2008 PLA Conference: PLA Missions Beyond Taiwan
Leading specialists from academe, government, the military, and policy think-tanks convened from September 28–30, 2008 for the nineteenth annual People's Liberation Army (PLA) Conference, "PLA Missions Beyond Taiwan."
Conference participants sought to look beyond the PLA's primary focus on Taiwan in order to explore China's other military missions and objectives, including disaster and humanitarian relief, United Nations peacekeeping operations (UNPKO), counterterrorism and border defense, and outer space and cyberspace security.
The conference's primary objectives were to examine the interplay between China's armed forces and its increasingly complex foreign policy and international security environment in order to understand the requirements of several emerging PLA missions, and to consider how these specific interactions affect policy toward the wider Asia-Pacific region.
Conference Publications
2008 PLA Conference Book Launch Event
Read a transcript of the April 30, 2009 book launch event for Beyond the Strait: PLA Missions Other Than Taiwan that was held at the Brookings Institution.
Listen to audio from the event. Just click on each participant's name to download an Mp3 of his or her presentation.
Welcome, Introduction, and Keynote
Welcome and introduction
Richard Bush, The Brookings Institution
Army War College greetings
Steven Metz, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College
Bush School greetings
Andrew Scobell, Texas A&M
Panel Presentations
Chair and Overview
Roy Kamphausen, The National Bureau of Asian Research
How China Manages Internal Security Challenges and its Impact on PLA Missions
Murray Scot Tanner, CNA
PLA Missions in Frontier Security and Counterterrorism
Robert Modarelli, National Center for APEC
Prospects for China’s Military Space Efforts
Dean Cheng, CNA
China’s Regional Power Projection: Prospects for Future Missions in the South and East China Seas
Mark Cozad, U.S. Government
PLA 'Joint' Operational Contingencies in South Asia, Central Asia, and Korea
Larry Wortzel, Colonel, US Army, Retired
Commentators
David Lai, Strategic Studies Institute, US Army War College
Dennis Wilder, John L. Thornton China Center of the Brookings Institution
Q&A
Closing Remarks
Richard Bush, The Brookings Institution