The Los Angeles Times quotes Brent Scowcroft Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Roger Cliff on the intended message of China’s latest display of military prowess:
Roger Cliff, author of the forthcoming book “China’s Military Power: Assessing Current and Future Capabilities” and a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, noted that China’s last military parade, in 2009, was surprisingly “colorful” and “sort of friendly.” “Even though it was a military parade, it wasn’t a very ominous or a threatening one, in my opinion,” he said. “So it will be interesting to see if the same tone comes through this time. … Are they sending the message that this is a nice military that’s here to help? Or are they sending the message that this is a big, gnarly, mean, tough military that will bop you over the head if you try to get in their way? I think that will be an interesting thing to see.”