Defense/Military - 99. page

Xinhua reported on May 5 that the military will perform the “Cross-2009” Military Exercise, which will involve  four military area commands. [1] Global Times, a newspaper under Chinese state-owned People’s Daily, published an article to further elaborate on the significance of this exercise: One, it is a joint tactical training practice with participation of four complete army divisions from four military commands, with near fifty thousand soldiers, sixty thousand vehicles and large equipment. Two, the exercise will take place at several training bases at the participating military commands. Recently, each command has established its own regional training base, but a single base is unlikely to accommodate four divisions, so the exercise is likely to be spread among several bases. Three, the announcement mentioned a “large scale of mobility,” implying that the division from each command may travel to another command’s base. Four, it is a study and application of the new military training manual that was adopted last year. Five, the air force and the army’s airmen will also participate in the practice. [2]

People’s Daily also reported that excluding the Nanjing military area command (responsible for military actions against Taiwan) is a goodwill signal sent to Taiwan. [3]

Source:
[1] Xinhua, May 5, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2009-05/05/content_11318736.htm
[2] Global Times, May 8, 2009
http://mil.huanqiu.com/china/2009-05/455556.html
[3] People’s Daily, May 13, 2009
http://military.people.com.cn/GB/1076/52982/9288626.html

The People’s Liberation Army will conduct a series of cross-region military exercises in the second half of the year that involves four military regions and will take two months to complete.  This is the largest exercise in the history of PLA.

The four military regions taking part in this exercise will dispatch a total of nearly 50,000 personnel; various types of vehicles and large weaponries and equipment count to more than 60,000 in units; the military operation affects more than 50,000 km, the longest motorized travel distance is over 2,400 km. maneuverability will be facilitated with civil aviation, railway transport, and motorized road units.

Source: China News, May 5, 2009
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/gn/news/2009/05-05/1676623.shtml

Study Times, a magazine by the CCP Central Party School, recently published an article on the gaps between Chinese military generations.

The article identified three major issues: (1) average military officers’ lack of education, especially in information technology; (2) significant lack of talented officers capable of joint combat commanding in the information systems environment; (3) significant lack of high level technical talents.

The article concluded that the causes of the problems are that the(1)education system is far behind modern day world standards; (2)the military organizational structure does not meet the requirements of today’s challenges;(3) and that compared to profitable civilian organizations, the military does not have enough incentives to attract needed talents.

Source: Study Times, April 27, 2009.
http://www.studytimes.com.cn/WebPage/ny1.aspx?act=0&id=2603&bid=7

Xinhua News published a digest article on April 23, based on a report by The China Press, a US based publication sponsored by the Chinese government. The article pointed out that the Chinese naval 60-year anniversary ceremony marked a “breakthrough” on the traditional limited “Coastal Waters Defense” naval strategy, which “obviously” does not match China’s status as a rising world power.

China has noticed that its sovereignty over sea waters has been significantly challenged in recent years. As an example, the article referred to recent incidents between China and Russia, Malaysia, Japan and the United States.

Source: Xinhua, April 23, 2009.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2009-04/23/content_11240727.htm

In the latest Qiushi magazine, Wu Shengli, Navy Commander and Liu Xiaojiang of Navy’s Political Commissar co-authored an article and firmly insisted that the Chinese Navy shall only follow and advance under the party’s command and leadership. It must firmly resist the influence created by ideologies such as “nationalization of the armed forces and non-party or non-political Army.”

Source: China News, May 2, 2009
http://www.chinanews.com.cn/gn/news/2009/05-02/1673357.shtml

Xinhua published a People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA’s) Daily article reporting that internal strife has significantly impacted the military’s performance in combined operations.

The report listed the reasons for internal strife as: poor willingness to collaborate with other military units, out-of-date command structure and system, and lack of standardized information technology systems among military groups. Lack of processes, out-of-date combating systems and equipment, and insufficient training and practice are also listed as causes for poor performance in combined operations.

Source: Xinhua, April 23, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2009-04/23/content_11240287.htm

An article posted by an unnamed author on the forum of the Global Times, under the People’s Daily, discussed some insider knowledge about the North Korea Nuclear Crisis in 2003.

The article claimed that the Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie ordered over 100,000 combat troops to replace the Chinese North Korea border patrol police after obtaining intelligence of a US surgical operation to remove the current North Korean regime. Two more steps were taken: one on the South China front bordering Myanmar and one on the Japanese front by sending a submarine to the Tokyo Bay. Liang later boasted during a visit to the US, "China can wipe out any enemy within First Island Chain."

Source: Global Times Forum, April 16, 2009.
http://bbs.huanqiu.com/viewthread.php?tid=188284&fromui

(Chinascope notes: The ultimate source of this article is unclear. Officially, the Chinese Defense Minister does not have the direct authority to move troops.)

After China launched the second satellite of its Compass Navigation Satellite System (CNSS) on April 15, Xinhua published articles stating that China is building up its own satellite navigation system. Ten satellites will be launched in this year and next year, a global navigation system with over thirty satellites covering the entire world will be in place by 2015.

Xinhua stated that the global navigation system is largely for military use. It also mentioned that CNSS will help break the US’ monopoly in the world’s global positioning and navigation system business.

The positioning accuracy of the newly launched satellite is at the centimeter level.

Source: Xinhua, April 17, 2009
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2009-04/17/content_11197152.htm
http://news.xinhuanet.com/mil/2009-04/16/content_11192384.htm