Chinese Military Research Articles

The human cost of war: An experimental study of Taiwanese attitudes towards war casualties

This paper investigates public attitudes toward types of war casualties. Through a survey experiment, we examine Taiwanese responses to hypothetical scenarios involving casualties among Taiwan's own military, the US military as allies, the Chinese military as enemy combatants, and mainland Chinese civilians. Our paper reveals three findings: first, there is a stronger aversion among Taiwanese citizens to their own military casualties compared with those of their allies. Second, Taiwanese attitudes toward their own military casualties are more adverse than those incurred by enemy military. Lastly, Taiwanese support for military action diminishes more significantly with Chinese civilian casualties than with Taiwanese military losses.

Sino-Belgian research collaborations and Chinese military power

ABSTRACT China’s rise as a scientific superpower and its increasingly assertive geopolitical stance have raised concerns among Western governments over the security implications of research collaborations with China. Indeed, studies have revealed how China uses technology transfers to advance its military capabilities. In this article, we examine the links of Sino-Belgian research collaborations to the Chinese military and the evolution of these collaborations using a mixed methods approach comprising a bibliometric analysis and two case studies. Our study finds that 10% of Sino-Belgian collaborations were on critical technologies and conducted with scientists affiliated to Chinese institutes with military links. The collaborations with a military link have increased rapidly over the last two decades and have grown faster than the overall Sino-Belgian research collaborations. The results of the study reveal that research collaboration in the knowledge domain has crucial ties to the security domain and should therefore be considered in international security analysis. However, invoking Susan Strange’s structural power theory, we argue that Sino-Belgian research collaborations should not only be seen as contributing to China’s military power but also as a function of China’s growing overall power, including in the knowledge structure, where it entails the power to convey or deny knowledge.

Efficacy of cordycepin against Neospora caninum infection in vitro and in vivo

Neospora caninum (N. caninum) is an obligate intracellular Apicomplexa parasite that causes abortions in dairy cows and incurs substantial to significant economic losses in the global dairy farming industry. Cordycepin, a nucleoside antibiotic derived from Chinese medicine Cordyceps militaries, exhibits diverse biological activities. However, it remains unclear whether cordycepin possesses inhibitory effects against N. caninum infection. Therefore, this study aimed to establish both in vivo and in vitro models of N. caninum to investigate the potential impact of cordycepin against N. caninum infection. We successfully established an in vitro model of N. caninum infection in RAW264.7 cells, followed by qRT- PCR analysis to detect the content of N. caninum DNA within the cells. The effects of cordycepin on N. caninum was observed using the Giemsa method on RAW264.7, and the rate of cell infection was calculated. Cordycepin exhibited inhibitory effects on N. caninum tachyzoites in vitro, preserving cellular integrity and reducing the rate of cell infection. In mice, we established an in vivo model of N. caninum infection and detected N. caninum presence in tissues using. Real-time fluorescence quantitative PCR. Histopathological changes were observed through Hematoxylin-eosin staining. Liver function was assessed by using glutamic acid aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartic acid aminotransferase (AST) kits. Oxidative stress status was measured using catalase (CAT), malondialdehyde (MDA), and glutathione (GSH) kits. Compared with the model group, mice treated with cordycepin showed reduced clinical symptoms, increased food intake, and their body weight (P=0.0143, P=0.0068) was significantly higher than those in the model group. Furthermore, cordycepin treatment significantly alleviated hepatic cord disorders, hepatocellular swelling, detachment, and vacuolization; duodenal epithelial detachment and shortening of villi caused by N. caninum infection. Cordycepin administration reduced the increase in ALT (P=0.01, P=0.008) and AST (P<0.001) levels caused by N. caninum infection, while ameliorating hepatocyte swelling, necrosis, and detachment as well as inflammatory cell infiltration within mice liver; it also led to shortened or even disappeared duodenal villi along with and oedema of the submucosa. Analysis of oxidative stress showed that cordycepin ameliorated the damage caused by N. caninum by reducing MDA (P=0.03, P=0.02, P=0.005) and increasing CAT (P=0.004, P<0.001) and GSH (P=0.004, P<0.001) levels. In conclusion, this study reports for the first time on cordycepin's efficacy against N. caninum infection providing a potential candidate drug for neosporosis treatment.

Perils of Comparing Defence Spending

Many observers of the contemporary Sino-American relationship are concerned about the growth of China’s military power. Figuring out the extent of China’s military investment is however difficult because of the unreliability of official Chinese statistics. Some analysts have tried to formulate their own estimates of China’s military spending using purchasing power parity (PPP) to account for China’s lower labour and production costs. Anand Toprani explores the dangers of relying on PPP calculations using the lessons learned from the flawed assessments of the Soviet Union during the Cold War. He argues that focusing on dollar figures says little about actual military capabilities and the asymmetries between US and Chinese militaries. ◼

A LOOK AT THE HISTORY OF CHINESE MILITARY TECHNICAL TERMS

The study of military technical terms is essential for understanding the evolution of military science and technology. Chinese military terminology has a long and complex history that reflects the development of Chinese military strategy, tactics, and technology. This article explores the historical evolution of Chinese military technical terms, tracing their origins, development, and impact on modern military lexicon. By examining ancient texts, historical records, and contemporary usage, this study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the linguistic and cultural significance of Chinese military technical terms.

The Approaches to Cultivating the Foreign Language Competency of Cadets in Chinese Military Academies

The Approaches to Cultivating the Foreign Language Competency of Cadets in Chinese Military Academies

Experience in Measuring Productivity of Suffix Morphemes in Chinese Military News Discourse Based on a Universal Measure

The article studies the issues of measuring derivational productivity of affixes. It considers the concept of productivity and its various aspects which can be quantified by corpus linguistics methods. In particular, it analyzes the measures of “expanding” and “potential” productivity by H. Baayen, and proposes a new formula for “universal” productivity on the basis of the analysis. These three productivity measures are applied to 80 Chinese suffix morphemes (suffixes and semi-suffixes) within a thematic collection of texts – Chinese media reports on military topics for 2019. The language material comprises 2066 texts (2.852.262 characters). The study resulted in three variants of the rating list for the most productive suffix morphemes of the Chinese military news discourse, which can be used for didactic and applied purposes. H. Baayen’s “expanding productivity” and the “universal productivity” proposed in the work showed a high correlation (0.85), while H. Baayen’s “potential productivity” correlates with them negatively. A meaningful analysis of the results also brings up a question of the appropriateness of using the “potential productivity” measure. Comparison of existing measures and the formula proposed in the work allow us to conclude that for an approximate assessment of the suffix morphemes productivity one can use the formula of “expanding productivity” by H. Baayen, which, despite relying only on the single word token (hapax legomenon) frequency, gives quite plausible results. To measure the suffix morphemes productivity more precisely, it is recommended to use the “universal productivity” formula proposed in this paper which takes into account a larger number of significant parameters (the number of hapax legomena with the estimated affix, the total type count with the given affix, and the average regular word token frequency of the estimated affix) and is more reasonable in this respect.

Preparing for a two-front conflict: The role of the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force

This article argues that while India is preparing for the contingency of a two-front war against China and Pakistan, its procurement and arms production policies make it problematic for the Indian Air Force (IAF) and Indian Navy (IN) to meet these challenges. IAF doctrine is not aligned to its current capabilities and is, therefore, largely speculative. Further, due to budgetary shortfalls in its modernization efforts, the IAF will find it difficult to fulfill its stated doctrinal role against China or Pakistan. On the other hand, the Indian Navy’s doctrine is better aligned with its objectives and capabilities. The IN can carry out its doctrine of sea control against the Pakistani Navy, but will have to adopt a sea denial posture against China because of the rapid growth of the PLA Navy’s force and capabilities. Given their slow pace of modernization, neither service will be able to decisively counter the Chinese military.

Resilience and anxiety of new recruits in the Chinese military during COVID-19: Social support as a mediator

We investigated the mediating effect of social support in the relationship between the resilience and anxiety of new recruits to the Chinese military during COVID-19. We conducted a routine psychological assessment of 665 new recruits and the results indicated that resilience had a negative impact on anxiety symptoms and that social support mediated this association. Our findings suggest that improving the resilience of new recruits and strengthening their social support systems during the COVID-19 pandemic could effectively reduce their anxiety and improve their psychological health during the military adaptation period.

Effect of Influenza Vaccination on Rate of Influenza Virus Infection in Chinese Military Personnel, 2015-2016: A Cluster Randomized Trial.

Influenza is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. The protective effect of a trivalent influenza vaccine (TIV) is undetermined in military personnel. We conducted an open-label, cluster randomized trial on active-duty servicemen of Beijing, Tianjin, and Shijiazhuang, who were randomly assigned to receive either a single dose of TIV or no treatment, according to cluster randomized sampling. The subjects were then followed for a maximum of six months to assess the incidence of laboratory-confirmed influenza. A total of 5445 subjects in 114 clusters received one dose of TIV before the 2015/2016 influenza season. Laboratory-confirmed influenza was identified in 18 in the vaccine group compared with 87 in the control group (6031 subjects in 114 clusters), resulting in a vaccine effectiveness (VE) of 76.4% (95%CI: 60.7 to 85.8) against laboratory-confirmed influenza. Influenza-like illness was diagnosed in 132 in the vaccine group compared with 420 in the control group, resulting in a VE of 64.1% (95%CI: 56.2 to 70.6). The estimated VE against influenza B viruses was 80.5% (95%CI: 65.6 to 88.9) and 8.6% (95%CI: -241 to 75.5) against influenza A viruses. In conclusion, the trivalent influenza vaccine is moderately effective, highly immunogenic, and generally safe to use in healthy male military servicemen.

"Song of Lhasa Memories" by Shelkar Lingpa (ཤེལ་དཀར་གླིང་པ།)

This ornate poem, composed by Shelkar Lingpa (Shel dkar gling pa, 1876–1913) in the Indian hill station of Darjeeling, evokes everyday life in faraway Lhasa, even as it makes not- so-subtle barbs at the Chinese military that had forced him into exile. Read the introduction by Andrew Quintman and Kurtis R. Schaeffer.

Mapping U.S.-China technological “decoupling”: Beyond U.S.-China relations

As a global phenomenon of political and economic geography, a partial “decoupling” of U.S. and Chinese technology ecosystems is well under way. It should be noted that the biggest manifestation of this decoupling is the U.S. crackdown on Chinese technology companies. The U.S. government has placed over 1000 Chinese firms on the Entity List, Unverified List, Chinese Military firms Sanitations List, and NS-CMIC as a representative action to stifle the Chinese technology industry. The spatial patterns of the technological decoupling between China and the United States can be summed up by looking at the spatial distribution of blacklisted firms. Beyond China, the United States largely works to prevent China from forging indirect business links with U.S. high-tech companies through its allies (for example, the United Kingdom). Core cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen in China, which are also hubs for Chinese high-tech businesses, are the major targets of industrial suppression in the United States. The U.S.-China rivalry will continue to shape the global economic geography in the future.

Dr. Lian Zhu: A Founder of Contemporary Acupuncture Medicine.

As an inseparable part of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), acupuncture has been used in more than 196 countries or regions and has played an increasingly important role in health care. This article introduces Dr. Lian Zhu, MD, who made great contributions to acupuncture development. Dr. Zhu was a medical doctor, a military physician in her early life, and a high-ranking officer in the health care system of the Chinese government. She became famous as an acupuncturist after learning acupuncture in 1945. She was highly influenced by Zhijun Lu, MD, who learned acupuncture from Zuotian Ren, a TCM doctor in Yan'an, who had cured Chairman Mao Zedong's intractable shoulder pain. Dr. Zhu was one of the 2 earliest acupuncture trainers in the Chinese military health system, helping the Chinese communist military overcome resource shortages during the Chinese Civil War. She was one of China's most-influential acupuncture educators, having taught many acupuncture classes that trained many acupuncturists from 1945 to 1955. She was also an officer and policy maker in the Health Department of the central government, where she established such policy initiatives as training content for TCM doctors' reeducation schools. Dr. Zhu was ones of the earliest acupuncture researchers and administrators with a government-endorsed background. She created the first public acupuncture university in history in 1976 as well as 2 key acupuncture institutes in China and was director of both. She played a crucial role in promoting acupuncture research through TCM and biomedical methods, and was the first scholar in China to publish a thorough book on medical acupuncture using Western-biomedical language, which was highly praised by Chairman Mao. Dr. Zhu's acupuncture theory objectively promoted acceptance of medical acupuncture by the general public, medical doctors, government officials, and international medical societies.

Review of Live-Virtual-Constructive Simulation Technology

With the improvement of network communication technology, creative computer simulation architectures and today’s cutting-edge hardware, the live-virtual-constructive (LVC) simulation technology gradually matures adequately to synthesize joint heterogeneous systems. Firstly, the development of typical LVC architectures and their key technologies are analysed, such as Advanced Distributed Simulation (ADS), High-Level Architecture (HLA), Test and Train Enabling Architecture (TENA), Joint Simulation Supporting Platform (JoSim) and so force. Then, applications in the field of US and Chinese military are reviewed, as well as cases in air combat training and other scholarly research concept. Finally, a summary of LVC technology is given, and the development trend of military LVC simulation technology is predicted to explore the specific content that needs to be studied.

Epidemiological survey of warts in Chinese military recruits: A cross-sectional and follow-up study

BackgroundWarts are very common in military personnel, either at war or during peace times. However, little is known about the prevalence and natural course of warts in military recruits in China. ObjectiveTo investigate the prevalence and natural course of warts in Chinese military recruits. MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, the head, face, neck, hands, and feet of 3093 Chinese military recruits aged 16–25 years in Shanghai were examined for the presence of warts upon enlistment medical examinations. Questionnaires were distributed to collect the general information of the participants before the survey. All the patients were followed up by telephone interview for 11–20 months. ResultsThe prevalence rate of warts in Chinese military recruits was 2.49%. The diagnosis of most cases was common and plantar warts, which were usually less than 1 cm in diameter and with mild discomfort. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that smoking and sharing personal items with others were risk factors. Coming from southern China was a protective factor. Over 2/3 of patients recovered within 1 year and the type, number, and size of warts and treatment choice did not predict resolution.Study limitations and Conclusions This study demonstrated that warts had a relative lower morbidity and a higher spontaneous resolution rate in Chinese military recruits. The telephone interviews following the initial survey and the limitations of a cross-sectional study were the main drawbacks.

India-Taiwan Relations in the Geopolitics of the South China Sea and Indo-Pacific: Opportunities and Challenges

The timeline of international relations has been embedded with so many unsorted issues for decades now, and the quest for the political sovereignty and independence of Taiwan is one of those topics that has been in limbo since its emergence. Taiwan has been much talked about these days amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Geopolitical analysts agree that sooner or later Taiwan will become a test case between China and the West. The much-hyped event of the annexation of Taiwan by the Chinese military is inevitable sooner or later. The recent visit of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to the island country garnered criticism from China and hinted at a depreciation in China-US relations. Taiwan’s leadership has been firm in upholding its sovereignty at every cost. It’s been preparing itself militarily and economically and is reaching out to the world for its much-needed recognition as a free and democratic state rather than an autonomous province of China.

Discursive Construction of Chinese Military Image in the British Media

Discursive Construction of Chinese Military Image in the British Media

Taiwanese Public Opinion on the Chinese and US Military Presence in the Taiwan Strait

AbstractSince 2016, China has been conducting military flybys around Taiwan, while the US has approved arms sales to Taiwan on several occasions and sent warplanes and battleships through the Taiwan Strait. How does Taiwanese public opinion respond to the Chinese and US military presence in the Strait? Is the public likely to become less supportive of de jure independence for Taiwan on account of China's military deterrence or more supportive owing to a perceived likelihood of US military assistance? In this report, we provide answers to these questions based on evidence from a survey experiment conducted in Taiwan in October–November 2020. We find that Taiwanese are less sensitive to the Chinese military presence in the Taiwan Strait but have become more supportive of de jure independence after seeing the US aircraft in the area. Our findings contribute to studies of cross-Strait relations and US foreign policy on the Taiwan Strait.

Lips and Teeth: China’s Buffer Thinking Toward North Korea

ABSTRACT Chinese officials characterize the bilateral relations between China and North Korea as ‘lips and teeth’ at times and most China scholars would also agree that North Korea is China’s buffer state. Despite the popularity of accepting this ‘buffering relationship’ between the two countries, few scholarly works explain this relationship in depth. What does ‘China regards North Korea as a buffer state’ mean? When and under what conditions did the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leaders begin to view North Korea as a buffer state? Most importantly, how did such a buffer view shape China’s behavior when North Korea’s existence was endangered? The purpose of this article is to shed more lights on this unique geopolitical relationship forged in blood. It argues the CCP leaders’ first view on the Korean Peninsula was nationality minority. It was the Korean War that fundamentally changed the way the leaders perceived the value of the peninsula, from a non-geopolitical to a geopolitical one—North Korea is a buffer state keeping a hostile force away from the Sino-North Korean border. Evidently, China’s buffer thinking toward North Korea was one key factor contributing Chinese military and diplomatic protection over North Korea during the first North Korean nuclear crisis.

River Defense and Fleet Building: The Song Navy in the Wars against the Jin and Mongol Forces

Abstract The Song dynasty established a standing naval force, which was ignored by some historians since Song lost its defensive wars to the Jin and Mongol forces. This article examines improvements and innovations of Chinese naval operations during Song and pays particular attention to how the state economic reforms and state-centered financial system supported naval development. Song’s population growth and demographic changes also provided manpower for the government to maintain a huge army while establishing a large navy. As the new age of naval and siege warfare emerged, gunpowder weapons and new naval technology became more widespread. The Chinese military adapted to naval warfare during the Southern Song because it was economically and technologically possible. The south’s mastery of riverine warfare created a substantial defensive advantage against the north. Thus, when the Mongols later mastered riverine warfare, they penetrated throughout the south.