Defense/Military - 69. page

PLA Daily published an article that Qiushi Journal later republished stating that China should focus on its national security strategic chain, which is composed of strategic resources, strategic industries, and strategic capabilities. “We should better utilize the resources in our nation to serve our national security and development purpose.” “(We should) construct a stable strategic resources security system (in the world) and increase our strategic resource reserve.” “International cooperation is the best way to obtain a supply of stable strategic resources, but we should never give up the option of using abnormal means to safeguard the security of our strategic resources.”

“Our military capability is the backbone of our national strategic capabilities.” “Our military capability should extend to wherever our national interests reach.” “It is critical to have our military capability reflect our national strategic status and interests."

Source: PLA Daily, December 23, 2010
http://www.chinamil.com.cn/jfjbmap/content/2010-12/23/content_46682.htm

On December 29, 2010, People’s Daily published a December interview of Liang Guanglie, China’s Defense Minister. Li stated in the interview, “Looking at the current world situation, a full-scale war is unlikely, but we cannot exclude the possibility that, in some local areas, unexpected events may occur, or military friction may take place due to a ‘misfire.’” He indicated that, of all the military forces, the navy, air force, and second artillery corps make up a large and growing percentage, while the army is on the decline; that 80% of the officers now have college degrees; and that a modern weaponry system dominated by second generation equipment, with third generation equipment as the backbone has preliminarily been established.

Source: People’s Daily, December 29, 2010
http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrbhwb/html/2010-12/29/content_711023.htm?div=-1

On December 7, 2010, Beijing Daily published an article by Professor Zhang Zhaozhong from China’s National Defense University explaining why China should build up its Coast Guard like Japan, the U.S., and India have done. Here are the reasons given by Prof. Zhang:

1. The Coast Guard can be a retractable fist.
2. Excess force used by the Coast Guard usually does not lead to an armed conflict or a war.
3. Once an armed conflict or a war breaks out, the Coast Guard can quickly be transformed into a branch of the Navy, obeying the Navy’s orders.

Source: Beijing Daily, December 7, 2010
http://bjrb.bjd.com.cn/html/2010-12/07/content_345003.htm

On December 6, 2010, Chinese military scholar Cai Zenzhao published an article on Study Times that discussed the trend of future wars. Cai observed that recent local wars in the world suggest that combat ability based on information systems determines both the battlefield position and the outcome of the war. Cai believes that informationization is the core of the development of the modern combat system; future wars will be information wars. Therefore, the effectiveness of a combat system based on an information system becomes more obvious. Cai suggested that interaction between the military and civilians is an important avenue for the development of the information system, since it is the common responsibility of the Party, the nation, and the military to develop an information combat system.

Source: Study Times, December 6, 2010
http://www.studytimes.com.cn:9999/epaper/xxsb/html/2010/12/06/07/07_38.htm

On December 7, 2010, Xinhua reported on the Chinese military’s participation in the design and planning of China’s high speed railway. Military requirements have become part of the rail development. In the Chengdu Railway Bureau, 14 military officers have been appointed to lead positions in key departments and at major stations. “Military transportation departments are riding the momentum and proactively coordinating railway planning, design, construction, and other departments. They propose the timing of the requirements and track the implementation. Military requirements were incorporated into the planning even before the start of construction. The high speed rail links Chengdu, Xi’an, Lanzhou, Guiyang, Kunming, Wuhan, Beijing, Tianjin, the Pearl River Delta, and the Yangtze River Delta.

Source: Xinhua, December 7, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2010-12/07/c_12853822.htm

Major General Qian Lihua, Director of the Foreign Liaison Office of the Chinese military, commented on China’s joint exercises with foreign military forces. Of the 44 joint exercises the Chinese military has conducted with foreign military forces, 32 of them took place within the past five years. According to Qian, over 20 Chinese military institutions of higher learning have established sister relationships with foreign military institutions. Over several hundred Chinese military experts and professors have visited foreign military institutions. 1,200 young Chinese officers have received training in close to 100 foreign military academies in over 30 countries.

Source: Xinhua, November 30, 2010
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2010-11/30/c_12830863_2.htm

 A Mobilization Conference for the Manned Space Station and Docking Mission was held on November 15. The purpose of the meeting was to prepare for the kickoff of China’s manned space station project. The project will be implemented in two phases: the space experiment lab and the manned space station.                                                         

The outline of the schedule:
2011 – Conduct the first docking test (unmanned)
2012 – Complete the docking task (either unmanned or manned)
2016 – Develop and launch 2 space experiment labs
2020 – Develop and launch the core module and the experiment module, and assemble the 60-ton manned space station in orbit.

Source: People’s Daily Online, November 16, 2010
http://scitech.people.com.cn/GB/13229414.html

According to People’s Daily, the Chinese Marine Corps staged live-fire drills, called “Dragon – 2010,” in the South China Sea on November 2, 2010.

A total of 1,800 military personnel took part in the drills. Also involved were attack helicopters, mine sweepers, submarine chasers, landing craft, amphibious tanks, fast attack craft, and various weapons. The focus of the drills was on the entire process of simulating landing combat.

Source: People’s Daily, November 3, 2010
http://military.people.com.cn/GB/43331/13120067.html