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Insufficient
Finance
China
is unable to afford the equipping of the PLA with modern weaponry due
to the size and constrains placed on the modernisation programme. To
equip the PLA to that of a superpower will be a mammoth tasks
requiring huge financial commitments. A 1986 estimate indicated that
to build the PLA to effectively deter Soviet Union would required
US$65 billion; and to be comparable to the Soviet Union, between
US$200 to US$ 400 billion42.
China can ill-afford these expenditures. Even the recent weaponry
purchases from Russia had to be paid partially in barter trade.
External
constraints
There
are external constraints on what China can purchased even if it does
have the financial resources. The West will continue to impose embargo
on military sales to China and Russia arms exporter will also be
constrained by policy makers in Moscow to allow commercial deals which
compromise security and foreign policy considerations. Given that
China’s defence modernisation relied on the West and Russia, these
external factors will moderate the pace and scope of it’s
modernisation.
Domestic
problems
China is also constrained by many
domestic problems ie. ethic unrest, fear of political liberalisation,
economic woes and high unemployment
rates. The leadership of Jiang Zemin is also facing challenges by
hard-liners questioning the present regime’s loyalty to Marxism and
commitment to socialism43. |