On 7 November 2003, the IISS welcomed General Xu Caihou, a senior member of China's Central Military Commission (High Command), for briefings and to exchange views on current international security issues. General Xu is the most senior officer of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to visit the UK in many years. Prior to coming to the IISS he met with the UK Secretary of State for Defence. In 2004, Xu was appointed Vice- Chairman of the Central Military Commission.
The discussion was wideranging. General Xu was briefed by IISS Director of Studies Dr Gary Samore on the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), and by Senior Fellow for East Asian Security Adam Ward on the North Korean nuclear crisis. General Xu set out the policies of the Chinese government on these issues, before going on to raise questions on topics including the role of preemption in US national security policy, as well as current developments in Iraq.
