China’s military is not a real army - it’s the armed wing of the Chinese Communist Party. Ideology is paramount and corruption is endemic.
Plus, the People’s Liberation Army hasn’t fought a war since 1979. Xi Jinping calls it “the peace disease”.
In episode two of this three-part series, Venetia Rainey looks at the PLA’s weaknesses and how the Chinese president Xi is trying to fix them, from endless purges of top generals to a specially built training centre in Mongolia and live-fire drills around Taiwan.
This series on China’s military dives into the strengths and weaknesses of China’s military and its remarkable transformation over the last few decades from obsolete to world-class.
How significant is China’s military buildup? What does Xi Jinping’s ongoing purge mean for the People’s Liberation Army? And how likely is an invasion of Taiwan in the next few years?
As the US pivots to the Indo-Pacific and the threat of a truly global war looms, understanding the evolving role of China’s military on the world stage has never been more important.
Listen to episode one of this series on China's military here.
With thanks to Dr Phillip Saunders and Joel Wuthnow from the Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs at the Institute for National Strategic Studies, Oriana Skylar Mastro from the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University, Meia Nouwens from the China Programme at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Timothy Heath at RAND, and Amanda Hsiao at Eurasia Group.
Archive used: WION, SBS News, PBS News Hour, Channel 4, NATO, DRM News, Shortwave Radio Audio Archive, Reuters
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!