Kathmandu. Top officials from Beijing met last week to determine the future course of China’s economy, security and politics in the fifth plenary session conducted by the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC). Within the communiqué that they released post the conclusion of the closed-door sessions, it was detailed that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) would be on par with the US military by 2027.

According to The Global Times, 2027 will mark the hundred year anniversary of the establishment of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). As per the communiqué issued last week that gave an insight into the  14th Five-Year (2021-2025) Plan for Economic and Social Development, as well as “Vision 2035”, China is gearing up to modernize its state military.

The news report notes that the objective of furthering the state’s security within the plan is to expedite the “mechanization,” “informatization” and “intelligentization,” of the armed forces. A Chinese military expert, Song Zhongping, commented on the matter that the “centennial goal is in line with national strength.” The very point that China sought to include and highlight this topic underlines its desire to deepen its engagements in the region and defend it if need be. Increased US involvement in Taiwan and well as it claim in the South China Sea is integral to understand its stance regarding the matter.

Julian Gewirtz, who is a senior fellow for China studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), stated that even though it was difficult to ascertain that the plan would pave a way for Xi’s supposed ambitions to remain in the seat of power for an extended period, it was a significant development.

Remarking on the fact that the plenum went beyond setting short-term agendas, and focused on a vision for the next 15 years, he added that, “Whether or not Xi rules until 2035, this provides a medium-term frame for the actions under way, especially since the next several years will likely remain very challenging for China.”

In the current time, the US military is a force to be reckoned with, both in terms of its technology and the numbers of its artillery and troops. As per the Global Fire Power Index 2020, it has ranked first amongst 138 countries, with a PwrIndex score of 0.0606, as China ranked third, after the US and Russia, with a score of 0.0691. A perfect score would be 0.0000, and would specify the “perfect” fighting power of the states. The nuclear might of the states were not taken into consideration within the study, as it simply looks at the capabilities in terms of the manpower, natural resources, naval forces, airpower, land forces, logistics, financials, and the geography of the concerned states.

China’s ambitions is a result of the geopolitical shifts in power structures and the regional challenges it faces. It is indicative of the threat that it assumes stems from the US’s involvement in China’s areas of interest.