Chinese Navy Special Forces, or “Jiaolong Commando,” repel onto a ship during an exercise. (CGTN/Twitter)
Since the early 2000s, the PLA has undergone a drastic modernization and professionalization process, transitioning from a mainly conscript force to a smaller, mostly volunteer military, though conscription remains as a policy.
The new force’s main aim is to fight short wars against regional adversaries while having a technological advantage.
Chinese special-operations units, and the PLA as a whole, have gained from that modernization and learned from the example provided by Western special operations units over the past 60 years, but Chinese forces are still untested in combat.
Special operations forces have been at the forefront of U.S. combat operation in the last two decades.
Here s What You Need To Remember: Special Operations forces may thus develop new tactics on how their unique capabilities could counter Russia’s own unconventional warfare tactics in Eastern Europe, or employed to surveil and raid militarized islets in the Pacific Ocean.
Special operations forces have been at the forefront of U.S. combat operation in the last two decades. They are nearly at the forefront of risky combat missions and suffer higher casualties as they are often deployed to remote locations and exposed to greater risks.