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The tensions between the Koreas—and the potential involvement of China, Japan, Russia, and the United States in a Korean conflict—create a nearly open-ended spectrum of possible conflicts. These conflicts could range from posturing and threats to a major conventional conflict on the Korean peninsula, with intervention by outside powers, to the extreme of nuclear conflict. The Korean balance is also affected by the uncertain mix of cooperation and competition between the United States and China, particularly with the U.S. “pivot” toward Asia and the steady modernization of Chinese forces. This new volume, up to date through Spring 2015, provides a detailed examination of the military forces in Northeast Asia—North and South Korea, China, Russia, Japan, and the United States—setting those forces in the larger geostrategic context.

This report tracks and analyzes trends in Chinese military strategy, force structure, and regional activity. Open source material is used to detail how each branch of the People''s Liberation Army has pursued modernization. Chinese perspectives on their military''s role and development are featured, as well as the views of other relevant regional actors. The purpose of this report is to provide the basis for an unclassified dialogue on the military developments in China. By presenting data on the regional military balance alongside perspectives on China''s military development, the Burke Chair hopes that readers can better understand how China''s strategic goals, military development, and regional views interact with each other.

This report udates the analysis of the trends in Chinese military strategy and forces. This is the final draft before publication, and any comments will be gratefully received. The goal behind this report is not to present the authors'' view of the balance, but rather to provide the basis for an unclassified dialogue on the military developments in China, including the size and structure of the country''s current and planned military forces. It draws on official US, Chinese, and other Asian official reporting, as well as the work of other scholars and the data bases developed by the IISS and Jane''s in an effort to compare different views of Chinese strategy and military developments, and is meant to provide US, Chinese, and other analysts with a better basis for understanding Western estimates of the changes in Chinese force strength and force quality.

Spanu003eAnthony H. Cordesman holds the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at CSIS./span