Acknowledgments

Many individuals deserve credit for ensuring the success of the 2010 International Conference on People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Affairs, particu­larly conference organizers Arthur Ding, Secretary General, Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies; Roger Cliff, Senior Political Scientist of the RAND Corporation; Phillip Saunders, Director of the Center for the Study of Chi­nese Military Affairs at the U. S. National Defense University (NDU) Institute for National Strategic Studies; and Michael Swaine, Senior Associate, Carn­egie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP). The conference could not have succeeded without the hard work of Yi-su Yang of the Chinese Coun­cil of Advanced Policy Studies (CAPS), who superbly managed the travel and logistics arrangements and coordinated meetings with Taiwan and U. S. mili­tary and government officials. The editors would also like to thank Teresa Yen and the staff at the Far Eastern Plaza hotel in Taipei.

The presenters and panelists deserve great credit for taking time from very busy schedules to prepare provocative and thoughtful papers rooted in Chinese sources and rigorous analysis, illuminating the current state and likely future of the PLA Air Force (PLAAF). The editors would like to thank discus­sants Xiaoming Zhang of the U. S. Air War College, Air University; Richard P Hallion; Paul Godwin, Foreign Policy Research Institute; Benjamin Lambeth, RAND Corporation; Alexander Huang, Tamkang University; and Andrew Erickson, U. S. Naval War College for their comments on individual papers. We are also grateful to panelists Michael Swaine, Sze-Wei Chang, Taiwan Univer­sity of Science and Technology, and David Deptula, RAND Corporation, for their observations on the PLAAF.

This volume also benefited greatly from the questions, comments, and discussions of conference participants, who represented nearly fifty official and unofficial think-tank, academic, political, business, and military organi­zations and associations. In addition to CAPS, CEIP, NDU, and RAND, these included the following:

Academia Sinica

Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation

Alion Science and Technology

American Chamber of Commerce

American Institute in Taiwan Ancer Technology Asia Centre

Australian Commerce and Industry Office Center for Naval Analyses Defense Group Incorporated European Union Centre in Taiwan Foreign Policy Research Institute Foundation on Asia-Pacific Peace Studies French Institute in Taipei Genco International, Inc.

German Institute in Taiwan

India-Taipei Association

Institute of Chinese Communist Studies

Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei

Moscow-Taipei Coordination Commission

Nanyang Technological University

National Policy Foundation

National Chengchi University

National Taiwan University

Phoenix Satellite Television Ltd.

Project 1049 Institute

Prospect Foundation

Singapore Trade Office in Taipei

Taipei Medical University

Taiwan Brain Trust

Taiwan Legislative Yuan

Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Taiwan National Defense University

Taiwan Society for Strategic Studies

Taiwan University of Science and Technology

Tamkang University

U. S. Air Force Air War College

U. S. Air Force Pacific Air Forces

U. S. National War College

U. S. Naval War College

U. S. Pacific Command

University of New South Wales

Yuan-Ze University.

Richard Hallion would also like to thank Andrew Erickson, Associate Professor, U. S. Naval War College; Xiaoming Zhang, Associate Professor, U. S. Air Force Air War College; Polly Shen, Research Associate, Taiwan Council of Advanced Policy Studies; Maj. Gen. Tsai-mai “Mike” Tien, Superintendent, Taiwan Air Force Academy, Gangshan; Edward Chuang, Chairman, Genco International, Inc.; and Sun Tai Hsiang, Director, Aviation Museum of the Civil Aeronautics Administration, Taoyuan International Airport. Each con­tributed to the understanding of China’s aerospace heritage, and to the issues and concerns that are examined in this work.

The editors would like to thank George Maerz (copy-editing), Frank Hoffman, and Jeff Smotherman at NDU Press and Guy Tom (cover design) and Jessica Reynolds (layout) at the Government Printing Office for their hard work in turning the draft manuscript into a finished book. National Defense University Research Analysts Isaac Kardon and Joshua Wiseman and Budget Analyst Debbie Jefferson provided administrative and other support for the conference and subsequent efforts to publish and distribute this book.