CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF CHINESE MILITARY AFFAIRS.

SEC. 914. CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF CHINESE MILITARY AFFAIRS. (a) Establishment.—The Secretary of Defense shall establish a Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs as part of the National Defense University. The Center shall be organized under the Institute for National Strategic Studies of the University. (b) Qualifications of Director.—The Director of the Center shall be an individual who is a distinguished scholar of proven academic, management, and leadership credentials with a superior record of achievement and publication regarding Chinese political, strategic, and military affairs. (c) Mission.—The mission of the Center is to study and inform policymakers in the Department of Defense, Congress, and throughout the Government regarding the national goals and strategic posture of the People’s Republic of China and the ability of that nation to develop, field, and deploy an effective military instrument in support of its national strategic objectives. The Center shall accomplish that mission by a variety of means intended to widely disseminate the research findings of the Center. (d) Startup of Center.—The Secretary of Defense shall establish the Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs not later than March 1, 2000. The first Director of the Center shall be appointed not later than June 1, 2000. The Center should be fully operational not later than June 1, 2001. (e) Implementation Report.—(1) Not later than January 1, 2001, the President of the National Defense University shall submit to the Secretary of Defense a report setting forth the President’s organizational plan for the Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs, the proposed budget for the Center, and the timetable for initial and full operations of the Center. The President of the National Defense University shall prepare that report in consultation with the Director of the Center and the Director of the Institute for National Strategic Studies of the University. (2) The Secretary of Defense shall transmit the report under paragraph (1), together with whatever comments the Secretary considers appropriate, to the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate and the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives not later than February 1, 2001.