A History of the Modern Chinese Army

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A History of the Modern Chinese Army xiaobing li kentucky li A History of the Modern Chinese Army “A฀splendid฀account฀of฀the฀origin฀and฀development฀of฀one฀of฀China’s฀฀ most฀important฀institutions,฀told฀through฀the฀histories฀of฀its฀rank฀and฀฀ file฀soldiers,฀its฀ambitious฀young฀officer฀corps,฀and฀the฀party฀that฀ultimately฀฀ controls฀it.฀Professor฀Li฀situates฀the฀army฀firmly฀inside฀Chinese฀society฀and฀ culture,฀analyzing฀the฀ways฀in฀which฀it฀both฀responded฀to฀and฀shaped฀the฀ changing฀world฀around฀it.฀Li’s฀study฀is฀prodigiously฀researched,฀clearly฀฀ and฀persuasively฀argued,฀and฀indispensable฀to฀anyone฀who฀desires฀to฀฀ understand฀China฀today.” ฀฀ —฀Marilyn฀B.฀Young,฀author฀of฀The฀Vietnam฀Wars,฀1945–1990 “A฀superb฀job฀in฀producing฀the฀first฀comprehensive฀history฀in฀English฀฀ on฀the฀development฀of฀the฀Chinese฀military.฀The฀study฀is฀supported฀by฀ extensive฀research฀on฀Chinese฀sources฀made฀available฀in฀the฀past฀two฀฀ decades.฀It฀explains฀the฀implications฀of฀China’s฀military฀modernization฀in฀ the฀twenty-first฀century.฀It฀is฀highly฀revealing—and฀highly฀recommended.” ฀฀ —฀Chen฀Jian,฀author฀of฀Mao’s฀China฀and฀the฀Cold฀War “A฀superb฀volume฀that฀will฀be฀a฀welcome฀addition฀to฀the฀growing฀body฀of฀ literature฀on฀the฀Chinese฀armed฀forces.฀This฀study฀is฀at฀once฀an฀operational฀฀ history,฀a฀political฀history,฀and฀an฀institutional฀history฀of฀a฀military฀about฀ which฀far฀too฀little฀is฀understood.” ฀฀ —฀David฀M.฀Finkelstein,฀coeditor฀of฀฀ ฀ ฀ Chinese฀Warfighting:฀The฀PLA฀Experience฀since฀1949 “Xiaobing฀Li฀has฀added฀a฀most฀useful฀study฀to฀the฀growing฀literature฀on฀the฀ People’s฀Liberation฀Army฀of฀China.฀In฀more฀than฀a฀decade฀of฀research฀and฀ careful฀mining฀of฀sources,฀Li฀has฀written฀a฀comprehensive฀chronological฀฀ study—but฀also฀a฀thematically฀intriguing฀one.฀He฀situates฀the฀PLA฀in฀ Chinese฀society฀and฀shows฀the฀various฀sociopolitical฀influences฀that฀have฀ impacted฀the฀military฀as฀an฀institution.฀This฀is฀a฀novel฀approach.฀Li’s฀study฀ deserves฀wide฀readership฀in฀the฀China฀studies฀community฀and฀among฀ China฀security฀specialists.” ฀฀ —฀David฀Shambaugh,฀editor฀of฀Power฀Shift:฀฀ ฀ ฀ China฀and฀Asia’s฀New฀Dynamics Since฀the฀establishment฀of฀the฀Red฀Army฀in฀1927,฀ China’s฀military฀has฀responded฀to฀profound฀changes฀ in฀Chinese฀society,฀particularly฀its฀domestic฀politics,฀ shifting฀economy,฀and฀evolving฀threat฀perceptions.฀ Recent฀tensions฀between฀China฀and฀Taiwan฀and฀ other฀east฀Asian฀nations฀have฀aroused฀great฀interest฀฀ in฀the฀extraordinary฀transformation฀and฀new฀฀ capabilities฀of฀the฀Chinese฀army.฀In฀A฀History฀of฀฀ the฀Modern฀Chinese฀Army,฀Xiaobing฀Li,฀a฀former฀฀ member฀of฀the฀People’s฀Liberation฀Army฀(PLA),฀฀ provides฀a฀comprehensive฀examination฀of฀the฀฀ PLA฀from฀the฀Cold฀War฀to฀the฀beginning฀of฀the฀ twenty-first฀century฀that฀highlights฀the฀military’s฀ central฀function฀in฀modern฀Chinese฀society. In฀the฀1940s,฀the฀Chinese฀army฀was฀in฀its฀infancy,฀ and฀many฀soldiers฀were฀rural฀conscripts฀and฀volunteers ฀who฀had฀received฀little฀formal฀schooling.฀The฀ Chinese฀military฀rapidly฀increased฀its฀mobility฀and฀ weapon฀strength,฀and฀the฀Korean฀War฀and฀later฀Cold฀฀ War฀skirmishes฀offered฀intense฀combat฀experience฀ that฀not฀only฀allowed฀soldiers฀to฀hone฀their฀fighting฀ techniques฀but฀also฀helped฀China฀to฀develop฀military฀ tactics฀tailored฀to฀the฀surrounding฀countries฀whose฀ armies฀posed฀the฀most฀immediate฀threats.฀Yet฀even฀฀ in฀the฀1970s,฀the฀completion฀of฀a฀middle฀school฀฀ education฀(nine฀years)฀was฀considered฀above-average,฀ and฀only฀4฀percent฀of฀the฀224฀top฀Chinese฀generals฀ had฀any฀college฀credit฀hours.฀However,฀in฀1995฀the฀ high฀command฀began฀to฀institute฀massive฀reforms฀to฀ transform฀the฀PLA฀from฀a฀labor-intensive฀force฀฀ into฀a฀technology-intensive฀army.฀Continually฀฀ seeking฀more฀urban฀conscripts฀and฀emphasizing฀ higher฀education,฀the฀PLA฀Reserve฀Officer฀Training฀ and฀Selection฀program฀recruited฀students฀from฀฀ across฀the฀nation.฀These฀reservists฀would฀become฀ commissioned฀officers฀upon฀graduation,฀and฀they฀ majored฀in฀atomic฀physics,฀computer฀science,฀and฀ electrical฀engineering. Grounding฀the฀text฀in฀previously฀unreleased฀฀ official฀Chinese฀government฀and฀military฀records฀฀ as฀well฀as฀the฀personal฀testimonies฀of฀more฀than฀two฀ hundred฀PLA฀soldiers,฀Li฀charts฀the฀development฀฀ of฀China’s฀armed฀forces฀against฀the฀backdrop฀of฀฀ Chinese฀society,฀cultural฀traditions,฀political฀history,฀ and฀recent฀technological฀advancements.฀A฀History฀฀ of฀the฀Modern฀Chinese฀Army฀links฀China’s฀military฀฀ modernization฀to฀the฀country’s฀growing฀international฀฀ and฀economic฀power฀and฀provides฀a฀unique฀perspective฀฀ on฀China’s฀establishment฀and฀maintenance฀of฀one฀฀ of฀the฀world’s฀most฀advanced฀military฀forces. $39.95 A HISTORY OF THE MODERN CHINESE ARMY XIAOBING LI CONTINUED ON THE BACK FLAP CONTINUED FROM THE FRONT FLAP Xiaobing฀Li,฀professor฀of฀history฀and฀director฀฀ of฀the฀Western฀Pacific฀Institute฀at...