The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is the regular armed forces of the People’s Republic of China. It is one of the world’s largest army with an estimated two million service members. The mission for the PLA was first laid out by China’s former paramount leader Hu Jintao. These missions were — to protect and safeguard the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CCP), to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of China and to safeguard the country’s interests. From the wordings, it is clear that the PLA first and foremost exists to protect the primacy of the CCP in China and that all other goals are a distant second for the PLA. It is also an interesting fact that in China, the ‘Country’ is merely a reference to the ‘CCP’ only. Even the flag officially displayed by China is that of the CCP.
For decades the CCP has used the PLA for its ambitions to bully and threaten other nations, primarily in the South China Sea. Even though China has…