History UsefulNotes / ChineseWithChopperSupport

All armed forces of the People's Republic of China are part of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), leading to its air and naval forces being referred to in English as the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and People's Liberation Army Navy [[FunWithAcronyms(PLAN)]], respectively. What in most nations would be simply the Army is known as the People's Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF). Ballistic missiles, both nuclear and conventional, are operated by the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF), and in 2015 a fifth branch, the People's Liberation Army Strategic Support Force (PLASSF) was created. The exact nature of that branch's role has yet to be revealed, though it presumably includes logistical functions. The PLA is in the process of shifting its emphasis from massed ground forces to increasing the strength of its naval and air power, as China's focus now shifts from defending its land frontiers to projecting its interests in the rest of the world.

All armed forces of the People's Republic of China are part of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), leading to its air and naval forces being referred to in English as the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) and People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), respectively. What in most nations would be simply the Army is known as the People's Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF). Ballistic missiles, both nuclear and conventional, are operated by the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF), and in 2015 a fifth branch, the People's Liberation Army Strategic Support Force (PLASSF) was created. The exact nature of that branch's role has yet to be revealed, though it presumably includes logistical functions. The PLA is in the process of shifting its emphasis from massed ground forces to increasing the strength of its naval and air power, as China's focus now shifts from defending its land frontiers to projecting its interests in the rest of the world.

** A brief scene in ''MacArthur (1977)'' shows the PVA attacking a U.S. Army camp in North Korea during the Winter Offensive.

** The Sino-Indian War was already being depicted in Indian cinema just a few years after it ended, with the 1963 Hindi movie ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratha_Thilagam Ratha Thilagam]]'' and the 1964 Tamil movie ''[[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0154565/ Haqeeqat]]''. The latter was [[https://www.cinestaan.com/articles/2018/aug/17/15079/desh-ko-tumhari-zaroorat-hai-the-patriotic-zeal-in-chetan-anand-s-haqeeqat-1964 so well-respected]] it was screened at the 2016 Pune Film Festival in honor of the 70th anniversary of Indian independence, 52 years after its release.

* The current arc of ''Manga/BlackLagoon'', "The Wired Red Wild Card", features a [[{{Hackette}} female hacker]] named Feng Yifei who was formerly a People's Liberation Army operative that specialized in hacking into foreign agencies' files. At the start of the arc, she comes to Roanapur at Janet Bhai's request to do a hack job into a German corporation, but things get botched and she gets disavowed by the PLA. Things go FromBadToWorse for her as the PLA is now looking to permanently silence her. Notable for being a rare look into the cyber-espionage activities of the PLA, which makes a lot of headlines in RealLife but is almost totally unrepresented in fiction.

** ''[[Literature/{{Invasion}} Invasion]]'': A 2000 novel describing a Chinese [[InvadedStatesOfAmerica invasion of America]] right in the middle of the U.S. downsizing its military.

** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bVG7QrIfvI Sky Hunter]]'' (2017): a top-secret Chinese air force squadron known as "Sky Hunter" is trained to handle sensitive matters involving surgical strikes and hostage rescue. Things get complicated when terrorists in the nearby country of [[{{Qurac}} Mahbu]] attack an army base and take Chinese hostages. Starring Li Chen (who was also the film's director) and his superstar fianceé Fan Bingbing, this movie also served as a VanityProject for the couple, especially for Li as this was his directorial debut. Also features a score by Music/HansZimmer.

* For most of TheNineties, the Chinese military was a popular choice of antagonist for the [[ThrillerLiterature techno-thriller military genre]]. The [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp collapse of the Soviet Union]] made using the USSR as an enemy no longer viable, and the Tiananmen Square Massacre was still ''very'' fresh in pop-cultural memory, making the PLA an easy choice as a bad guy country with a powerful military that would not hesitate to kill civilians and commit war crimes. Plotlines frequently involved an invasion of Taiwan and other Asian Pacific nations. This died down significantly after the 21st century started when [[TheWarOnTerror 9/11 shifted the USA's national security focus to the Middle East]], as well as the [[ChinaTakesOverTheWorld massive rising power of Chinese economic and political influence]] making depicting them as all-out bad guys a much dicier proposal in the 2000s (although their heavy-handed actions in Hong Kong in the 2010s may bring this back). Some examples from this era:

** ''Literature/DragonStrike1997'': A hypothetical war in 2001 set off when China lays claim to much of the South China Sea. Uncomfortably prescient in light of Chinese artificial island expansion in that very area in the 2010s.
** ''Literature/{{Invasion}}'': A 2000 novel describing a Chinese [[InvadedStatesOfAmerica invasion of America]] right in the middle of the U.S. downsizing its military.

When the People's Liberation Army's 'Pingjing' Campaign to crush the 'Beiping' (now 'Beijing')-Tianjin pocket of 500 000 Kuomintang troops was complete, it established itself as ''the'' dominant military power in China. After breaking the KMT's defensive line on the Yangzi, they went on to accomplish total victory over the Kuomintang in just a year - [[UsefulNotes/NoMoreEmperors bringing the Chinese Civil War to an end after 34 years of warfare and 8+ million dead]]. When taken together with the 10-20 million dead of the UsefulNotes/SecondSinoJapaneseWar this left Communist China as the one of the most war-devastated states in the history of the entire world. It also left her with the second-largest military after [[UsefulNotes/RedsWithRockets that of the Soviet Union]].

** They invade Taiwan in Creator/DaleBrown's 1997 novel ''Fatal Terrain'' (after tricking the US into destroying a civilian ferry) and then proceed to nuke Guam.

** Rather implausibly described invading Russia in Creator/TomClancy's 2000 novel ''Literature/TheBearAndTheDragon'', where they were massacred by Russians with American high-tech support.

** A brief scene in ''Film/MacArthur (1977)'' shows the PVA attacking a U.S. Army camp in North Korea during the Winter Offensive.

* For most of TheNineties, the Chinese military was a popular choice of antagonist for the [[ThrillerLiterature techno-thriller military genre]]. The [[TheGreatPoliticsMessUp collapse of the Soviet Union]] made using the USSR as an enemy no longer viable, and the Tiananmen Square Massacre was still ''very'' fresh in pop-cultural memory, making the PLA an easy choice as a bad guy country with a powerful military. Plotlines frequently involved an invasion of Taiwan and other Asian Pacific nations. This died down signifcantly after the 21st century started when [[TheWarOnTerror 9/11 shifted the USA's national security focus to the Middle East]], as well as the [[ChinaTakesOverTheWorld massive rising power of Chinese economic and political influence]] making depicting them as all-out bad guys a much dicier proposal in the 2000s (although their heavy-handed actions in Hong Kong in the 2010s may bring this back). Some examples from this era:

* When they appear it's usually to do with Taiwan. They invade the place in Creator/DaleBrown's ''Fatal Terrain'' (after tricking the US into destroying a civilian ferry) and then proceed to nuke Guam.
* Rather implausibly described invading Russia in Tom Clancy's ''The Bear and the Dragon'', where they were massacred by Russians with American high-tech support.

* The 2015 techno-thriller ''[[https://www.ghostfleetbook.com/the-book/ Ghost Fleet]]'' by P.W. Singer and August Cole covers a theoretical WorldWarIII between the U.S. and China triggered by major Chinese cyber-attacks against American assets in the Pacific Ocean.

** ''[[https://mydramalist.com/33149-china-peacekeeping-forces China Peacekeeping Forces]]'' (2018): Based off of [[https://theglobalobservatory.org/2016/10/china-peacekeeping-dpko-south-sudan-mali/ the Chinese peacekeeping experience]] in UsefulNotes/SouthSudan, the movie follows a Chinese UN detachment attempting to solve a series of mysterious bombings and rescue a team of kidnapped UN officials. [[https://www.apdnews.com/e-lifestyle/904932.html The movie grossed]] only a measly [[BoxOfficeBomb 10.5 million RMB ($1.5M USD)]], and seems to have put the brakes on the Chinese film industry's appetite for bombastic military movies on hold, at least temporarily.

** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBl1py5yKFI Wolf Warrior]]'' (2015): A Chinese military unit conducting a training exercise near the Vietnamese border comes under attack by mysterious mercenaries. The movie is notable for largely being a VanityProject for actor Wu Jing, who followed up this film with...

** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcyef27rZ-w Operation Mekong]]'' (2016): VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong_River_massacre 2011 massacre of 13 Chinese sailors on the Mekong River]] by drug lord Naw Kham (called "Naw Khar" in the film). The Chinese government assigns a special military unit to work with an undercover Chinese [[DrugsAreBad narcotics agent]] across the border to find and destroy Naw Khar and his forces.
** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sOD1Qc0O4M&t=2s Operation Red Sea]]'' (2018): The biggest budget Chinese military movie created to date, and 2018's biggest success at the box office. A sequel to ''Operation Mekong'', this movie is a [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory fictionalized account]] of the March 2015 Chinese civilian evacuation from Yemen, positing what may have happened if the evacuation convoys from [[{{Qurac}} Yewaire]] were to come under massive attack by terrorists.

China has reasonably capable air forces, but only in its local region. Most of its technology is Soviet in origin, starting from the Mig-17 to the newest order of 48 Su-35s. The naval branch is medium sized and transitioning from a primarily coastal defence force to one with regional capability. More modern nuclear submarines and aircraft carriers (the first one is the ''Liaoning'', a retrofitted former Soviet aircraft carrier) are much-discussed potential additions. The PLA also has [=ASBMs=][[note]]anti-ship ballistic missiles; exactly how suitable a long-range ballistic missile is for attacking a moving target remains uncertain[[/note]], missiles to destroy aircraft carriers. Aircraft carriers are seen as a top priority for the PLAN, largely as a matter of national prestige; Chinese officials have expressed the belief that "all great powers have aircraft carriers", and thus consider it essential that China must have them.

** A [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0BHz3RfKxPNJsFPw205AMDhMOO-HckCC 64-episode]] TV drama.

* In its native land, the 1957 Chinese novel ''[[https://karavansara.live/2015/11/23/tracks-in-the-snowy-forest/ Tracks in the Snowy Forest]]'' (林海雪原 ''lín hǎi xuĕ yuán'') by novelist Qū Bō. It tells a [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory fictionalized account]] of a PLA battalion in 1946-47 to destroy a Guomindang (Nationalist) holdout group that has turned to banditry on a snowy mountain. Parts of the story are true while others are fantasy. The book sold almost 2 million copies by the time of the Cultural Revolution and has received many adaptations to other media:

** A 2014 remake of the film directed by Tsui Hark.
** A 64-episode TV drama.

* In ''Series/SEALTeam'', Episode 9 takes place on the Afghanistan/China border where Bravo Team is assigned to search for a Russian defector who crash-landed in the region. They are warned to avoid Chinese military forces, which are never seen. In the second season's Philippines arc, as Bravo is investigating a crashed electronic warfare aircraft that was responsible for [[RippedFromTheHeadlines recent naval collisions in the SCS]], Chinese special forces come on the scene to call in an [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xian_H-6 H-6 bomber]] to destroy the wreckage.

* In ''Series/TheBrave'', a PLA platoon shows up at the end of episode 8, "Render Safe" to stop the Russian convoy and capture the Spetsnaz squad operating illegally in their country and the remains of the secret Russian stealth drone that crashed near the Mongolian border.

** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bVG7QrIfvI Sky Hunter]]'' (2017): a top-secret Chinese air force squadron known as "Sky Hunter" is trained to handle sensitive matters involving surgical strikes and hostage rescue. Things get complicated when terrorists in the nearby country of [[{{Qurac}} Mahbu]] attack an army base and take Chinese hostages. Starring Chinese superstar Fan Bingbing and her fiancé, Li Chen (who was also the film's director), this movie also served as a vanity project for the couple, especially for Li as this was his directorial debut. Also features a score by Music/HansZimmer.

* ''Film/TwoThousandTwelve'': The PLA is seen guarding the Arks in the Himalayas.
* Starting in TheNewTens, the Chinese film industry has begun pumping out modern war movies with fictional storylines featuring the Chinese military. This is a notable shift for the industry, as prior to this, Chinese war movies were largely focused on actual historical wars, mainly World War II and the Chinese Civil War. The sudden rise of Chinese military films with an ultra-patriotic, borderline jingoistic bent has been noted by many external China observers to be a sign of the country's massive growing confidence and assertion of extraterritorial rights, especially as all of these movies have received [[BackedByThePentagon heavy logistical and advisory support from the PLA]]. Some notable examples:
** ''Lock Destination'' (2011): Perhaps the first example of a modern Chinese military movie, this movie focuses on two PLA Air Force pilots competing to become division commander of their unit. Most notable for the [[ConspicuousCG gratuitous use of CG]]. Outside of China, this movie was called ''[[MarketBasedTitle Sky Fighters]]'', which has caused confusion with a 2005 French film of the same name.

** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcyef27rZ-w Operation Mekong]]'' (2016): VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mekong_River_massacre 2011 massacre of 13 Chinese sailors on the Mekong River]] by drug lord Naw Kham (called "Naw Khar" in the film). The Chinese government assigns a special military unit to work with an undercover Chinese [[DrugsAreEvil narcotics agent]] across the border to find and destroy Naw Khar and his forces.

** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bVG7QrIfvI Sky Hunter]]'' (2017): a top-secret Chinese air force squadron known as "Sky Hunter" is trained to handle sensitive matters involving surgical strikes and hostage rescue. Things get complicated when terrorists in the nearby country of [[{{Qurac}} Mahbu]] attack an army base and take Chinese hostages. Starring Chinese superstar Fan Bingbing and her fiancé, Li Chen (who was also the film's writer and director), this movie served also served as a vanity project for the couple, especially for Li as this was his directorial debut. Also features a score by Hans Zimmer. The movie has undergone a big example of FunnyAneurysmMoment, as in 2018 Fan was implicated in a massive tax evasion scandal, disappeared for several months, and resurfaced late in the year making big apologies.

** ''Wolf Warrior'' (2015): A Chinese military unit conducting a training exercise near the Vietnamese border comes under attack by mysterious mercenaries. The movie is notable for largely being a VanityProject for actor Wu Jing, who followed up this film with...
** ''Wolf Warrior 2'' (2017): [[SurprisinglyImprovedSequel the biggest Chinese box office success of the year.]] In this movie, Wu Jing reprises his role as Leng Feng, who has left the Chinese military after a court martial and is now working off the African coast as a [[PrivateMilitaryContractors private security guard.]]
** ''Sky Hunter'' (2017): a top-secret Chinese air force squadron known as "Sky Hunter" is trained to handle sensitive matters involving surgical strikes and hostage rescue. Things get complicated when terrorists in the nearby country of [[{{Qurac}} Mahbu]] attack an army base and take Chinese hostages. Starring Chinese superstar Fan Bingbing and her fiancé, Li Chen (who was also the film's writer and director), this movie served also served as a vanity project for the couple, especially for Li as this was his directorial debut. Also features a score by Hans Zimmer. The movie has undergone a big example of FunnyAneurysmMoment, as in 2018 Fan was implicated in a massive tax evasion scandal, disappeared for several months, and resurfaced late in the year making big apologies.
** ''Operation Mekong'' (2016): VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory of the 2013 massacre of 13 Chinese sailors on the Mekong River by drug lord Naw Kham (called "Naw Khar" in the film). The Chinese mgovernment assigns a special military unit to work with an undercover Chinese [[DrugsAreEvil narcotics agent]] across the border to find and destroy Naw Khar and his forces.
** ''Operation Red Sea'' (2018): The biggest budget Chinese military movie created to date, and 2018's biggest success at the box office. A sequel to ''Operation Mekong'', this movie is a fictionalized account of the March 2015 Chinese civilian evacuation from Yemen, positing what may have happened if the evacuation convoys from [[{{Qurac}} Yewaire]] were to come under massive attack by terrorists.

* ''Film/Taegukgi'': Hordes of People's Volunteer Army are featured in a brief scene once the Chinese enters the Korean War in November 1950.
** A brief scene in ''MacArthur (1977)'' shows the PVA attacking a U.S. Army camp in North Korea during the Winter Offensive.

* The Chinese military plays an important role in ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps2''. If you complete all the optional Strike Force missions, they will also assist you in the final mission.