Mao Zedong once said that “political power comes from the barrel of a gun”. Whether his apostolic successor President Hu Jintao, visiting President Barack Obama this week in Washington, believes this line in Mao’s catechism is unclear. Completely clear, however, is that the People’s Liberation Army not only believes it, but is implementing it.

Systematic expansion of China’s strategic nuclear weapons; rapid growth in submarine and blue-water naval forces; substantial investments in anti-access and area-denial weapons such as anti-carrier cruise missiles; fifth-generation fighter-bomber platforms; and sophisticated cyberwarfare techniques all testify to the PLA’s operational objectives.

Western leaders have chattered for years about China as a “responsible stakeholder” enjoying a “peaceful rise”. This is the acceptable face Mr Hu will present. But just because the musclemen aren’t listed on the passenger manifest doesn’t mean they aren’t flying the plane. China’s Communist party remains unquestionably dominant, and the PLA is its most potent element.