China's modern muscle on parade
By Antoaneta Bezlova
BEIJING - The army parade to mark the 60th anniversary of modern China's
founding this autumn - a rare chance for China to flaunt its military muscle -
will showcase not only its newest weaponry, but the modernization of its
military too.
China's army is no longer content with military recruits drawn from the urban
unemployed and low-skilled peasant boys. Since last autumn, the People's
Liberation Army (PLA) has been offering competitive grants to attract graduates
from colleges and vocational schools, aiming to raise the army's profile and
enhance its skills.
China's 2.3 million-strong army is the world's biggest as far as numbers go. It
is followed by the United States with 1.38 million
troops, India with 1.3 million and Russia's 1.24 million. Technological
capability is another matter.
The realization that China needs to modernize its army was brought home
forcefully last May. When a devastating 7.9-magnitude earthquake hit the
province of Sichuan, killing nearly 80,000 people, Chinese soldiers deployed to
conduct rescue and relief operations found themselves challenged by tasks
requiring the use of life-detection devices and satellite navigation.
"New requirements of the times demand that soldiers are of high caliber, can
react swiftly and possess strong capabilities to handle new equipment," an
article written by the head of the department of the People's Armed Forces of
the quake-stricken city Dujiangyan and published in the PLA Daily said in
December. "Low targets previously set for military recruitment have restricted
the combat-readiness of the PLA," the article added.
The army's new recruitment policies offer college students grants of 10,000
yuan (US$1,470) before enrolling and an equal amount after serving two years in
the military with a chance to resume their university studies. Wealthy
provinces like Guangdong, China's manufacturing and export hub, are offering
even more - between 70,000 and 80,000 yuan ($11,000) in a one-off payment to
university students who join the army.
The policies have attracted a wave of new recruits. The PLA Daily says that
more than 10,000 college students joined the army in 2008, "much higher than
the figure for the previous year", without providing a number.
China has been steadily increasing spending on its military, citing its overall
backwardness in comparison to developed nations and a rise of internal and
external security threats.
In 2008, China's official military budget was $61 billion, up nearly 18% over
the previous year. By comparison, the Pentagon's budget for fiscal 2009 is $515
billion, with additional spending budgeted for operations in Iraq and
Afghanistan.
"China is faced with the superiority of developed countries economically,
scientifically and technologically, as well as militarily," a newly issued
national defense paper said this week. "It also faces strategic maneuvers and
containment from the outside while having to face disruption and sabotage by
separatist and hostile forces from the inside."
Figures for China's military spending in 2009 are still to be made public, but
PLA officers say more needs to be done to usher Chinese troops into the
high-tech era.
"Our military's general levels of armaments have made big strides," Fan Jianjun
of the PLA's armaments department said at a press conference to launch the
defense paper this week. "But there is still quite a large gap with the levels
of the world's developed countries, and we still cannot fully adjust to the
needs of protecting national security and unity and better fulfilling out
international duty," he added.
The primary mission of the PLA remains stopping the self-ruled island of Taiwan
from formally declaring independence, as well as preventing US forces from
intervening in any ensuing war. Despite a recent thaw in relations with its
longtime rival Taiwan, Beijing says threats from separatist forces in Tibet and
the Muslim-populated Xinjiang region that endanger China's security and unity
have risen.
"On these matters, we will not compromise," Defense Ministry chief spokesman Hu
Changming said at the press conference.
New international developments have also demanded the expansion of Beijing's
seafaring clout. Last month, two Chinese destroyers and a supply vessel joined
the global armada patrolling the waters off Somalia's coast where Chinese ships
have suffered seven attacks by pirates.
In a rare display of openness, the Chinese military has also said it is
"seriously considering" adding an aircraft carrier to its fleet to ensure the
country's maritime security and its commercial interests.
"The aircraft carrier is a symbol of a country's overall national strength, as
well as the competitiveness of the country's naval force," Defense Ministry
spokesman Colonel Huang Xueping told the media in December.
The US and Japan have taken aim at China's increased military spending,
accusing Beijing of being murky about the motives for its accelerated army
modernization. Some experts estimate China's true defense spending could be
triple the officially announced figure.
But China contends its military budget is for defensive purposes, saying
Washington and Tokyo have qualms about the rise of another global sea power.
For a country which strives to reassure its neighbors about the peaceful
intentions of its global ascendance, the celebrations for modern China's
founding provide the ideal legitimate platform to showcase its expanding
military strength.
The October 1 parade - the first such display in 10 years - will include the
navy which dispatched warships to join the global anti-piracy campaign in the
Gulf of Aden and the Second Artillery Force, which controls China's nuclear
missiles.
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