Chapter 1: People’s Liberation Army Fundamentals

Chinese Tactics > PART ONE: People’s Liberation Army Forces > Chapter 1: People’s Liberation Army Fundamentals

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) continues more than two millennia of Chinese military tradition. China lays cultural claim to many of the world’s most famous works of military strategy and philosophy—most prominently, The Art of War by Sun Tzu—and these works are still highly influential throughout the PLA. The Chinese take military philosophy, politics, and theory very seriously: the PLA is considered the vanguard of the Chinese Communist Revolution, and its philosophical underpinnings are important to both its culture and its approach to warfighting at all levels. The PLA also has a deep commitment to Communist and Maoist philosophy.

• The Strategic Environment
• Chinese Political Objectives
• The New Chinese Grand Strategy
• Chinese Strategic Objectives
• Operational Environments
• The People’s Liberation Army—Overview
• PLA Principles—People’s War
• China’s Approach to Conflict
• Framework for PLA Operations
• PLA System Warfare