Leaner, meaner

last updated 8 January 2015

Beijing

China announced this week that it would cut 200,000 troops from its army as part of a push to create a modern force that could better rival the U.S. military. China’s military chief, former president Jiang Zemin, called for a “revolution in military affairs,” the same phrase the Pentagon uses to describe its own modernization program. “The state of war is being transformed,” Jiang said, “from mechanized warfare to information warfare.” He said the money saved on troops would be spent on new weapons and communications equipment. The personnel cut will reduce China’s armed forces to 2.3 million men—still the world’s largest standing army.