Power, strategy and potentials: A study on the factors and key capabilities of China’s military

Özet

This article summarises an analyses the development of China's military power, strategies and key capabilities over the last 10 years, and for the next 10 years. The article focuses on China’s ground combat capabilities and their implications for China’s regional and international rivals. The article puts forward a two-part theoretical framework for the study of the development of China's military power, strategy and potentials (1) to identify and forecast the political, economic, demographic and societal factors underlying the Chinese military, and (2) to evaluate the possible past, present and future advances in the main military capability zones. This article is based on open sources, including official Chinese government documents, and official budgets, laws and public statements, and on a range of detailed open-source reports about the Chinese military, issued by government, government-sponsored and non-governmental research institutions, such as the US Defense Intelligence Agency, the Swedish Defense Research Agency, the Foreign Military Studies Office and RAND, among others. The Chinese and Western news media also provided reporting on China’s military developments and operations.