In the just-concluded U.S.-South Korea "Double Dragon" exercise on the 18th of this month, the U.S. Mobile Landing Platform Ship "Montford Point" played the role of being a mobile offshore port, in which all supply transfers happened at sea. Cao Weidong, a military expert at the China Naval Research Institute, said in an interview with CCTV "Asia Today" that China has built similar equipment known as semi-submersible vessels. The tonnage of the ship, however, is much smaller than the United States’ "Montfort Point."
Defense/Military - 38. page
Central Military Commission: PLA and Armed Forces to Cease All Paid Service Contract Work
According to Xinhua, the Central Military Commission recently published a notice that requires all PLA and Armed Forces to cease all paid service contract work. The notice called it a “major political task” related to the ongoing development of the army. The notice stated that, effective immediately, no new projects will be launched, no existing projects will be renewed, and any projects that can be stopped through negotiation must end. The notice also included rules and guidelines to implement the direction and calling all military units to execute the plan with “strong political consciences and a sense of responsibility.” The article said that the Commission plans to spend the next three years on implementing the plan.
Source: Xinhua, March 27, 2016
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2016-03/27/c_1118454667.htm
China to Amend Armed Police Force Law
Last Wednesday, People’s Liberation Army Daily reported that Sun Sijing, Political Commissar of the People’s Armed Police Force (PAPF) and a People’s Congress representative attending the National People’s Congress in Beijing, submitted a proposal seeking an amendment that would put the PAPF exclusively under the command of the Central Military Commission headed by Xi Jinping.
Kyodo Chinese: Many Chinese Warships Gathered Around U.S. Aircraft Carrier
Expert: U.S. Can Monitor Nearly Half of China if “THAAD” Enters Korea
How much harm can the "THAAD" Missile System do to China if it enters Korea? CCTV interviewed Chinese military expert Du Wenlong, who said that, if the THAAD system is deployed in Korea, the United States will further improve its capability of reconnaissance and surveillance activity in China. Previously, U.S. ships and planes had to come close to China’s territory to conduct surveillance, covering the surface above the water, under the water, the air, and any other range. If the "THAAD" enters Korea, the U.S. military will increase its reconnaissance capabilities deep into China’s hinterland and will have a combination of fixed and mobile reconnaissance and surveillance. It can do real-time monitoring and continuous surveillance of different launch activities in China. This will have a serious impact on China’s national security.
Major General: Four Bottom Lines for the North Korean Nuclear Issue
On February 24, 2016, Luo Yuan, a retired People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Major General and Chinese military theorist, published an opinion article on Huanqiu, a People’s Daily publication, on the subject of North Korea’s nuclear program. He stated that China must have four bottom lines when handling North Korea.
Major General: “Kill the Enemy to Open a Bloody Path” for Military Reform
Xinhua republished an article from Guangming Daily on military reform. The author Zhang Chuanjia, a Major General and a consultant to the Central Military Commission’s Military Reform Leading Group, indicated that military reform is facing severe obstructions.
Zhang stated, "Any existing system that has formed has a structure in which vested interests co-exist within that structure. This [military] reform intends to break that structure apart. From past experience, we have seen that almost all excuses given for blocking reform had the intention of covering up the real motivation, which was to protect vested interests. Therefore, if we don’t show the determination to ‘kill the enemy in order to open a bloody path,’ we can’t cut down the fence protecting the vested interests and we can’t make progress on military reform."
Zhang, in the later part of his article, stressed that carrying out military reform should be viewed as a political battle.
Source: Xinhua, February 18, 2016
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2016-02/18/c_128729392.htm