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China The Role of Foreign Military Technology
Following the withdrawal of Soviet aid and advisers in 1960,
which crippled the defense industry and weapons production for
several years, China stressed self-reliance in developing its own
weaponry. The acquisition of foreign military technology became a
contentious issue at times, particularly in the 1970s, when Maoists
stressed complete self-reliance and more moderate leaders wished to
import some foreign technology. The signing of an agreement to
coproduce Rolls Royce Spey engines in 1975 signaled the resolution
of that debate in favor of selective importation. Beginning in
1977, Chinese military delegations traveled abroad, particularly to
Western Europe and, in the 1980s, to the United States, to visit
Western defense manufacturers and to inspect the state of the art
in military equipment. Chinese representatives showed great
interest in a wide variety of weapons systems, but they made few
purchases of complete weapons systems, concentrating instead on
acquisition of selective components, equipment, or technologies and
on concluding coproduction agreements.
China's selective approach to acquiring foreign military
technology stemmed from the limited funds available for military
modernization and the desire of Chinese leaders to avoid dependence
on any one supplier. The selective approach also reflected the
knowledge that assimilation of foreign technology could present
problems because of the low level of Chinese military technology
and lack of qualified personnel. Finally, the leadership realized
that China's past emphasis on modifying foreign weapons and on
reverse engineering had greatly limited China's weapons development
capacity. To overcome weapons deficiency in the short run and
achieve indigenous military research, development, and production
in the long run, China's leaders combined the selective import of
weapons and technology with improved technical training of defense
personnel and development of the civilian economy.
China primarily was interested in obtaining defensive weapons
from abroad to correct the PLA's most critical weaknesses. These
weapons and equipment included antitank and antiaircraft missiles,
armor-piercing ammunition, helicopters, trucks, jeeps, automobiles,
and tank
fire-control systems, engines, and turrets for the ground forces;
antiship missiles, air defense systems, antisubmarine warfare
systems, and electronic countermeasures systems for the Navy; and
avionics, including fire control and navigation systems, for the
Air Force. Observers opined that the entire military needed
improved command, control, communications, and intelligence
equipment and computers for command and logistics.
Data as of July 1987
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