This volume is the product of a conference, jointly sponsored by the RAND Center
for Asia-Pacific Policy (CAPP) and the Taiwan-based Chinese Council of
Advanced Policy Studies (CAPS), held in San Diego, California, from 9-12 July
1998. The
meeting brought together Chinese military experts to discuss a subject too long ignored:
the non-hardware side of the People's Liberation Army's (PIA's) modernization. The
result is a comprehensive examination of the critical “software” side of China's military
modernization, covering topics as diverse as civil- military relations, professionalism,
logistics, training, doctrine, systems integration, and force structure.

Whereas financial and logistical support for the conference was supplied by CAPS and
CAPP, funding for the publication of this volume was provided by RAND's Project
AIR FORCE Strategy and Doctrine Program, under the leadership of Dr. Zalmay
Khalilzad. This program is in the third year of a comprehensive study of issues related
to Chinese military and security affairs for the United States Air Force; the project is
entitled “Chinese Defense Modernization and Its Implications for the U.S. Air Force.”
It focuses on the fundamental question of how U.S. policy should deal with China, a
rising power that could have the capability, in the not too distant future, of challenging
the U.S. position in East Asia and its military, political, and economic access to that
dynamic and important region. It then addresses the implications for the Air Force, in
the areas of shaping the environment, deterrence, and war fighting. To achieve these
objectives, RAND is building a “Center of Excellence” for the study of China and the
PIA.

Project AIR FORCE, a division of RAND, is the Air Force federally funded research
and development center (FFRDC) for studies and analyses. It provides the Air Force
with independent analyses of policy alternatives affecting the development, em-
ployment, combat readiness, and support of current and future aerospace forces.
Research is performed in three programs: Strategy and Doctrine, Force Modernization
and Employment, and Resource Management and System Acquisition.

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