Professor Han Xudong of China’s Defense University published an article in Huaiqu (Global Times) in which he discussed China’s display of and the implications of its military power. The article said, “Recently, the aircraft carrier ‘Liaoning’ sailed for the first time to Qingdao and expanded its activities of research projects and conducting exercises. The General Staff Military Training Department announced that, in 2013, the PLA and the Armed Police Force will conduct nearly 40 military exercise drills. After the Spring Festival, China showed off these large-scale military actions as a means of displaying its military hard power, which will be the main theme of China’s 2013 military activities; in the future China will use military hard power to shape its big country image.”
In 2013, the Main Theme of the People’s Liberation Army Will Be Displaying China’s Hard Power
The article reasoned, “To implement the national defense policy, China’s armed forces must establish an image through military exercises and the improvement of its abilities. In so doing it can not only achieve a deterrent effect, but it can also display its hard power. At the same time, it will also increase the nation’s confidence in our military strength. With the growing number of conflicts and the friction between China and its neighboring countries regarding core interests, China will pay more attention to displaying its military hard power.”
Source: Huanqiu, March 1, 2013
http://mil.huanqiu.com/paper/2013-03/3690446.html