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ExclusiveChina’s military goal is to stand neck and neck with the US: ex-PLA colonel Zhou Bo
Prominent commentator shares insights on the PLA’s 2027 goal, competition with the US, the Taiwan issue and the peacetime dilemma
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Alcott Weiin BeijingandAmber Wangin BeijingPublished: 6:00am, 3 Aug 2026Zhou Bo is a retired senior colonel in the People’s Liberation Army, a senior fellow at Tsinghua University’s Centre for International Security and Strategy, and the author of the book Should the World Fear China? This interview first appeared in SCMP Plus. For other interviews in the Open Questions series, click here.
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is approaching its 2027 centenary, a major benchmark set by Beijing to achieve military modernisation. What is that goal actually about?
China has set two major military goals: one [is for the] centenary of the PLA in 2027 and another [is for the centenary] of the People’s Republic of China in 2049.
Between those two milestones, China aims to basically achieve the modernisation of its national defence and armed forces by 2035. That means the PLA would not yet be fully modernised by 2027 by China’s own high standard.
The stated highest objective is to build a world-class military by 2049. However, we first need to consider how many countries are considered to have world-class militaries. The Chinese government has not specified this.
If there is only one, then it is obviously the United States. But if there can be more than one, then is China not already the second-strongest military power in the world?
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