Recent Publications - Category China Landpower Studies Center

Achieving Victory Through Quantity: PLA Theorists Propose Different Modernization and War-Fighting Pattern
March 30, 2026 — Kevin McCauley... MORE

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New Tanks Mark PLA Army’s Integration of System Warfare at the Tactical Level
March 23, 2026 — Joaquin Camarena... MORE

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The New Reserve Personnel ID Card: How the PLA is Streamlining Mobilization and Improving the Status of Military Reservists in Chinese Society
March 16, 2026 — Joshua Arostegui... MORE

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Securing the Rice Bowl: PRC Agricultural Hardening as a Strategic Maneuver Multiplier
February 17, 2026 — Ali Ayoub... MORE

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The PLA’s Joint Operations Training Reform Remains in an Exploratory Phase
February 12, 2026 — K. Tristan Tang... MORE

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Frustrating the Fait Accompli: How Rocket Artillery Changes the Taiwan Situation
February 11, 2026 — China is furious about the United States’ recently announced $11 billion arms deal with Taiwan, and for good reason. Beyond simply comprising a significant assortment of military equipment, the package supports Taiwan’s developing asymmetric-warfare concept and effectively transforms Taiwan’s strike capabilities. Just as the rise of rocket artillery in Europe a few years ago challenged the assumed speed at which Russia could seize the Baltic states, the rocket and missile capabilities outlined in the new arms package fundamentally alter the calculus of a potential Chinese invasion across the Taiwan Strait. Specifically, the emerging capabilities, nested within an asymmetric-warfare concept, provide Taiwan the ability to increase survivability through dispersion, strike targets in China, and concentrate fires to frustrate nearly every step of an amphibious operation... MORE

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PLA Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures for Close Air Support Are Still Under Development
February 4, 2026 — Dennis J. Blasko... MORE

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If China Attacks Taiwan: Beijing Risks Social Instability in a Conflict
February 4, 2026 — A conversation between Dr. Sheena Chestnut Greitens, Dr. Jake Rinaldi, and Bonnie Glaser on the risk of domestic social instability for Beijing if China attacked Taiwan. A podcast from The German Marshall Fund of the United States... MORE

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If China Attacks Taiwan: Beijing Risks Social Instability in a Conflict

PLA Navy Marine Corps Tank Companies Emphasize Expeditionary Capabilities
January 27, 2026 — Joaquin Camarena... MORE

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Theory Meets Practice: The PLA National Defense University Revives the Operational Instructor Program
January 27, 2026 — Dennis J. Blasko... MORE

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Discussion on the New National Security Strategy and its Relevance to the Pacific
January 27, 2026 — Rick Gunnell and Colonel Michael Long discuss the latest National Security Strategy and its implications for the US posture toward the Indo-Pacific... MORE

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Can the 15th Five-Year Plan Fix the People’s Liberation Army’s Procurement Bottlenecks?
January 14, 2026 — China’s newly released 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030) proposal, unveiled after the Fourth Party Plenum in October 2025, not only marks Beijing’s quest to achieve the People’s Liberation Army’s goal of building a so-called world-class military by 2049. As the last major planning cycle before the 2035 benchmark for “basically achieving full modernization,” the plan also reaffirms General Secretary Xi Jinping’s core priorities: operational efficiency, technological self-reliance, and the Chinese Communist Party’s absolute command... MORE

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