China’s military goal is to stand neck and neck with the US: ex-PLA colonel Zhou Bo
Zhou Bo is a retired senior colonel in the People’s Liberation Army, a senior fellow at Tsinghua University’s Centre for International Security and Strategy, and the author of the book Should the World Fear China? This interview first appeared in SCMP Plus. For other interviews in the Open Questions series, click here. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is approaching its 2027 centenary, a major…
Retired senior People's Liberation Army (PLA) colonel Zhou Bo discusses China's military objectives in a recent interview. The PLA aims to modernize by 2035 as part of its centenary celebration in 2027, with a larger goal of building a world-class military by 2049 to rival the United States. China's budget is about one-quarter of the U.S. military's, but roughly 1.8 times Russia's, making it the largest armed force and naval fleet in the world. China leads in advanced military technologies, particularly in fighter jets.
The feasibility of China surpassing the U.S. is uncertain, as the U.S. has extensive wartime experience. However, China's peace allows it to develop its military without wartime constraints. While the PLA's progress can be assessed in visible areas like aircraft carriers and budget allocation, capabilities like AI and combat effectiveness remain challenging to measure without actual warfare.
Zhou Bo acknowledges the difficulty in validating China's military advancements without combat experience, but highlights that the PLA has demonstrated combat capability through successful missile launches and aerial combat with India. The anti-corruption measures in the PLA, while unfortunate, demonstrate the government's zero-tolerance stance and may strengthen military capabilities.
Written by urgent.news from South China Morning Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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