China’s increase in military exercises helps aid diplomacy efforts

In the past decade, China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has expanded its diplomatic outreach under President Xi Jinping’s drive to modernise the country’s military and win global respect.

Analysing articles published by state news agency Xinhua, the South China Morning Post found that since 2013, the number of military exercises held by China with foreign militaries has more than doubled. Its navy has also made more port visits, especially to nations in the Global South.

But while the PLA, which turned 96 last week, has made these efforts to put forward an image as a force for peace, it has also become more capable of deploying its troops further from its shores. It is something which has drawn suspicion from the US and some others in the West, who have accused China of wanting to reshape the international order against liberal democratic values.

The docking of the PLA’s Yuan Wang 5 tracking ship in Sri Lanka in 2022 drew heavy protests from India, its first foreign base in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa caused concern, and more recently, the Ream naval base in Cambodia that China helped build drew fears that the Chinese navy could establish a presence there, despite Beijing’s repeated denials.

In a January hearing on Chinese military diplomacy, Randall Schriver, a commissioner of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, said: “Under the guidance of the [Communist Party] and Central Military Commission, the PLA is engaging in military diplomacy of various kinds, is conducting bilateral and multilateral exercises with greater frequency, is creating foreign bases and access opportunities, is engaging in operational military activities with foreign partners, and is active in promoting foreign military sales.