Re: Chinese Military News Thread
China’s President Says Military Entering an ‘Important Period’
"Chinese President Hu Jintao has told a group of senior officers the next five years will be “an important period” for the nation’s military modernization, state media reported Sunday.
”The 11th five-year plan (from 2006 to 2010) is a crucial period for the establishment of a comparatively prosperous society,” Hu said Saturday, 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, or parliament.
Meeting the officers in his capacity as chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission, Hu was wearing a simple green military jacket for the occasion.
His remarks came just days after China announced its military budget for this year would rise 14.7 percent to 35 billion dollars, 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 arch rival 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.
This appeared to be a veiled reference to what is arguably the Chinese military’s main responsibility, deterring Taiwan from formally breaking away and forcing it back into the fold if it does declare independence.
China and Taiwan have been separated since the end of a civil war in 1949, but Beijing considers the island part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.
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 U.S. 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, just like his predecessor Jiang Zemin, who also had no military experience.
Jiang solved the problem by increasing military spending and appointing proteges to high positions in the military. "
I wonder what this is supposed to mean...
any idea's? It doesnt get too specific when it mentions china's military is going through a "Crucial period"
