China's Emergence as a Superpower (till 2014)

[Jedburgh]

Guardian Unlimited, 14 Sep 07: Demobilized Soldiers Riot in China

Demobilized soldiers rioted at a retraining center in northeastern China overnight, the latest in a series of apparently coordinated protests against living conditions, a teacher and a human rights monitoring group said Friday.

About 1,000 ex-soldiers began smashing up classrooms and dormitories at the Qiqihar Railway Institute late Thursday night using beer bottles, the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said....

....The violence comes just over one week after about 2,000 demobilized Chinese soldiers rioted at training centers in at least three cities.

The reported protests, which authorities refused to confirm, were notable for their level of coordination, something not seen on a nationwide scale since the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations in Beijing and several other cities.....

[Jedburgh]

INSS, 18 Jan 11: Getting Beyond Taiwan? Chinese Foreign Policy and PLA Modernization

Key Points

• Deeper rapprochement across the Taiwan Strait would remove a longstanding source of regional tension and the most likely source of war between the United States and China.

• Cross-strait rapprochement would also lead to new frictions and new worries among regional countries and the United States that a China no longer focused on Taiwan will use its increased power to challenge their interests elsewhere in Asia.

• Stabilizing the cross-strait political situation will free up resources previously devoted to military preparations for Taiwan contingencies and allow the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to undertake new missions and reassess priorities.

• The direction of PLA modernization can help alleviate or further exacerbate the concerns about a rising China that will become more powerful but also less constrained by Taiwan.