By Lyle Goldstein and Nathan Waechter
While China has been quite critical of U.S. and NATO policies in the Ukraine War, Beijing has so far not opted to send direct aid to the Kremlin’s military effort, but this could be changing. The U.S. government appears to believe that China is reassessing that position. Whether or not Beijing chooses a more direct role in supporting Russia, it is clear that Chinese strategists are working overtime to glean military lessons from this most acute occurrence of high intensity, inter-state warfare since World War II.
Throughout the war in Ukraine, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has largely refrained from overt criticism of Russia’s poor military performance. However, a recent prominent article in the PLA Daily from January 12, 2023, on proposed Russian military reforms, reveals a rare degree of criticism of the Russian military performance in Ukraine. This newspaper is China’s leading official military periodical, and so may be considered authoritative. This article may also provide a glimpse into inter-service military politics in China.
This piece was originally published in The Diplomat on February 24, 2023. Read more HERE.