture. The author warns that this 'Cult of Defense' disposes Chinese leaders to rationalize all military deployment as defensive, while changes in the People's Liberation Army's doctrine and capabilities over the past two decades suggest that China's twenty-first century leaders may use military force more readily than their predecessors.

Why was there no religious war in premodern East Asia?

“…Central to the research presented in this article was the creation of a database on the use of force in historical East Asia containing over 950 entries from 1368 to 1841. 6 Built from a number of sources, the database summarizes events listed in the CWC and WKP and combines them with more qualitative assessments of all types of war, including religious war, in the region (Davis, 1996; Dupuy and Dupuy, 1993; Graff and Higham, 2002; Kohn, 1999; Scobell, 2003).…”

China’s Evolving Civil-Military Relations: Creeping Guojiahua

“…Personal allegiances have predominated in modern Chinese civilmilitary relations, although political loyalties have become increasingly important. 13 Individuals matter. In China today Jiang Zemin, as paramount leader, matters most of all to the PLA-his continued presence as chair of the CMC for the time being is important to military leaders.…”