August 1, 2022 marks the 95th founding anniversary of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China. The PLA is an army of the people built and led by the Communist Party of China (CPC). Over the last 95 years, the PLA has built on past achievements and grown stronger through a battle with good development results. The PLA has won timeless honors for the CPC and the Chinese people. They are the backbone for China to preserve the nature governance as well as national dignity. The Chinese people have always loved peace. They have never started a war or infringed on an inch of foreign soil. China sticks to the path of peaceful development as outlined in the constitution of the CPC and the People's Republic of China (PRC).
The PLA has reshaped its leadership and management system, optimized its structure, and reformed its military policies and institutions since 2015. Under the pragmatic leadership and guidance of President Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the reform of national defense and the modernization of the military have expanded significantly. The PLA has transformed from a quantity-oriented to a quality-conscious force. President Xi Jinping laid out plans in 2017 to complete the modernization of the PLA by 2035 and transform it into a world-class military by 2049. The Chinese defense budget in 2022 is 1.45 trillion (about $230 billion), which is an increase of 7.1% over the last year. The increased defense expenditure will help to provide the forces with better training and more advanced equipment. It will also support the military in tackling non-conventional security threats. Therefore, the increase in defense expenditure is not only to maintain its own security but also to help maintain world peace. China has also reassured that it will not pose any military threat even as it has accelerated its military modernization and ramped up its defense expenditure.
The PLA has changed over the last two decades due to expanding defense budgets, technological acquisitions, and a raft of reforms that focus on making the defense sector more competitive. China now has the ability to develop advanced fighters, aircraft carriers, and new-generation intercontinental ballistic missiles, drones, and other advanced platforms. The PLA has also sought to modernize its capabilities and improve its proficiencies across all warfare domains so that as a joint force it can conduct a range of land, air, and maritime operations as well as space, counter-space, and electronic warfare, and cyber operations. China has been boosting up research into all sorts of missiles, from those that can destroy satellites in space to advance nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles, as part of an ambitious modernization scheme. The PLA should now endeavor to become a higher-caliber military, conduct training under computer-simulated conditions, and enhance its integrated combat capability based on extensive application of information technology. The Chinese military forces have significantly downsized their active forces, with the previous 18 group armies reorganized into 13 new ones.
Chinese armed forces have made great progress in independent innovation in strategic, cutting-edge, and disruptive technologies, and succeeded in developing strategic high-tech products such as the Tianhe-2 Supercomputer.
The PLA is optimizing the overall composition of weaponry and equipment. A system is created that mainly comprises new high-tech weaponry and equipment, such as Type 15 tanks, type 052D destroyers, J-20 fighters, and DF-26 intermediate and long-range ballistic missiles.
The launching ceremony of China’s third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, on June 17, 2022, in Shanghai, China.
Among the most crucial areas of Chinese military modernization is the expansion of its naval capabilities. China has launched a new-generation aircraft carrier on 17 June, 2022. The launch marked a milestone in the country’s push for a “blue water navy” capable of operating far from Chinese shores as well as President Xi Jinping’s multiyear drive to modernize the country’s military. The launching ceremony was held in Shanghai's Jiangnan shipyard and the event was attended by General Xu Qiliang, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and the Vice-Chairman of the CMC. The aircraft carrier Fujian, also known as the Type-003, is the 'first electromagnetic Catapult' aircraft carrier wholly designed and built domestically in China. Its full load displacement is over 80,000 tonnes. Paris-based Naval News says this carrier catapults China’s navy into the 21st century and that it’s the first non-US carrier in the world “ to even come close” to a US carrier. China has two other aircraft carriers in service. The Liaoning was commissioned in 2012, and the Shandong entered service in 2019. These warships use a Ski-Jump style platform for jets to take off and do not have a catapult system. It’s heard that the next aircraft carrier China plans to build is expected to be nuclear-powered.
China's Blue Helmets have become a key force in United Nations Peacekeeping. Chinese armed forces are actively participating in the United Nations Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKO). China is the biggest contributor of peacekeeping troops among five permanent members of the UN Security Council and the second-largest financial contributor to the UN Peacekeeping program, has the potential to become a world leader in Peacekeeping. Since the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic around the world, the Chinese military has not only made outstanding contributions to the prevention and control of the pandemic in China but also has been actively cooperating with other countries’ defense establishments. Currently, the PLA is more engaged in international military and security dialogues. What is worth mentioning is that the military-to-military ties China seeks to strengthen are not based on alliances, are not confrontational, and do not target any third country.
Peace needs to be fought for and safeguarded. China is firmly committed to the path of peaceful development and hopes that other countries will also pursue peaceful development and cooperation. Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe said at the last Shangri-la Dialogue in Singapore that China's development is not a threat to others. On the contrary, it is a huge contribution to global peace and development. General Wei Fenghi also said the Chinese armed forces will fight to the very end if anyone dares to split Taiwan out of China. Taiwan is an integral part of China, the Taiwan question belongs to China's internal affairs, and national reunification will definitely become a reality. If anyone dares to separate Taiwan from China, the Chinese military will not hesitate to fight, and will resolutely crush any 'Taiwan independence' attempts at all costs, and firmly safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
China has eradicated absolute poverty and achieved a landmark victory in building a moderately prosperous society in all respects. It is now on a new journey toward socialist modernization. China today is completely different from the China of ten years ago and it certainly will continue to change over the next ten years. It is no longer a rising power. It has in fact arrived as a world power who is a decisive force for world peace and development.
The writer is the Editor of The Belt and Road Magazine, Bangladesh.
