Lost in translation: China's opaque defence white paper.

China's latest defence white paper, published on 31 March, once again demonstrated that although the People's Liberation Army (PLA) may be becoming marginally more transparent, it is still circumspect when it comes to revealing details about its military development. Over the last decade, the international media and other governments – notably the United States in the Pentagon's annual report to Congress on the military and security developments in China-have made much of the PLA's development of new capabilities that will allow it to project its power more effectively over greater distances. Among these new capabilities, developments in ballistic and cruise missiles, submarines, space and cyber warfare have been key, though the PLA's development of an aircraft carrier and combat aircraft with stealth characteristics have attracted international attention. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]