The history of the People's Liberation Army began in 1927 with the start of the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government, government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermitt ...

and spans to the present, having developed from a

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasan ...

guerrilla Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, Partisan (military), partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include Children in the military, recruite ...

force into the largest

armed force A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily Weapon, armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable ...

in the world.

Historical background

Throughout the centuries, two tendencies have influenced the role of the military in national life, one in

peacetime Peace is a state of harmony in the absence of hostility and violence, and everything that discusses achieving human welfare through justice and peaceful conditions. In a societal sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such a ...

and the other in times of upheaval. In times of peace and stability, military forces were firmly subordinated to

civilian A civilian is a person who is not a member of an armed force. It is war crime, illegal under the law of armed conflict to target civilians with military attacks, along with numerous other considerations for civilians during times of war. If a civi ...

control. The military was strong enough to overcome domestic rebellions and foreign invasion, yet it did not threaten civilian control of the political system. In times of disorder, however, new military leaders and organizations arose to challenge the old system, resulting in the

militarization Militarization, or militarisation, is the process by which a society organizes itself for military conflict and violence. It is related to militarism, which is an ideology that reflects the level of militarization of a state. The process of mil ...

of political life. When one of these leaders became strong enough, he established a new political order ruling all China. After consolidating power, the new ruler or his successors subordinated the military to civilian control once again.

Before the founding of the People's Republic of China

The divisions of the "Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army" (中國工農紅軍) were named according to historical circumstances, sometimes in a nonconsecutive way. Early Communist units often formed by defection from existing Kuomintang forces, keeping their original designations. Moreover, during the

, central control of separate

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

(CCP)-controlled enclaves within China was limited, adding to the confusion of nomenclature of Communist forces. The 1929 Gutian Congress was important in establishing the principle of party control over the military, which continues to be a core principle of the party's ideology. In the short term, this concept was further developed in the June 1930 Program for the Red Fourth Army at All Levels and the winter 1930 Provisional Regulations on the Political Work of the Chinese Workers and Peasants Army (Draft), which formally established Party leadership of the military. By the time of the 1934

Long March The Long March ( zh, s=长征, p=Chángzhēng, l=Long Expedition) was a military retreat by the Chinese Red Army and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from advancing Kuomintang forces during the Chinese Civil War, occurring between October 1934 and ...

, numerous small units had been organized into three unified groups, the First Front Red Army (紅一方面軍/红一方面军/Hóng Yī Fāngmiàn Jūn), the Second Front Red Army (紅二方面軍/红二方面军/Hóng Èr Fāngmiàn Jūn) and the Fourth Front Red Army (紅四方面軍/红四方面军/Hóng Sì Fāngmiàn Jūn), also translated as "First Front Red Army", "Second Front Red Army" and "Fourth Front Red Army". Mao's military thought grew out of the Red Army's experiences in the late 1930s and early 1940s and formed the basis for the

people's war People's war or protracted people's war is a Maoist military strategy. First developed by the Chinese communist revolutionary leader Mao Zedong (1893–1976), the basic concept behind people's war is to maintain the support of the population ...

concept, which became the

doctrine Doctrine (from , meaning 'teaching, instruction') is a codification (law), codification of beliefs or a body of teacher, teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a ...

of the Red Army and the

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

(PLA). In developing his thought, Mao drew on the works of the Chinese military strategist Sun Zi (4th century BC) and Soviet and other theorists, as well as on the lore of peasant uprisings, such as the stories found in the classical novel '' Shuihu Zhuan'' (''Water Margin'') and the stories of the

Taiping Rebellion The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a civil war in China between the Qing dynasty and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The conflict lasted 14 years, from its outbreak in 1850 until the fall of ...

. Synthesizing these influences with lessons learned from the Red Army's successes and failures, Mao created a comprehensive politico-military doctrine for waging revolutionary warfare. People's war incorporated political, economic, and

psychological Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

measures with protracted military struggle against a superior foe. As a military doctrine, people's war emphasized the

mobilization Mobilization (alternatively spelled as mobilisation) is the act of assembling and readying military troops and supplies for war. The word ''mobilization'' was first used in a military context in the 1850s to describe the preparation of the ...

of the populace to support regular and guerrilla forces; the primacy of men over weapons, with superior motivation compensating for inferior

technology Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...

; and the three progressive phases of protracted warfare—strategic

defensive Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

, strategic

stalemate Stalemate is a situation in chess where the player whose turn it is to move is not in check and has no legal move. Stalemate results in a draw. During the endgame, stalemate is a resource that can enable the player with the inferior position ...

, and strategic offensive (see Mobile Warfare). During the first stage, enemy forces were "lured in deep" into one's own territory to overextend, disperse, and isolate them. The Red Army established base areas from which to harass the enemy, but these bases and other territory could be abandoned to preserve Red Army forces. In addition, policies ordered by Mao for all soldiers to follow, the Eight Points of Attention, instructed the army to avoid harm to or disrespect for the peasants, regardless of the need for food and supplies. This policy won support for the Communists among the rural peasants. On January 15, 1949, the CCP's

Central Military Commission Central Military Commission may refer to: *Central Military Commission (China), the highest national defense organization in the People's Republic of China. *Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the highest body in Vietnam ...

decided to reorganise the regional armies of the PLA into four field armies.

People's Republic of China

In the PRC's early years, the PLA was a dominant

foreign policy Foreign policy, also known as external policy, is the set of strategies and actions a State (polity), state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, includ ...

institution in the country. Since the 1960s, China had considered the Soviet Union the principal threat to its security; lesser threats were posed by long standing

border dispute A territorial dispute or boundary dispute is a disagreement over the possession or control of territories (land, water or airspace) between two or more political entities. Context and definitions Territorial disputes are often related to the ...

s with

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

and India. China's territorial claims and economic interests made the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

an area of strategic importance to China. Although China sought peaceful unification of

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

with the

mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

, it did not rule out the use of force against the island if serious internal disturbances, a declaration of independence, or a threatening alliance occurred.

Cultural Revolution

On 5 October 1966, the Central Military Commission and the PLA's Department of General Political Tasks directed military academies to dismiss their classes to allow cadets to become more involved in the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

. In doing so, they were acting on

Lin Biao Lin Biao ( zh, 林彪; 5 December 1907 – 13 September 1971) was a Chinese politician and Marshal of the People's Republic of China who was pivotal in the Chinese Communist Party, Communist Chinese Communist Revolution, victory during the Chines ...

's 23 August 1966 for "three month turmoil" in the PLA. From 1967 to 1971, the PLA was the most powerful political institution in China. To stop the turmoil of the early Cultural Revolution, Mao ordered the PLA to engage in the "three supports and two militarizations": support the Leftist masses, support manufacturing production, support agricultural production, and apply martial law with military administration and training of civilians. From 1967 to 1972, the military replaced civilian governments at provincial, district, county, and city levels with Military Administrative Committees. More than 2.8 million PLA officers and soldiers worked as administrators for schools, factories, enterprises, and villages. The PLA's role resulted in increased civilian-military integration and growth in the number of PLA soldiers to more than 6 million by the middle of the 1970s. Lin Biao died in an aircraft crash in 1971 (the

Lin Biao incident The Lin Biao incident ( zh, c=九一三事件, l=September 13 Incident) was an aircraft accident at 3 a.m. on 13 September 1971 involving Lin Biao, the sole Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party. Everyone on board a People's Liberation Ar ...

). During the subsequent

Criticize Lin, Criticize Confucius The Criticize Lin (Biao), Criticize Confucius Campaign (; also called the Anti-Lin Biao, Anti-Confucius campaign) was a political and intellectual campaign started by Mao Zedong and his wife, Jiang Qing, the leader of the Gang of Four. It lasted f ...

campaign, Mao described Lin as a "closet Confucianist", "bourgeois careerist", conspirator, and "ultra rightist". During the campaign, many generals who had been supported by Lin were removed and military programs Lin had implemented were canceled. In 1973, the PLA completed a thorough re-organization. Thereafter, Marshal

Ye Jianying Ye Jianying (; 28 April 1897 – 22 October 1986) was a Chinese Communist revolutionary leader and politician, one of the Ten Marshals of the People's Republic of China. He was the top military leader in the 1976 coup that overthrew the Gang ...

handled the PLA's operations in consultation with

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai ( zh, s=周恩来, p=Zhōu Ēnlái, w=Chou1 Ên1-lai2; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman, diplomat, and revolutionary who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China from September 1954 unti ...

Border disputes in the 1970s

In January 1974, the PLA saw action in the

following a long-simmering dispute with the

Republic of Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the French Union, with it ...

(South Vietnam) over the

Paracel Islands The Paracel Islands, also known as the Xisha Islands () and the Hoàng Sa Archipelago (), are a disputed archipelago in the South China Sea and currently controlled by the People's Republic of China. The word ''paracel'' is of Portuguese origi ...

. The PLA successfully seized control of three disputed islands in a

naval battle Naval warfare is combat in and on the sea, the ocean, or any other battlespace involving a major body of water such as a large lake or wide river. The armed forces branch designated for naval warfare is a navy. Naval operations can be broadly d ...

and a subsequent amphibious assault. A

Sino-Vietnamese War The Sino-Vietnamese War (also known by other names) was a brief conflict that occurred in early 1979 between China and Vietnam. China launched an offensive ostensibly in response to Vietnam's invasion and occupation of Cambodia in 1978, whi ...

revealed specific shortcomings in military capabilities and thus provided an additional impetus to the military modernization effort. The border war, the PLA's largest military operation since the Korean War, was essentially a limited, offensive, ground-force campaign. The war had mixed results militarily and politically. Although the numerically superior Chinese forces penetrated about fifty kilometers into Vietnam, the PLA was not on good terms with its supply lines and was unable to achieve a decisive victory in the war. Both China and Vietnam claimed victory.

Military modernization in the 1980s

In 1980, China adopted a new Military Strategic Guideline that envisioned using a

combined arms Combined arms is an approach to warfare that seeks to integrate different combat arms of a military to achieve mutually complementary effects—for example, using infantry and armoured warfare, armour in an Urban warfare, urban environment in ...

approach and positional warfare to defend against a potential invasion by the Soviet Union.

Sino-Soviet relations Sino-Soviet relations (; , ''sovetsko-kitayskiye otnosheniya''), or China–Soviet Union relations, refers to the diplomatic relationship between China (both the Chinese Republic of 1912–1949 and its successor, the People's Republic of China) ...

significantly improved in the early 1980s. In 1984,

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping also Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Teng Hsiao-p'ing; born Xiansheng (). (22 August 190419 February 1997) was a Chinese statesman, revolutionary, and political theorist who served as the paramount leader of the People's R ...

stated that the People's Liberation Army no longer needed to anticipate an imminent invasion from the Soviet Union. In 1981, the PLA conducted its largest military exercise in North China since the founding of the People's Republic of China. In 1984, Deng shifted the PLA's primary mission away from preparing to defend against a Soviet invasion. In 1985, Deng stated that there would be a "strategic transformation" of the PLA to reduce its size and re-allocate resources from it to the civilian economy. Deng announced that the PLA would demobilize 1 million troops. The

(CMC) modified the ''Military Strategic Guideline'' in December 1988. It changed the PLA's strategic focus from a general war to potential "local wars and armed conflict" on the country's periphery. Because these potential conflicts would not necessarily be against a nuclear superpower, this change also triggered a debate among Chinese policymakers and strategists over the role of nuclear weapons in Chinese military strategy. Sino-Vietnamese conflicts at the border continued throughout the 1980s.

1990s

Observing the 1990-1991

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

, Chinese strategists concluded that the conflict demonstrated that advances in military technology had shifted the focus of war from occupying territory or annihilating an opposing force to destruction of an enemy's "comprehensive power". In January 1993, the PLA revised its Military Strategic Guideline to focus on "local wars under high-tech conditions" and "strategic deterrence" to prevent the outbreak of war. China–Vietnam relations normalized in the early 1990s and in 1993 the PLA began large-scale

demining Demining or mine clearance is the process of removing land mines from an area. In military operations, the object is to rapidly clear a path through a minefield, and this is often done with devices such as mine plows and blast waves. By cont ...

campaigns at the border. During the 1999

NATO bombing of Yugoslavia The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) carried out an aerial bombing campaign against the Serbia and Montenegro, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia during the Kosovo War. The air strikes lasted from 24 March 1999 to 10 June 1999. The bombing ...

, the United States bombed the Chinese embassy in Belgrade. Believing that the bombing was intentional, Chinese leadership worried that China was significantly lacking in leverage against the United States. In an emergency Politburo meeting on 8 May 1999,

Jiang Zemin Jiang Zemin (17 August 1926 – 30 November 2022) was a Chinese politician who served as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1989 to 2002, as Chairman of the Central Mil ...

instructed the CMC to strengthen the PLA to prevent future attacks on Chinese interests. Among the measures China took to close its lack in leverage with the United States were efforts to develop precision missiles and accelerating plans to expand conventional missile forces. China increased military funding, including to speed up the weapons development program Project 995.

2015-2016 reorganization

The "deepening national defense and military reform" was announced in November 2015 at a

plenary session A plenary session or plenum is a session of a conference or deliberative assembly in which all parties or members are present. Such a session may include a broad range of content, from keynotes to panel discussions, and is not necessarily r ...

of the

(CMC)'s

Central Leading Group for Military Reform The Leading Group for National Defence and Military Reform of the Central Military Commission () is a policy formulation and implementation body set up under the Central Military Commission and ultimately answerable to the Central Committee of ...

. In 2016, the four traditional departments of the military were replaced by 15 new departments, commissions, and offices led by the CMC. On 1 February 2016, China replaced its system of seven military regions with newly established Theater Commands: Northern, Southern,

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

, Eastern, and Central. In the prior system, operations were segmented by military branch and region. In contrast, each Theater Command is intended to function as a unified entity with joint operations across different military branches.

Timeline

The Ten-Year Civil War (1927–1937)

:* 1927: Nanchang Uprising /

Autumn Harvest Uprising The Autumn Harvest Uprising was an insurrection that took place in Hunan and Jiangxi provinces of China, on September 7, 1927, led by Mao Zedong, who established a short-lived Hunan Soviet. After initial success, the uprising was brutally ...

/ Guangzhou Uprising :* Kuomintang campaigns against the

Jiangxi Soviet The Jiangxi Soviet, sometimes referred to as the Jiangxi-Fujian Soviet, was a soviet area that existed between 1931 and 1934, governed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It was the largest component of the Chinese Soviet Republic and hom ...

: ::* November 1930 to December 1931: First Encirclement Campaign against Jiangxi Soviet ::* April to May 1931: Second Encirclement Campaign against Jiangxi Soviet ::* July 1931: Third Encirclement Campaign against Jiangxi Soviet ::* December 1932 to March 1933: Fourth Encirclement Campaign against Jiangxi Soviet ::* September 1933 to October 1934:

Fifth Encirclement Campaign against Jiangxi Soviet The Fifth Encirclement Campaign against the Jiangxi Soviet), while the Communists described it as the fifth counter-encirclement campaign at the Central Soviet ( zh, c=中央苏区第五次反围剿, p=zhōngyāng Sūqū dì wǔ cì fǎnwéij ...

:* 1934–1936: The

, a strategic retreat to avoid destruction by the Nationalist armies of Chiang Kai-shek :* 1935: Battle at the Luding Bridge *

Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945)

* 1937 to 1945:

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War was fought between the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the Empire of Japan between 1937 and 1945, following a period of war localized to Manchuria that started in 1931. It is considered part ...

:* September 25, 1937: The Battle of Pingxingguan :* January 1940: The

New Fourth Army Incident The New Fourth Army Incident (), also known as the South Anhui Incident or Wannan Incident (), occurred in China in January 1941 during the Second Sino-Japanese War, during which the Chinese Civil War was in theory suspended, uniting the Commun ...

:* August–December 1940: The Hundred Regiments Offensive

Chinese Civil War (1945–1950)

* 1945 to 1950:

against the Kuomintang: :*September 10, 1945 to October 12, 1945 – Shangdang Campaign :*October 22, 1945 to November 2, 1945 –

Handan Campaign Handan Campaign ( zh, c=邯郸战役), also known as Pinghan Campaign (平汉战役), short for Beiping-Hankou Campaign (北平汉口战役), is one of the largest clashes between Communist and Kuomintang (KMT) forces immediately after the end of ...

:*December 17, 1946 to April 1, 1947 – Linjiang Campaign :*May 13, 1947 to July 1, 1947 –

Summer Offensive of 1947 in Northeast China The Summer Offensive of 1947 in Northeast China (东北1947年夏季攻势) is a series of battles initiated by the communists against the nationalists during the Chinese Civil War after World War II. Prelude In the spring of 1947, the nationa ...

:*September 14, 1947 to November 5, 1947 –

Autumn Offensive of 1947 in Northeast China The Autumn Offensive of 1947 in Northeast China () was a series of battles initiated by the communists against the Kuomintang, nationalists during the Chinese Civil War after World War II. Prelude After the defeats of the Summer Offensive of 194 ...

:*October 10, 1947 - Eighth Route Army and New Fourth Army reorganised into the People's Liberation Army :*December 15, 1947 to March 15, 1948 – Winter Offensive of 1947 in Northeast China :*May 23, 1948 to October 19, 1948 – Siege of Changchun :*September 12, 1948 to November 12, 1949 – Liaoshen Campaign :*October 7, 1948 to November 15, 1948 – Battle of Jinzhou :*November 6, 1948 to January 10, 1949 – Huaihai Campaign :*November 29, 1948 to January 31, 1949 – Pingjin Campaign :*October 25, 1949 to October 27, 1949 –

Battle of Kuningtou The Battle of Kinmen ( zh, t=金門戰役), also known as the Battle of Kuningtou ( zh, t=古寧頭之役) or the Battle of Guningtou, was fought in October 1949 on the island of Kinmen (Quemoy), located in the Taiwan Strait, during the final ...

:*November 3, 1949 to November 5, 1949 – Battle of Denbu Island :*March 3, 1950 to March 3, 1950 –

Battle of Nan'ao Island The Battle of Nan'ao island (Nan'ao Dao, 南澳岛战斗/南澳島戰鬥) took place between the nationalists (Kuomintang) and the communists. Nan'ao Island (Nan'ao Dao, 南澳岛) of Swatow (now known as Shantou) remained in the nationalis ...

:*May 12, 1950 to June 2, 1950 – Shanghai Campaign :*May 25, 1950 to August 7, 1950 – Wanshan Archipelago Campaign :*August 9, 1950 to August 9, 1950 – Battle of Nanpéng Island

People's Republic of China (since 1949)

Taiwan Strait (aftermath of the civil war)

* 1952 to 1996: Taiwan Strait conflicts with the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

(Taiwan): :*April 11, 1952 to April 15, 1952 – Battle of Nanri Island :*September 20, 1952 to October 20, 1952:

Battle of Nanpēng Archipelago The Battle of Nanpeng Archipelago was fought between the Chinese nationalists and the communists over the islands of the Nanpeng Archipelago off the Cantonese coast. The Nanpeng Archipelago is a small island chain in Nan'ao County off the ...

:* August 1954 to May 1955: The

First Taiwan Strait Crisis The First Taiwan Strait Crisis (also known as the Formosa Crisis, the 1954–1955 Taiwan Strait Crisis, the Offshore Islands Crisis, the Quemoy-Matsu Crisis, and the 1955 Taiwan Strait Crisis) was a brief armed conflict between the People's Rep ...

::*January 18, 1955 to January 20, 1955: Battle of Yijiangshan Islands :* August 23 to October 6, 1958:

Second Taiwan Strait Crisis The Second Taiwan Strait Crisis, also known as the 1958 Taiwan Strait Crisis, was a conflict between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Taiwan, Republic of China (ROC). The PRC shelled the islands of Kinmen (Quemoy) and the Matsu Is ...

:* July 21, 1995 to March 23, 1996:

Third Taiwan Strait Crisis The Third Taiwan Strait Crisis, also called the 1995–1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis, or the 1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis, was the effect of a series of missile tests conducted by the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the waters surrounding Taiwan, ...

1949–1979

* October 19, 1950: The

Battle of Chamdo The Battle of Chamdo (or Qamdo; ) occurred from 6 to 24 October 1950. It was a military campaign by the People's Republic of China (PRC) to take the Chamdo Region from a ''de facto'' independent Tibetan state.Shakya 1999 pp. 28–32. The campa ...

* December 1951 to 1953:

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

(under the official banner of the Chinese People's Volunteers, although they are PLA regulars) * 1956 to 1959: Suppression of the Tibetan resistance movement * October 20, 1962 to November 21, 1962:

Sino-Indian War The Sino–Indian War, also known as the China–India War or the Indo–China War, was an armed conflict between China and India that took place from October to November 1962. It was a military escalation of the Sino–Indian border dispu ...

* September 11, 1967 to October 1, 1967:

Nathu La and Cho La clashes The Nathu La and Cho La clashes, sometimes referred to as Indo-China War of 1967, Sino-Indian War of 1967, were a series of clashes between China and India alongside the border of the Himalayan Kingdom of Sikkim, then an Indian protectorate. ...

* 1969 to 1978:

Sino-Soviet border conflict The Sino-Soviet border conflict, also known as the Sino-Soviet crisis, was a seven-month undeclared military conflict between the Soviet Union and China in 1969, following the Sino-Soviet split. The most serious border clash, which brought th ...

* January 17 to January 19, 1974: Battle of Hoang Sa, a sea battle with the Republic of Vietnam Navy near the disputed Xisha Islands * February 17 to March 16, 1979:

Military modernization (1980s)

* September 14–18, 1981:

North China Military Exercise The North China Military Exercise (simplified Chinese: 华北大演习; traditional Chinese: 華北大演習) was a massive military exercise carried out by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) in North China from September 14 to 18, 1981. With the pa ...

, the largest

military exercise A military exercise, training exercise, maneuver (manoeuvre), or war game is the employment of military resources in Military education and training, training for military operations. Military exercises are conducted to explore the effects of ...

since the founding of People's Republic of China in 1949 * 1985:

downsized the PLA significantly and demobilized around 1 million soldiers * 1986: Border skirmishes with

* May 20 to June 9, 1989:

People's Liberation Army at Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 During the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre in Beijing, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) played a decisive role in enforcing martial law, using force to suppress the demonstrations in the city. The killings of protestors in Beijing ...

the

Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 The Tiananmen Square protests, known within China as the June Fourth Incident, were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, lasting from 15 April to 4 June 1989. After weeks of unsuccessful attempts between t ...

. * April 1, 2001:

Hainan Island incident The Hainan Island incident was a ten-day international incident between the United States and the People's Republic of China (PRC) that resulted from a mid-air collision between a United States Navy EP-3E ARIES II SIGINT, signals intelligence a ...

, a Chinese

People's Liberation Army Navy The People's Liberation Army Navy, also known as the People's Navy, PLA Navy or simply Chinese Navy, is the naval warfare military branch, branch of the People's Liberation Army, the national military of the People's Republic of China. It i ...

jet intercepting a US Navy reconnaissance aircraft collides with the US plane. The Chinese pilot is marked

missing in action Missing in action (MIA) is a casualty (person), casualty classification assigned to combatants, military chaplains, combat medics, and prisoner of war, prisoners of war who are reported missing during wartime or ceasefire. They may have been ...

(but assumed dead), while the crew of the US reconnaissance is detained by Chinese authorities, and released shortly after.