The Department of Defense today released its annual report on "Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China." The congressionally mandated report serves as an authoritative assessment on military and security developments involving the PRC.
This year's report provides a baseline assessment of the Department's top pacing challenge and charts the continued development of the People's Liberation Army (PLA).
The report describes the PRC's national strategy in the context of an evolving strategic environment, and outlines the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) strategic objectives driving PRC defense policy and military strategy. It also covers key developments of the PLA's military modernization and reform, and provides insights into the PRC's regional and global ambitions.
The report finds that in 2022, the PRC increasingly turned to the PLA as an instrument of statecraft. Throughout the year, the PLA adopted more coercive actions in the Indo-Pacific region, while accelerating its development of capabilities, including its nuclear, space, and cyberspace capabilities; deepening military ties with Russia; and strengthening its ability to project power in the Indo-Pacific region and globally. At the same time, the PRC largely denied, cancelled, and ignored recurring bilateral defense engagements, as well as DoD requests for military-to-military communication at multiple levels.
This report illustrates the importance of meeting the pacing challenge presented by the PRC's increasingly capable military.
The full report can be found here.
A Fact Sheet can be found here.