Raul Castro meets with Chinese defense
minister Cao Gangchuan this month.
The latest issue of Study Times, a weekly published by the Central Party School of the Chinese Communist Party, carries a lengthy article titled “China’s Military Diplomacy.” The author, Lieutenant-General Zhang Qinsheng, is deputy chief of the general staff of the PLA with responsibility for the PLA’s foreign affairs. Zhang writes that “international security cooperation” is the guiding theme of Chinese defense policy and further states that “a modernized military that pursues a defensive strategy with the purpose of maintaining peace and achieving open cooperation has even more justification for advancing onto the world stage.” He offers frequent assurances that, despite China’s having formed military relations with more than 150 countries and established military attaché offices in 107, the “substance and nucleus” of its policy remain “defensive in nature.” Zhang notes that China has participated in a number of joint military exercises since 2002, but he also emphasizes Beijing’s increasing involvement in international humanitarian missions: “The means to accomplish peacekeeping cannot be limited to ‘hard power.’ Political wisdom and strategic artistry are even better embodied in the application of ‘soft power.'” The Study Times article is an expanded version of a February interview with Zhang published in China Daily. During that interview, while claiming “Chinese defense policy is always defensive in nature,” Zhang defended the PLA’s modernization drive by explaining that “China has never joined any military alliance, never sought military expansion, nor built overseas military bases.” Zhang was less contentious when he met with Admiral Timothy Keating, Commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, in Beijing on May 11 (just a few days before publication of the Study Times piece). During that meeting, Zhang “positively appraised exchanges between the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and the US Pacific Command.” As noted by veteran China-watcher Willy Lam, President Hu Jintao, who is also chairman of the Central Military Commission, has made military diplomacy an increasingly important element of China’s foreign policy, evidenced by the frequent high-profile trips taken over the past few years by leading military officials. Just this month, defense minister Cao Gangchuan visited Cuba, Argentina, Chile and Greece. These examples of military diplomacy reflect Beijing’s global strategy and have not only military, but significant economic, security, and political implications as well.
