Defense/Military - 51. page

People’s Daily published an article which stated that the Pentagon Report issued on May 14 is a continuation of the old story of the “China Military Threat” and is full of the U.S.’s own imagination. The article claimed that the theory quoted in the report, that China plans to increase the number of its submarines to 69 to 78, was an exaggeration. It said that “the Pentagon Report overstated the number of weapons and their capability. It was meant to trick China’s neighboring countries so that they would raise their guard against China.” 

Source: People’s Daily, May 17, 2016
http://military.people.com.cn/n1/2016/0517/c1011-28355148.html

Guangming Daily reported that, on May 7, a conference was held in Beijing to carry out the directives to cease the PLA and the Armed Forces’ paid service work. Xi Jinping and the Central Military Commission had initially initiated the work at the end of March. The conference listed 17 paid service groups for the first round of trial units. The list included vacant land leasing agencies, military hospitals, news publishers, and hotels. The goal is to use these trial sites to gain the experience to come up with policies which can be used to close all paid service work.

According to the article, the Central Military Commission published a notice at the end of March which requires all PLA and Armed Forces to cease all paid service contract work. 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 these directions. It said that the Commission plans to spend the next three years implementing the plan.

Source: Guangming Daily, May 8, 2016
http://politics.gmw.cn/2016-05/08/content_19996662.htm

Recently, People’s Daily reported on the fact that the Chinese Air Force has officially started to develop strategic bombers. The article reported that, in an interview on CCTV’s “Today’s Focus” program, military expert Li Li expressed that it is essential for China to develop a new generation of strategic bombers. 

Xinhua reported that a People’s Liberation Army senior officials military reform seminar was held for the first time from April 18 to 22, 2016, in Beijing. 

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." 

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

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.