Chinas Use of Military Force

In this unique study of China’s militarism, Andrew Scobell examines the use of military force abroad - as in Korea (1950), Vietnam (1979), and the Taiwan Strait (1995–1996) - and domestically, as during the Cultural Revolution of the late 1960s and in the 1989 military crackdown in Tiananmen Square. Debunking the view that China has become increasingly belligerent in recent years because of the growing influence of soldiers, Scobell concludes that China’s strategic culture has remained unchanged for decades. Nevertheless, the author uncovers the existence of a ‘Cult of Defense’ in Chinese strategic culture. The author warns that this ‘Cult of Defense’ disposes Chinese leaders to rationalize all military deployment as defensive, while changes in the People’s Liberation Army’s doctrine and capabilities over the past two decades suggest that China’s twenty-first century leaders may use military force more readily than their predecessors.

Spis treści:
Preface
1. Introduction
Part I. Layers of Culture
2. The Chinese cult of defense
3. Bringing in the military
Part II. Use of Force in the Mao Era
4. Lips and teeth, Chinas decision to intervene in Korea
5. Support the Left, PLA intervention in the Cultural Revolution
Part III. Use of Force in the Deng Era
6. A self-defense counterattack, Chinas 1979 war with Vietnam
7. Why the Peoples Army fired on the people, Beijing, 1989
Part IV. Use of Force in the Post-Deng Era
8. Show of force, the 1995–1996 Taiwan Strait crisis
9. Conclusion, explaining Chinas use of force.