2008 april crouching tiger, hidden dragon chinese rearmament and africa
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Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Modernising the Chinese Military and the the African Connection
Chinese rearmament
• Why?
• Power Projection
• Capacity
• Systems
• ……….Africa
The PLA
• Population shrinking• Economy growing• International role
expanding• Military service less
popular• More firepower for
less manpower
Power Projection (1): Carrier Programme
Power Projection (2): HDL Programme
1421:The year China discovered the world
1421: China a Military Superpower
Soviet and Cuban Contributions
Chinese arms to Africa
• Small Arms and Landmines
• Anti-Aircraft systems• Recycled • Remain active
Continued Support
Oil, Copper, Cobalt
Unwelcome Guests?
The String of Pearls 1
The String of Pearls 2
• Hambantota, Sri Lanka
• 1bn $ USD• Bunkering• Repair facilities• Building capacity• Communications
Sri Lanka and China: The price
• End of 26 year conflict with LTTE
• 105,000 IDPs• Further 2bn $USD in aid to Sri
Lankan Government• Political Security of Sri Lankan
Government• Securitization and Militarization
of Sri Lanka• Sri Lanka now firmly in
Chinese hegemonic circle
US and Chinese Rivalry
Is China really a threat?
• Internal problems• Political system• Lack of naval (military) expertise and
tradition• Technically backward• No military innovation• Financially unstable – yuan undervalued• Few genuine allies