Abstract
The Chinese have long realised that technology is the cutting edge in modern combat. Accordingly, China has embarked on an ambitious programme to revamp its technological capability and this process is likely to take between fifteen to twenty years. Evidence suggests the PLA is engaged in a sustained effort to interdict, at long ranges, aircraft carrier and expeditionary strike groups that might deploy in the Western Pacific. Following the experience of US intervention with Carrier Battle Groups during the 1995 and 1996 Taiwan Strait crises, evidence suggests the Chinese military has invested in research, development, and technology acquisition oriented on anti-carrier operations. Similarly, China’s placement of long-range SAM systems capable of providing coverage over Taiwan’s airspace, combined with expansion of SRBM and amphibious forces, has introduced a destabilising capability.