[특집] 중국의 군사력 평가

The Anatomy of Chinese Military Forces:Changing Strategies and Capabilities.

인민해방군으로 알려진 중국 군부는 1980년대 초 이래로 전략과 전력 양쪽 모두에서 근본적인 변화의 과정에 놓여 있다. 십수년 간의 정치적인 격변 이후 인민해방군은 1970년대 말 심각하게 분열되고 약해져 있었다. 세계에서 가장 큰 군대이나, 인민해방군의 무기체계는 대부분 낡은 장비로 이루어져 있었고. 군대는 잘 훈련되어 있지 않았다. 1979년 베트남과의 전쟁은 중국의 인민해방군이 얼마나 취약한가를 의심 할 여지없이 보여주었다. 인민해방군의 많은 결점들은 등소평의 리더 섭 하에서 장기적인 군현대화를 추구하게 하였다. l990년대로 들어서면서, 인민해방군의 군현대화는 199l 년 걸프전의 충격. 급속한 경제발전. 그리고 경제적 ㆍ영토적인 이해관계를 보호할 필요에 기인해서 촉진되었다. 중국의 공식적인 방위비 예산은 1980년대 말 이래로 해마다 두 자리 숫자의 속도로 증가하고 있다. 인민해방군은 해외로부터 선진 무기를 구입하고 있으며, 더 현실적인 전투조건에서 군대를 훈련시키기 위혜 시간과 돈을 투자하고 있다. 냉전의 종말과 더불어 아시아 태평양 지역은 불확실한 안보환경에 직면하고 있다. 중국의 중요한 정치적 ㆍ 군사적인 비중. 군사부문에서의 개방성의 결여 때문에 , 중국이 추진 중인 군현대화는 인민해방군의 전략과 전력에 대해 관심을 갖게 하고 있다.

China's military, know as the People's Liberation Army (PLA), has undergone a fundamental transformation both in its strategies and capabilities since the early 1980s. Entering the 1990s, the PLA's military modernization has sped up due to the shock of the 1991 Gulf War, the rapid economic development, and the need to protect the economic and territorial interests. China's official defense budget has increased annually at a double digit pace since the late 1980s. Furthermore, with the end of the Cold War. the Asia-Pacific region faces an uncertain security environment. Because of China's significant political and military weight and its lack of openness on military matters, China's speed-up military modernization has naturally drawn a close attention on the PLA's strategies and capabilities. With shock of the Gulf War. Chinese military leaders uneasily watched that many Asia-Pacific counties had started to pursue a massive military modernization since the late 1980s. As a result, the PLA realized that most limited wars it could face in the future could be no longer traditional low-intensity wars, but high-tech and high-intensity wars. An enlarged CMC meeting held in early 1993 thus further modified the military strategy. The new strategy aimed at preparing and winning high-tech limited war and local conflicts. Along with changing strategies, the PLA has pursued a most comprehensive modernization program since the early 1980s. The modernization has emphasized on increasing mobility and training in combined arms operations: improving logistic, combat support, and command, and control, communications, and intelligence systems: importing modern weapon systems: and developing a number ofindigenously produced systems. After more than 15 years, profound changes have been taking place in all areas in the PL A, including training and education.' force structures: weapon systems: communications. command. control, and intelligence: logistic support: research and development and so on. Although it is still far behind well-trained and well-equipped Western forces, the PLA is a much more capable force than 15 years ago. Since the late 1980s, China's military modernization focus has shifted to the air force and navy, the army then started to focus on building rapid-reaction capability based on the “limited war” and “high-tech limited war' strategies. Army elite units are selected as ”fist units, responsible for quick operations. These units have higher priority in the allocation of modern equipment and funds for training in order to maintain a high level of operational readiness. They are also in charge of exploring new concept and tactics for high-tech limited warfare. Among the rapid-reaction forces, the 15th Airborne Army is the most rapid long-range unit. directly under the CMC control. Every Military region (MR) also has one division or a group army as rapid-reaction forces. They are the mechanized 38th group army in Beijing MR: mechanized 39th group army in Shenyang MR: mechanized 162nd division in Jinan MR: mechanized 63rd division in Lanzhou MR: mechanized 36th division in Nanjing MR: 149th infantry division in Chengdu MR, 124th infantry division in Guangzhou MR. Nanjing MR is building another division-size rapid-reaction force. preparing for the possible contingency between the Taiwan Straits. This unit is the 92nd infantry division of 31st group army. With more than 1.000 vessels and 260.000 personnel. the PLAN is the third largest navy in the world. However, it was only a coastal force in the early 1980s with a very limited number of larger surface ships. Even those larger ships had very little anti-air and anti-submarine capabilities and were not capable of extended missions. In the mid-1980s, the PLAN, under of Adm. Liu Huaqing's leadership, started an aggressive modernization program based on indigenous designs andincorporated Western technologies.