President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) has urged China's 2.5 million-member military to ensure national unity by beefing up its combat skills, amid harsh warnings to Taiwan against moving toward formal independence.
"We must strive to improve the capability of the armed forces to deal with crises, maintain peace, contain conflicts and win wars," Hu was quoted as saying in Sunday's official People's Liberation Army Daily and other newspapers.
Hu's comments on Saturday to China's top brass contained few specifics and he was not quoted as directly mentioning Taiwan.
However, China's recent military buildup -- including a 14.7 percent increase in military spending this year -- is believed to be largely directed at Taiwan.
China has lambasted President Chen Shui-bian (
"We must resolutely carry out our sacred responsibility of defending national sovereignty, unity, and territorial integrity and security," said Hu, pictured wearing an army green uniform without insignia as chairman of the Central Military Commission, which controls the military.
Hu told the group of senior officers the next five years will be a "an important period" for the nation's military modernization.
"The 11th five-year plan [from 2006 to 2010] is a crucial period for the establishment of a comparatively prosperous society," Hu said, according to the People's Daily, the Communist Party's mouthpiece.
"It is also an important period for defense and army modernization," he told the officers, assembled in Beijing as delegates to the ongoing National People's Congress.
China announced last week that its military budget for this year would rise to US$35 billion, the latest in a series of double-digit annual increases dating back to the early 1990s.
A Pentagon report last year estimated that China's defense spending was two to three times the publicly announced figure and that the military balance with Taiwan was tipping in Beijing's favor.
"We must persist in fulfilling the sacred task of defending national sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity and security," Hu said, according to the People's Daily.
Hu said efforts should be stepped up to equip the army with modern information technology and to improve its combat efficiency through high-tech means.
"We should strive to improve the capability of the armed forces to deal with crises, maintain peace, contain wars and win victory in possible wars," he said.
Inspired by swift US victories in post-Cold War conflicts, China has been striving to transform its military from an organization that relied on strength in numbers to a leaner, more sophisticated fighting force.
It announced in January it had demobilized 200,000 members of its military over the previous three years, but even after those personnel cuts, it remained the world's largest with 2.3 million troops.
Hu is believed to be faced with the challenge of creating a loyal following among the nation's top brass.
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