Interpreting China: The People’s Liberation Army—Reforms and Challenges

In this episode of Interpreting India, host Saheb Singh Chadha is joined by Suyash Desai, nonresident fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, to explore the transformation and challenges facing China’s military, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Over the past decade, the PLA has seen rapid changes under Xi Jinping, from sweeping structural reforms to new mobilization and training strategies. But how ready is it really for a conflict over Taiwan? And what do these changes mean for India? This is the second episode in our special three-part Interpreting China series, based on Views From Taipei, a collection of essays by young Indian scholars on China. Suyash’s essay, The People’s Liberation Army in the 2020s: Buoyed by Reforms, Limited by Roadblocks, serves as the foundation for this wide-ranging conversation.