The PLA's Long March toward World-Class Status
| October 28, 2025 10:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m. 601 Union Street #51st floor |
If you plan to attend, please RSVP. |
General Secretary Xi Jinping has ordered China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to become a “world class military” by midcentury. What a “world class” PLA means, however, remains uncertain. How are China’s leaders simultaneously cultivating loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party while encouraging professionalization in the PLA? What role does the PLA envision for capabilities such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and unmanned systems for operations such as an invasion of Taiwan? Will the PLA project power around the world similar to the U.S. military? Will China achieve nuclear parity with the United States? Does China seek to establish additional overseas military bases? And what does this all mean for the United States’ relations with key allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific, from Japan, Australia, and the Philippines to Taiwan, South Korea, and others?
To examine these critical questions, NBR is convening an in-person only event that will discuss the findings of the forthcoming edited volume The PLA’s Long March toward a World-Class Military: Progress, Ambitions, and Obstacles. Please RSVP to attend the event in Seattle on Tuesday, October 28, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
Event Speakers
Admiral Jonathan Greenert, U.S. Navy (ret.)
Roy Kamphausen, The National Bureau of Asian Research
Additional speakers to be announced.
