Publication

This study briefly reviews the history of China's recurrent efforts to create a modern air force and addresses two principal questions. Why did those efforts, which repeatedly enjoyed a high priority, fail? What have the Chinese learned from these failures and how do they define and justify their current air force programs? The answers to the first question highlight changing defense concerns in China's national planning. Those to the second provide a more nuanced understanding of current security goals, interservice relations, and the evolution of national defense strategies.