CASE-001 dispatches August 5

PLA Day 2026

On August 1, the People’s Liberation Army turns 99. For the past two weeks, Chinese embassies on every continent have been marking it early - receptions in Tehran, New Delhi, Harare, and dozens more.

Same army. Same anniversary. And, depending on where you’re sitting, a noticeably different story about what that army is for.

CASE-001 maps the full reception circuit: every event we can find, every talking point, sorted by audience. What Beijing says to a partner under sanctions, to a border rival, to an old liberation-era friend - and what the pattern says about the year before the centenary.

Every claim sourced. Every method documented. The sourcing annex ships with the case.

三 - the gap is the part of the record we go find.