China's Quest for Military Supremacy

by Joel Wuthnow, Phillip Saunders

China’s military has entered a new era. It has acquired modern weapons to rival the world’s finest, undergone a massive restructuring under Xi Jinping, and been on the frontlines of territorial disputes with Japan, India, Vietnam, and the Philippines. It is readying forces to be able to seize Taiwan sometime in the next decade. It aims to be a “world-class” military on par with the United States.

China’s Quest for Military Supremacy provides a broad and accessible exploration of Chinese military power, including relations between the Chinese Communist Party and its army, the strategic worldview of Chinese leaders, military strategy and resourcing, conventional and nuclear modernization, military diplomacy and coercion, preparations for war, and the People’s Liberation Army’s emerging global role.  It also identifies the challenges facing China’s military and shows how its focus on supremacy in the region means that it is not yet prepared to fight with the same lethality beyond Asia. Different futures are possible, and the book concludes with a preview of what it might take for a truly “world-class” Chinese military to take the global stage.

Genres: China, Military Fiction, Nonfiction, Asia, Politics

256 pages, Paperback

Published March 10, 2025

Reviews

[Chad Handley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was fortunate to take an elective by Drs. Wuthnow and Saunders this spring at the National Defense University. This elective utilized this book as its primary source material and provided an excellent overview of the Chinese military, considering there are not too many sources associated with the People's Liberation Army. A few takeaways for me:

1. The political commisar structure, along with the chain of command, may work in a peacetime environment, but numerous questions exist on whether this structure truly works in military operations, especially a large-scale conflict. A model of the Soviet era adopted for the CCP in the 1950s, one must ask the question of its place in the 21st century.

2. Though the PLA has adopted a joint structure, the lack of experience relating to coordination and integration will most likely cause a major challenge in conflict. The PLA has participated with UN Peacekeeping missions and humanitarian crises within and outside of China; however has not fought a major conflict in over 30 years.

3. A war over Taiwan is not a certainty, and is rife with political complexity. One can easily see a world where we "trip" into this conflict. Numerous skirmishes with China have occurred, namely with India and Vietnam. However, this conflict has the potential to be very different that its scrapes in the late 1950s over the island.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book for anyone wanting knowledge of the current state of the CCP and to seek out Drs Wuthnow and Saunders should they be a speaker in your area.

[Christian Gacon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intéressant mais beaucoup de redondances

[Frank Wu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent data driven level headed assessment of where the PLA is at and heading along with historical context