Chinese President Vows to Protect Country’s Interests Using Army

Speaking at a ceremony to mark the 90th anniversary of the PLA, Xi urged the army to set up an elite unit that will be able to respond swiftly to global challenges.
 
“The Chinese people love peace. We will never seek aggression or expansion, but we have the confidence to defeat all invasions,” Xi said who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission.
 
Beijing will continue to invest in reforming and modernizing the capabilities of the armed forces, as the PLA is pivotal in protecting the sovereignty of China, he said.
 
Indirectly referring to the expansion of US interests in Southeast Asia, Xi warned Washington and its allies to steer clear of contentious issues in the region, including maritime patrols of the South and East China Seas, and the ‘One China’ policy when it comes to Taiwan, which Beijing considers part of its territory. He also sent a strong message to New Delhi amid the ongoing Indian-Chinese border conflict surrounding Tibet.
 
“We will never allow any people, organization or political party to split any part of Chinese territory out of the country at any time, in any form,” he said at an Army Day celebration. “No one should expect us to swallow the bitter fruit that is harmful to our sovereignty, security or development interests.”
 
Xi's 50-minute address on Tuesday included several calls for the 2 million-strong armed forces to rally around the Party. The Chinese president also announced a reduction of 300,000 troops and other high-level organizational changes aimed at transforming the PLA into a modern, sleek fighting force, with significant implications for global security.
 
During the weekend, Xi donned military fatigues at a military parade at PLA’s Zhurihe training base in Inner Mongolia. More than 12,000 service personnel from across the army, air force, navy, police and strategic support troops marched below clear blue skies, as tanks and missile launchers rumbled by. Fighter jets roared and dozens of commandos leapt out of buzzing helicopters.