By: Mark Stokes and JR Wu | THE TAIWAN TAKE |
In November 2020, The Taiwan Take interviewed Mark Stokes on the “PLA Rocket Force ‘PLARF’:Â Mark Stokes (Project 2049) // Security Part 1.” Listen to the full podcast below:
JR WU: Sometimes conventional weapon systems, like jet fighters or army tanks … are good during peace times for countering grey-zone aggression[.] … Can missiles be seen as part of this group of deterrents?
MARK STOKES:Â … [N]uclear and conventional … [missiles] … have applications in both deterrence and coercion[,] … but on the nuclear front, it is generally deterrence. … China’s philosophy is having an ability to survive the first strike, and then be able to strike back with a retaliation[.] … [Because their regular operations and political apparatus are so closely integrated,] … the CCP and the PLA[,] when it comes to deterrence, approach [it] in a very different way than the United States or other democracies. … For the PLA, every military action has a political intent…
Listen to the full podcast on the The Taiwan Take through Spotify.