Suchergebnisse

This collection of high-quality essays by some of the leading experts on the Chinese military is the product of the 1997 Seventh Annual Conference on the People's Liber- ation Army (PLA), sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute. The au- thors, although inspired by different secu- rity and threat perceptions, present sober, straightforward, and reasonable assess- ments of PLA efforts to modernise itself in the 1990s and of its prospects for the im- mediate future. Evidence drawn from the essays shows that the PLA is increasingly modern, confident, and assertive but that it has not yet developed sophisticated the- ories and technologies comparable to those of the United States or relevant to fighting an American-style, high-tech lim- ited war, or any war beyond its borders.

This article explores the opposing perceptions of Chinese family values, confronted by the grassroots officer couples of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). Individual freedom-centered family values, associated with reforms, emphasize the importance of private family life. Yet, the PLA continues to impose institutional control-centered family values, sustained by Confucian culture, on the grassroots officer couples to compel them to self-sacrifice for public life. The clash of family values has dysfunctionalized their families, eroded their morale, and undermined their career commitment. Without the properly refined family values, however, the grassroots officer couples will not meet PLA needs and expectations in the twenty-first century.