“China's leaders in 2012 sustained investment in its nuclear forces, short- and medium-range conventional ballistic missiles, advanced aircraft, unmanned air systems, air and missile defenses, land attack and anti-ship cruise missiles, submarines, and surface combatants, some of which appear designed to enable what we call anti-access and aerial-denial missions, or what PLA [People's Liberation Army] strategists refer to as counter-intervention operations.”
— Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia David Helvey, explaining, here, on Monday how China and the U.S. define the same military mission – is it "anti-access" or "counter-intervention"? -- in strikingly different ways. Bottom line: it depends on whether you're attacking, or defending.
