China’s Military Intends to ‘Defeat, Not Merely Compete’ With US, Report Says

Chinese J-20 stealth fighter jets fly past during a military parade at the Zhurihe training base in China's northern Inner Mongolia region on July 30, 2017. China held a parade of its armed forces on July 30 to mark the 90th anniversary of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). STR/AFP/Getty Images

China’s People Liberation Army (PLA), through a combination of innovation, mimicry, and theft, is developing technology that the Beijing regime aims to use to defeat the United States and dominate the Asia-Pacific region and beyond, according to a recent report by the RAND Corporation.

The report, which includes responses from more than a dozen interviews with members of think tanks, academia, and government organizations that have studied the PLA for more than 20 years, explains the situations when the PLA copies foreign technology, and when it develops its own. Most theft and innovation are for immediate political goals, while technology that doesn’t fit those goals is generally ignored.