Nowhere is the nexus of the military-industrial complex in the PRC more evident than in the codification of the 1997 "16-Character Policy," which makes it official PRC policy to deliberately intertwine state-run and commercial organizations for casting a cloud of ambiguity over PRC military modernization. In their literal translation, the 16 characters mean as follows:
Jun-min jiehe (Combine the military and civil);
Ping-zhan jiehe (Combine peace and war);
Jun-pin youxian (Give priority to military products);
Yi min yan jun (Let the civil support the military).
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If the military and civil is combined how then can foreign nations and companies make the distinction between civil and military use? I premise of being allowed to sell military equipment to China is that if it has a civilian use and thus not strictly military it can be sold. However when it comes to China what's the difference? |