Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday told the military to transform itself into an elite force as he oversaw a parade with flybys of advanced jets and a mass rally of troops to mark 90 years since the founding of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
China’s armed forces, the world’s largest, are in the midst of an ambitious modernization program, which includes investment in technology and new equipment such as stealth fighters and aircraft carriers, as well as cuts to troop numbers.
Xi presided over the large-scale military parade at the remote Zhurihe Training Base in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, where he inspected troops from the back of a jeep, an event carried live on state television.
Photo: Xinhua via AP
Xi, who oversees the PLA in his role as head of the powerful Chinese Central Military Commission, repeatedly shouted “Hello comrades” and “Comrades, you are working hard” into four microphones fixed atop his motorcade as martial music blared in the background.
Tanks, vehicle-mounted nuclear-capable missiles and other equipment rolled by as military aircraft flew above, including H-6K bombers — which have been patrolling near Taiwan and Japan — the J-15 carrier-based fighters and the new generation J-20 stealth fighter.
“Today, we are closer to the goal of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation than any other time in history and we need to build a strong people’s military more than any other time in history,” Xi told the assembled troops in a short speech that did not yield any policy announcements.
Xi said that the military must “unswervingly” back the Chinese Communist Party.
“Always listen to and follow the party’s orders and march to wherever the party points,” he said.
Xi said that the world was not peaceful, but he did not mention any specific hot spots, such as territorial disputes in the South China Sea, Taiwan or tensions over North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missiles programs.
It was the first time China has marked Army Day on Aug. 1 with a military parade since the Communist revolution in 1949, state news agency Xinhua said.
It was also the first time Xi has reviewed troops in the field like this, Xinhua added.
The location for the parade embodied a “dust-covered battlefield atmosphere” for the 12,000 troops who participated, Chinese Ministry of National Defense spokesman Ren Guoqiang (任國強) said in a statement.
The nation’s military is more nimble and technologically proficient following reforms to make it more compact and responsive, and less reliant on its troop numbers, Xi said last week.
China has not fought a war in decades and the government insists it has no hostile intent, but simply needs the ability to properly defend what is now the world’s second-largest economy.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2