"China Should Send Troops to Fight ISIS" Topic

"Now that the U.S. has decided to bomb ISIS and assembled an international coalition to do so, the key question for China is what should it do? Should China join the international coalition in one way or another? Although the Chinese government seemed to decline the U.S. offer to join the coalition, there are actually multiple reasons China should join. I've outlined five benefits that China can reap by joining the U.S. coalition against ISIS.

First and foremost, it is in China's security interest to destroy ISIS, which is already a threat to China's national security and could become a very serious threat if it gains more power and influence. ISIS has proven to be a brutal regime, willing to kill innocent people who do not share their radical religious views. After beheading two innocent American journalists, it is not inconceivable that one day ISIS could do the same to Chinese nationals. ISIS also has territorial ambitions toward China's Xinjiang province and unconfirmed reports suggest that it might have recruited Chinese nationals already. If true, then this is a serious problem as it shows that domestic terrorism in China is now closely connected to international terrorism. In any case, it is not an exaggeration that ISIS already poses a serious threat to China.

A second reason for China to send its troops to fight ISIS is the invaluable combat experience that Chinese military can gain in doing so. Despite the quick increase of China's military power in recent years, many questions still remain when it comes to the PLA's actual fighting capabilities because the PLA has not fought a real war in about 30 years. If "the Chinese military can assemble as soon as summoned, fight any battle, and win," as China's minister of defense recently said, then it desperately needs better training in areas like logistics, coordination, intelligence, and so forth. How can you gain real combat experience if you never participate in war? Although fighting pirates has some useful functions, fighting a real war is what matters the most for the PLA…"
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Amicalement
Armand

I don't see why PLA should go and die for American interests. After all the US is goading China in the Asia-Pacific.

If I was the PRC I'd let the Americans rot in their quagmires.

thanks for the "near" minded post!!

Good Lord WHO is goading WHO?!

Last I checked the US did not threaten Chinese territory with nuclear attack.

WOW. (Shakes head)

Since China did send its navy to participate in coalition anti-piracy patrols off Africa, it is not inconceivable that China might participate against ISIS.

That might bring in all of the Asian/Pacific countries – Japan, South Korea, Philippines, maybe even Vietnam.

…maybe even Vietnam.

I know you didn't intend it to come across that way as I can see where you're coming from with this Bill, but Vietnam is emerging as one of the bright star countries in Asia.

Especially since PRC pulled it's (who woulda guessed) little stunt with Hong Kong the other day.

No.
If China involves itself in Mesopotamian affairs then I would not be surprised if IS sent a few advisers/agitators to whip up the already angry Uighurs in Western China. I.S. is not an immediate or even mid-term threat to China so why should the Asian power get involved? Also such involvement could disrupt the Chinese economic exploitation of Africa if radical groups were angered enough to target Chinese interests there, so its a losing proposition for China.
Rod Robertson

Harsh ThomasHobbes Harsh, and I'm sure EB will preview.
And the Chinese DO have their own problems suppressing Christians amongst others.
The true rot is with al the leadership being fed a load of it by the military selling machine AND believing it.
This ISIS problem could ve sorted if politicians keep asking for limited collateral damage.
Pull the plaster off quickly.

China has an interest in limiting Islamic extremism to be sure, but she has no compelling geopolitical interests in fighting ISIS. No Chinese hostages were beheaded. If China has a dog in this fight it's against Boko Haram in Africa, where China has invested heavily in.

So I guess I'm with ThomasHobbes.

Would be a nice "what-if" scenario … but highly doubtful if it would actually happen. That being said, the PRC lacks any real combat experience and certianly little desert ops training. Where ISIS if just the opposite … Not to mention, they have very limited force projection capabilities … All the same pretty much could be said, for the other Asian armies mentioned …

That being said, the PRC lacks any real combat experience and certianly little desert ops training.

Given no-one is really sending boots on ground bar spec ops this point is somewhat moot.

If we assume Chinese do send military in, it would be aircraft, not ground troops. In reality, the support would be weapons flown to Kurds and Iraqi forces, policing and diplomatic assistance.

A Chinese or Russian or Vietnamese force would be a liability anyway – there's a complete and utter lack of interoperationability with Western forces in terms of command, communications, logistics, tactical and operational procedures etc.

the PRC lacks any real combat experience and certianly little desert ops training.

Are we sure of that? China has considerable deserts…

And what combat? Last time PLA went to war was 1979 and that was against Vietnam. Since then it's just been a couple of small naval skirmishes near Spratleys.

PLA has no expeditionary capability either – they're still a purely defensive force and very China bound.

I know China has a lot of desert terrain. It appears the PRC conducts some training in the desert in the Guangzhou Military Area Command district. How many units in the PRC have done desert training ?
Do they train like the US does at the NTC, and 29 Palms in the CA/NV Mohave desert ?

Given no-one is really sending boots on ground bar spec ops this point is somewhat moot.

Yes, but this is a hypothetical scenario.

A Chinese or Russian or Vietnamese force would be a liability anyway – there's a complete and utter lack of interoperationability with Western forces in terms of command, communications, logistics, tactical and operational procedures etc.

I agree, and that adds to the paradigm of a completely "what if" scenario …

And what combat? Last time PLA went to war was 1979 and that was against Vietnam. Since then it's just been a couple of small naval skirmishes near Spratleys.

PLA has no expeditionary capability either – they're still a purely defensive force and very China bound.

As I said Thomas, the PRC lacks any real combat experience in general and certainly little desert ops training. Not to mention, they [the PRC]has very limited force projection capabilities …

China does what is good for China. They may deploy to Africa if they feel they have to safeguard their investments, but I don't believe they have invested heavily in any particularly troubled regions.