By Clive Williams*
China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) (comprising all five forces) looks impressive in terms of total numbers of active military personnel (2,185,000) and major military platforms and missiles. Indeed, China has the world’s largest military force and second largest defence budget (but its defence budget is still only one third the size of the US defence budget).
Some analysts warn that it’s one of the fastest modernising militaries in the world – a budding military superpower, with significant power projection capabilities.
So should Australia be worried?
