China launched its defence White Paper this week, the ninth since 1998, with the focus on key strategic issues such as its relationship with the USA, the hotly contested islands of the South China Sea, and shift of its armed forces to a more proactive posture.
Released on 26 May the paper, titled ‘China’s Military Strategy’, avoiding details on weapons systems, budgets and steps it will utilise in implementing its aims, said that ‘a world war is unlikely’ but pointed out new threats from ‘hegemonism, power politics and neo-interventionism’. In this regard, China highlights the USA’s rebalancing strategy and