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Global Times: Chinese Naval Admiral Warned U.S. Admiral to His Face

Global Times recently reported that Chinese Naval Commander Admiral Wu Shengli met with U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Scott Swift, who was visiting Beijing on November 19. Wu said in the meeting that China is strongly against the recent U.S.’ “serious provocation” against China’s sovereignty by approaching Chinese islands too closely under the name of freedom of navigation. Wu asked the U.S. Navy to cherish the valuable U.S.-China relationship, stop threatening Chinese national security in the South China Sea, and carefully control the U.S.’ maritime military activities. Swift replied that the U.S. Navy does not want to cast a shadow over the relationship of the two navies only because of the South China Sea situation. He called for more joint exercises to avoid potential misjudgments and accidents based on The Code for Unplanned Encounters at Sea. 
Source: Global Times, November 20, 2015
Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Global Times: China Should Consider Establishing Overseas Military Bases

Wang Haiyun, Senior Advisor at the China Institute for International Strategy, published an article proposing that China break through the old restriction on establishing overseas naval bases. The article provided the following arguments in favor of his suggestion: 

China has become the world’s second largest economy and is truly a big country in the world no matter which way you look at it. China’s global interests are expanding; its global responsibility is also increasing. China hopes to provide more public engagement with the international community, including more involvement in combating piracy and conducting peacekeeping operations and humanitarian relief. Regardless of which task is performed, they all depend on protection from overseas military bases. The world’s major powers all have overseas military bases. The U.S. military bases are all over the globe. Even Japan has opened a logistics base overseas. As a UN Security Council permanent member, why should China tie itself? 
China’s economy is increasingly integrating with the world economy. China’s enterprises’ "going out" process is accelerating. China’s overseas assets are growing in scale. More and more people are working and traveling overseas. The security tasks of maintaining oil and gas pipelines and other infrastructure are becoming more arduous. Because it lacks overseas military bases to provide security, China will inevitably encounter more and more problems and security risks. With the advance of “one belt, one road" initiative, this situation will become even more prominent. 
The Chinese Navy is moving from an offshore towards becoming a blue water navy. Just for the consideration of training needs, we cannot do without foreign military bases. 
Source: Huanqiu (Global Times), November 14, 2015
Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Top Military Official: China Will Not Resort to Force Recklessly Even on Issues Involving Territory

Sina.com, a major Chinese web portal, carried a Global Times report that Fan Changlong, vice chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, stated that China has always advocated handling disputes through peaceful means and will not use force recklessly, even when it comes to issues related to territory and sovereignty. 

Fan made the statement while addressing the sixth Xiangshan Forum in Beijing last Saturday morning. He said that China always insists on resolving disputes through friendly negotiations with parties directly involved and will try its best to avoid unexpected conflicts. 
Fan said China has settled land and border issues with a majority of neighboring countries through consultation. Regarding growing concerns over the construction on coral islands in the South China Sea, Fan anticipated that the construction, mostly for civilian purposes, would improve marine navigation and provide public services. 
Source: Global Times, October 17, 2015 
Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Xi Jinping: China to Cut Military by 300,000

On September 3, at the military parade to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the World War II victory, Xi Jinping announced that China will cut its military by 300,000.  At a press conference thereafter, Yang Yujun, spokesperson for the China Ministry of National Defense, provided additional information about the decision. Yang said that the Chinese military consists of about 2.3 million and will be reduced to 2 million. The move will mainly target troops equipped with outdated armaments, administrative staff, and non-combatant personnel. The purpose is to optimize the structure of the Chinese forces. The disarmament will be carries out step by step and will be completed by end of 2017. 

Source: Xinhua, September 3, 2015 

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Global Times: U.S. Praise of the Dongfeng 21-D Missile Harbors Ill Intentions

China’s state-media Global Times recently published an article reminding China to keep a sober mind toward the U.S. media’s praise of China’s Dongfeng-21D missile being a killer weapon that can destroy U.S. aircraft and not to follow the Soviet Unions’ path of failure. 

The article said, “As we all know, the United States has never stopped preparing for potential conflict against China. From the U.S. media or its military’s mouth, China’s arsenal Dongfeng-21D is the greatest ‘killer’ threat to the United States. It is as if, having the Dongfeng-21D, China will be able to control the U.S.’ life or death and then just sit back and relax. This kind of propaganda actually is exactly the same tactic as ‘the Soviet submarine threat’ that the U.S. used during the Cold War. At that time, the U.S. tried to do everything possible to hype that Soviet nuclear submarines are a ‘strong deterrent’ to the U.S. aircraft carrier. However, they had [secretly] balanced the development of aircraft carriers, submarines, and other ships, and built up a full range of sea power. Today, the United States hopes to use the same old trick to interfere with the balanced development of the Chinese navy so as to achieve the effect of defeating its opponent without a fight. 
“In modern warfare, one or two ‘killer’ weapons are unable to reverse the overall situation. China should keep a sober mind about the U.S. media’s touting of the Dongfeng-21D or some other ‘secret weapon.’ Thankfully, in recent years, China has been promoting the pace of key weaponry and equipment, developing large surface combat ships, new submarines, aircraft, long-range missiles with strong penetration ability, large, deep and high-speed smart torpedoes, and other new generation weaponry. This shows that the Chinese navy’s development strategy has not bit into the U.S. interference. Some U.S. groups’ ill intention is also doomed to fail.” 

Source: Global Times, August 25, 2015 

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

PLA Daily Editorial: Be Ready to Fight at All Times

PLA Daily published an editorial article re-emphasizing the importance of building a strong army and being ready to fight at all times. The article was also posted on all the major state media and military websites. 

The article stated, “Today, although the smoke of war has dispersed, the ghosts of militarism still linger. Some Japanese political organizations and politicians go against the tide of history and against peace and justice; they selectively forget the disaster they brought to another country but they always remember their own ‘misfortunate.’ They resolutely deny the barbaric crimes of the Japanese invasion, insist on paying tribute to their war criminals, forcibly lift the ban on collective self-defense, openly distort historical facts, trample on the human conscience, and undermine the post-war international order.” 

The article stressed in bold font that, “Through these phenomena, we can easily see that Japanese militarism’s desire to eliminate China has never died, that is has refused to recognize the defeat in that war, and that it has secretly been gathering strength in an attempt to stage a comeback. Without vigilance and precautionary measures, there is still the risk of a repeat of this tragedy of history.” 
“At present, China is at the critical juncture of becoming big and strong. Some Western countries are unwilling to see the rise of China, doing everything possible to contain and suppress China, repeatedly squeezing China’s strategy for development, and bringing the focus of international strategic competition toward the Asia-Pacific region. Thus the likelihood of disturbances and war taking place on our doorstep has increased.” 

Source: PLA Daily, August 18, 2015 

Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Global Times: China and Russia Conduct Joint Naval Exercises in the Japanese Sea

Global Times reported on August 15 that the Chinese Naval fleet left the Qingdao Naval Base for Russia to participate in this year’s second China-Russia joint naval exercises in the Japanese Sea. The exercises involve 23 surface vessels, 2 submarines, 15 airplanes, and 8 helicopters. The Chinese fleet includes 7 surface vessels, 5 airplanes, and 6 helicopters. These are from the Chinese Naval North Sea, the East Sea, and the South Sea fleets. All of the Chinese vessels are active main warships. This year’s first China-Russia joint exercises took place in the Mediterranean Sea in May. The key exercises included joint anti-air, antisubmarine, and anti-warship exercises, as well as joint defense and joint disembarkation. The joint naval exercises are based on the China-Russia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and Cooperation Relationship. The exercises are not aimed at any third party or in response to any regional situation.
Source: Global Times, August 15, 2015
Briefings | | |   Defense/Military

Global Times: Chinese Navy Held Military Exercise in the South China Sea

Global Times recently reported that the Chinese Navy conducted a large scale military exercise in the South China Sea region. It involved over one hundred military vessels, tens of airplanes, “some” information warfare power, and missile troops from the “Second Artillery,” which is the Chinese military branch that manages long-range missiles and nuclear weapons. The exercise was aimed at winning a regional naval war under information-age conditions. The key challenges included overall system architecture, information sharing, joint attacks, comprehensive defense, logistic assurance, command and control, as well as integrated monitoring and early-warning systems. According to officers from the Naval Exercise Department, this exercise was the Navy’s most advanced one of this type and covered the widest areas of sea, land, and air.
Source: Global Times, July 28, 2015
Briefings | | |   Defense/Military