The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) will not engage in
any arms race and its development poses no threat to any
country.
That was the firm reassurance from Lieutenant-General Zhang
Qinsheng, Deputy Chief of General Staff of the PLA, who said the
Chinese army is modernizing to increase its combat abilities in the
information age.
The PLA's modernization is open and based on cooperation, said
Zhang.
"We do not conceal our intention to build a strong and modern
national defense. But we also tell the world candidly that the
Chinese defense policy is always defensive in nature'," said
Zhang.
The modernization of the Chinese armed forces aims to achieve
the ability to defend national sovereignty, security and
reunification of the country, according to Zhang, who is in charge
of PLA's foreign affairs.
"China has never joined any military alliance, never sought
military expansion, nor built overseas military bases," he pointed
out.
The lieutenant-general said that a lack of understanding and
communication has led to misunderstanding, which resulted in
suspicions, concerns and even strong criticism of China's military
development.
Quoting an ancient Chinese saying "Seeing is believing", he
welcomed more foreign friends to visit the Chinese armed forces
themselves. Zhang said that the PLA has invited foreign military
observers and military attaches in Beijing to observe
live-ammunition war games.
The Chinese army is taking "pro-active and pragmatic" measures
to improve transparency of national defense, said Zhang, citing the
release of five White Papers on national defense as an example.
The documents painted a clearer picture of China's national
defense policy as well as its military development.
At the end of last year, China published the fifth White Paper
China's National Defense in 2006 which for the first time put
forward China's national security strategy, and also for the first
time made public China's nuclear policy and the vision of
development of the PLA services and arms.
On foreign exchanges this year, Zhang said the PLA will hold
joint military manoeuvers in Russia with members of the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization and continue high-level exchange of visits
between the Chinese and US armies.
(China Daily February 2, 2007)