The Global Security Initiative: China Buttresses its Defence Diplomacy

Drivers of China’s Defence Diplomacy ‘Defence diplomacy’ is the pursuit of external military relationships through sustained exchange of army personnel, negotiations, arms control talks, cooperation in military intelligence and military technology, global peace-keeping duties, and activities related to military alliances. [1] For China, the aim of defence diplomacy is to bolster the overall national foreign policy, influence the global security environment, and enable the modernisation of the armed forces. [2] Analysts have also observed that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) deploys military diplomacy to obtain intelligence, improve combat skills, and compare its capabilities vis-à-vis other militaries. [3] The following paragraphs discuss the drivers of China’s defence diplomacy.