"This work offers a basic understanding of the military-strategic basis and trajectory of a rising China, provides background, and outlines current and future issues concerning China's rise in strategic-military influence. The next decade may witness China's assertion of military or strategic pressure on Japan, the Korean Peninsula, India, the South China Sea, the Taiwan Strait, Central Asia, or even on behalf of future allies in Africa and Latin America. While conflict is not a foregone conclusion, as indicated by China's increasing participation in many benign international organizations, it is a fact that China's leadership will pursue its interests as it sees them, which may not always coincide with those of the United States, its friends, and allies."--Publisher.

Includes index.

Problems of modernizing the PLA : domestic constraints -- The nuclear industry in China -- China's nuclear forces and policies -- China's military modernization : a ten year assessment -- Sino-Soviet tensions and China's military modernization -- China's response to the Strategic Defense Initiative -- United States export control policies and the modernization of China's armed forces.