This series will cover China's military development overseas, in relation to its foreign policy. The economic success of China in the past decades has reignited its foreign ambition, and slowly pushed the country into a geopolitical competition with the West. The series seeks to investigate how China is developing its military capabilities globally, and how its developments affect the global balance of power.

Mao Zedong’s Thought

The Mao Zedong thought (毛泽东思想) played a significant role in China’s military influence abroad. Mao Zedong thought, or Maoism, is the "revolutionary struggle of the vast majority of people against the exploiting classes and their state structures."

People’s War (人民战争)

The People’s War, in Mao’s own words, is ‘a war of the masses; only mobilising the masses and relying on them can wage it.’ Mao Zedong believes that by mobilising civilians, they would be able to win a war against enemies with better equipment. Peasants, in particular, play an important role in the revolution. In his Report on an Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan, Mao claims: ‘Leadership by the poor peasants is absolutely necessary. Without the poor peasants there would be no revolution. To deny their role is to deny the revolution. To attack them is to attack the revolution.’ By combining peasants with armed revolution, Mao believes that he will be able to export his ideas of revolution to other parts of the world. Another key strategy of people’s war is the implementation of guerrilla warfare and encircling the cities from the countryside (乡村包围城市). 

Political Power Comes Out of the Barrel of a Gun (枪杆子里出政权)

In addition to the power of the masses, Mao Zedong believed that political power comes out of the barrel of a gun (枪杆子里出政权). He adds, by having guns, ‘we can create cadres, create schools, create culture, create a mass movement.’

Chinese Military Influence Abroad
After the end of the Korean War, China established the International Liaison Department of the Chinese Communist Party (中国共产党中央委员会对外联络部) in 1951. The main objective of ILD is to build connections with communist parties in other countries. For instance, the CCP Central Committee asked the ILD to provide assistance to Cambodia after the foundation of Khmer United National Front (FUNK) in 1970.

Southeast Asia

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

The activities of Maoists in Southeast Asia overlapped with the Cultural Revolution, one of the most significant events of the post-war PRC. The Red Chinese Battle Plan is a short film that was released by the US Department of Defense. The film described Vietnamese communist movements as the forefront of the Maoist revolution. Indeed, China provided $20 billion worth of support to North Vietnam during the Vietnam War. In addition, China not only reformed Vietnam’s financial and defence systems. It also taught Vietnam to mobilise peasants for the cause of the revolution. Ho Chi Minh, the leader of North Vietnam, shared Mao’s view that peasants were keys to a successful revolution. After the foundation of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Ho Chi Minh secretly visited China in 1950 and asked Mao Zedong to send military equipment and instructors to help Vietnam fight against the French colonial regime. In response to How's request, Zhou Enlai sent Luo Guibo to Vietnam, who later became the first Chinese ambassador to Vietnam and stayed in the country for eight years. In his memoir, Luo gave a detailed account of his mission in Vietnam. According to Luo, China not only provided communists in Vietnam with medical supplies and financial support. It also taught them the experience of China’s armed revolution and the tactics of guerilla warfare. Ho Chi Minh was not only a close friend of Mao but also an admirer of his idea of revolution and its successful implementation in China. Although Ho received tremendous support from Mao and China between the 1950s and 1960s, he eventually alienated himself from the cause of Mao and embraced the revisionist route of the USSR.

Chinese military influence abroad reached its climax in the 1960s during the Cultural Revolution, one of the most significant events since the foundation of the PRC. The Cultural Revolution (文化大革命) not only marked the pinnacle of Mao’s political power but also the impact of his thoughts to other parts of the world. In 1965, Lin Biao, then-Minister of Defense, urged China to begin the process of exporting the revolution (输出革命) to other parts of the world. He claimed: ‘Mao Zedong’s thought is a common asset of the revolutionary people of the whole world! This is the great international significance of the thought of Mao Zedong… Hold aloft the just banner of people’s war… Victory will certainly go to the people of the world!’ During the Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong thought was widely spread around other continents such as Southeast Asia and the Americas. While China’s attempt to export the revolution was not endorsed by all of the countries, some of them, such as Cambodia and Peru, paid a heavy price to the influence of Maoist philosophy.

Khmer Rouge, Cambodia

Although the CCP was disappointed by the outcome of the Vietnam War. Zhou Enlai was satisfied with the Khmer Rouge, who praised it as the only party that ‘is resolved to take the path of armed struggle.’ Indeed, Pol Pot, the founder of the Khmer Rouge, is a supporter of Mao Zedong's thoughts. Like many leaders of the communist parties in Southeast Asia, Pol Pot received training in China during the 1960s. After he returned to Cambodia, he managed to secure Chinese support and took over Cambodia in 1975. Khmer Rouge’s takeover of Cambodia inspired Mao Zedong, whose reputation was severely damaged after the end of the Cultural Revolution. During his 1975 visit to China, Mao Zedong praised Pol Pot for his accomplishments in Cambodia: ‘Much of your experience is better than ours. China is not qualified to criticise you. We committed errors of the political routes ten times in fifty years—some are national, some are local…Thus I say China has no qualification to criticise you but has to applaud you.’ Indeed, Pol Pot’s success proved that Mao’s ideas of class revolution and armed conflicts were tangible solutions to capitalism in Southeast Asia. While scholars debated over China’s influence over the Khmer Rouge, it was arguable that the Khmer Rouge was inspired by the philosophy of Maoism. 

South Asia

The Communist Party of Nepal (CPN-M)

Prior to the beginning of the armed insurgency in 1996, Nepal was one of the poorest nations in the region. Its life expectancy was fifty-nine years and ethnic minorities in Nepal were confronted by economical and social marginalisation. Police violence was also a common phenomenon in Nepal during the 1990s. The Human Rights Watch World Report 1995 found out that police officers exploited and tortured protests throughout 1994. Upon learning about Maoists’ activities in the west of Nepal, Nepal Police launched ‘Operation Romeo’ in November 1995, which resulted in human rights violations and the displacement of 6,000 people. The leader of CPN-M, Baburam Bhattarai, said that the operation ‘let loose a reign of terror against the poor peasants.’ These events contributed to providing a context for the rise of Maoist movements in the country. Indeed, during an interview, the leader of the Maoist movement in Nepal, Prachanda claimed that ‘The west is historically, geographically and culturally the core of the revolution. It is the main starting point for the revolution – the people here are more oppressed by the ruling classes and the government in Kathmandu is very far from here.’ Mao's idea that ‘war is an instrument of political transformation’ made Maoists believe that an armed rebellion is the only way to change the status quo in Nepal. As a result, after assaulting a police outpost in the west of Nepal, Interestingly, unlike their counterparts in other parts of the world, Maoists in Nepal showed little interest in visiting China. On the contrary, the ideology of Maoism expanded its influence in Nepal through literature.  Khagendra Sangraula, one of the most famous authors on Maoist movements in Nepal, pointed out that Maoist literature was imported to Nepal from India. Inspired by Mao’s ideas and frustrated by Nepal’s social hierarchies, many students joined the armed rebellion during the civil war. Inspired by China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA), Nepal People’s Liberation Army (NPLA) serves as the backbone of Maoists’ military strength. The Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) estimated that Maoist had around 25,000 armed militia within the border. As the name implies, the structure of the PLA was inspired by their Chinese counterparts. An effective people’s army, according to Mao, needs to have ‘an extensive and reliable popular support base, a communist party guided by correct principles and solid organisation, a powerful people's army, suitable terrain for military action, and sufficient economic resources to support the population.’ The CPN-M also implemented Mao’s strategy of encircling cities from the countryside during the unification convention in 1991. Similar to Mao’s military doctrine, they divided their military campaigns into three different stages: strategic defence, strategic balance, and strategic offence. After the military rebellion in 1996, the CPN-M 

The CPN-M initiated the strategic offensive in 2004 when they used Indian intervention as an excuse to prepare for guerilla warfare and provide military training to villagers.

Confronted by increasing external pressure from other countries such as the United States after the September 11 attack, Maoists in Nepal realised that their initial goal of overthrowing the government was no longer a feasible option. Instead, they shifted their focus to abolishing the monarchy. In 2005, the monarchy was abolished after signing a 12-point agreement with CPN-M and other political parties. A decade after the abolishment of the monarchy, some former officials such as Bhattarai and Prachanda alienated themselves from the military struggle by taking a pragmatic approach.

Africa

ZANLA (Rhodesian Bush War, Zimbabwe)

Chinese military engagement in the Rhodesian Bush War took place between 1964 and 1979. China supported the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) whereas the Soviet Union endorsed (ZIPRA). ZANELLA's leader, Josia Tongorara, underwent military training in a military academy in Beijing. ZANLA applied Mao’s strategy by establishing communities in rural areas and infiltrating different regions of the country.

China also sent instructors to ZANELLA's training camps in southern Tanzania, where they taught Communist ideologies and the strategy of political indoctrination. As a result, ZANLA fully embraced Mao Zedongs’ thoughts and techniques such as infiltration, indoctrination, and control. After Zimbabwe’s independence in 1961, China continued to provide enormous support for the OAU Liberation Committee, including arms sales and military training.

South America

Abimael Guzman (Shining Path, Peru)

Peru was the only South American country that was influenced by Maoism. The Shining Path waged a war against the Peruvian government in the 1980s, which turned into the deadliest conflict in the country’s history. The mastermind behind the shining path was Abimael Guzman, a former professor of philosophy at a university in Ayacucho, one of the poorest regions of Peru in the late 1960s. Many Latin Americans visited China during the Mao era to learn more about the Cultural Revolution. Among them was Abimael Guzman, the leader of the notorious Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso), who visited China in 1965. During his trip to China, Guzman visited a military school in Beijing and received military training in Nanjing. In his autobiography Memories from Nemesis, Guzman gave a detailed account of his studies at Asia, Africa, and Latin America Training Centre (亚非拉培训中心), where he learned more about the international situation, the struggle against revisionism, and the force of the revolution. In an interview with El Diario, Guzman claimed that the school taught him to ‘remember what the masses can do, they have inexhaustible ingenuity, what we've taught you the masses will do and will teach you all over again.’ This unique experience led Guzman to believe that 1) only Maoism could significantly transform Peru and 2) armed conflict was the only way to create his envisioned communist regime in Peru. Mesmerised by Maoism, Guzman spread the thoughts of revolution in the local university at Ayacho, where the Shining Path began to take root.