Despite tensions in the South China Sea, Chinese General Fan Changlong is in the United States, being hosted by the Pentagon. Mil-to-mil exchanges been taking place since the mid-1990’s, despite opposition from U.S. congressional war hawks and Chinese hardliners. To build political support for productive U.S.-China mil-to-mil exchanges, such programs will have to produce real results, and soon.

The last three decades have been relatively easy for China’s defense planners. But its economy is stagnating and its security environment is deteriorating. The

The USCC assessment on the weaknesses of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) offered little new analysis on PLA’s cyber-warfare capabilities. This is due to impossibility of finding a comprehensive assessment of China’s military cyber capabilities on the public record. Much of the debate surrounding the PLA’s cyber war capabilities is mere speculation based on evidence of its undoubted success in cyber espionage.

The Chinese military is growing stronger, as the latest Pentagon report duly notes — but only to safeguard peace and stability. Lamentably, the Pentagon fai

Zhang Tousheng explores the reasons for the rapid development and modernization of China’s military, as well as emphasizing that this modernization has been beneficial for the region, and can continue to be if regional and international cooperation is formed between the United States and other regional adversaries.

After a 12.2% increase in China’s defense budget was announced last week, Zhou Bo analyzes the future role of the People’s Liberation Army and discusses how China can contribute to world peace and international stability.

The Third Plenum of the Eighteenth Party’s Congress reflects recent efforts by the Chinese government to reform its military sector. By examining the historical challenges in reforming China’s military, Shen Dingli highlights the importance of forging a civil-military partnership that entails the upgrading of Chinese leadership institution and tapping the resources of each other.

Counter-Piracy off the coast of Somalia is a story of success. Until 22 December, 2013, the Chinese Task Forces have escorted 5460 ships including 2765 foreign ships. They have also escorted 7 ships of World Food Program in cooperation with the EU CTF- 465, writes Zhou Bo.

The PLA has been trying its best to meet its global commitments, while national defense is still a priority as disputes with neighboring countries have recently intensified, and China remains a divided country, writes Zhou Bo.

The four-day visit by the Chinese Defense Minster to the United States was another strong example of the growing ties between the US and China. The visit, which focused on future military-to-military ties, established further planning for exercises and communications in the coming year, and was deemed positive by both sides.