Xi orders PLA to step up war-preparation efforts

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Xi orders PLA to step up war-preparation efforts

Source:Global Times Published: 2019/1/4 23:28:40

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The Guard of Honor of the Chinese People's Liberation Army marches in Tiananmen Square. The flag-raising ceremony on the morning of the first day of 2019 at the square in downtown Beijing attracted more than 100,000 people from across the country. Photo: IC

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday demands the People's Liberation Army (PLA) to strengthen its crisis awareness and enhance battle-related activity as the country faces increasing challenges.

"The world is facing a period of major changes never seen in a century, and China is still in an important period of strategic opportunity for development," Xi said at a meeting of Central Military Commission (CMC) on Friday, warning that various risks and challenges were on the rise.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the CMC, said the entire armed forces should have a correct understanding of China's security and development trends, enhance their awareness of danger, crisis and war, and make solid efforts on combat preparations in order to accomplish the tasks assigned by the Party and the people, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Xi also signed a mobilization order for the training of the armed forces, the CMC's first order in 2019. 

The order demands all PLA units to welcome the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China with "excellent performance."

The military parade to be held in the Tiananmen Square to honor the 70th anniversary will be the most important event in 2019, said Song Zhongping, a Beijing-based military expert and TV commentator.

The parade will be a demonstration of PLA's real combat capability and its training results since 2018, added Song.

A military that can fight and win a war will be presented then, he said.

"Excellent performance means the capability to always effectively safeguard national security when the military is summoned at any time," Song noted.

A mobilization meeting was also held on Friday by the CMC. 

This is the second time the CMC is holding a public activity among all PLA units.

The first such activity was held on January 3, 2018.

The practice of issuing a mobilizing order from chairman of the CMC will be routine, said Song.

According to a report by the China Central Television on Friday, the 2019 order demanding hard work and scientific training of PLA soldiers is aimed at enhancing the capability of killing enemies and accomplishing a new mission in a new era.

In the new era, the training of PLA will focus on capabilities to fight and win a war, said Song.

The PLA adopted new military training guidelines on January 1, 2018, which asked all units to strengthen real combat training and improve war-winning capability.

The military training in 2018 emphasized live-fire exercises, training in real combat environment, improving joint combat capability and adjusting to complicated electromagnetic environment, said Song.

The PLA received enhanced military training and a boost in troop's capability to successfully carry out missions, Ren Guoqiang, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, said at a monthly news briefing in November 2018. 

 "All those changes show that the PLA is positioning itself to be a military that can fight and win wars. This is the most crucial change and has achieved significant results," said Song.

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