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PLA to celebrate with more peaceful military
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It has been a big year for China鈥檚 military.
In April, China鈥檚 first domestically produced aircraft carrier was launched, which was followed by the debut of its new generation of destroyer in June. In July, the country鈥檚 first aircraft carrier allowed visits by the public for the first time.
As the 90th birthday of the People鈥檚 Liberation Army (PLA) approaches, the country鈥檚 army has shown how much its military capacity has grown and how committed it is to maintaining world peace.
The PLA has come a long way since its birth during the armed uprising in the city of Nanchang on August 1, 1927, when it had only 20,000 soldiers.
Ninety years later, the country boasts 2 million servicemen, making it the world鈥檚 largest military force, according to a national defense white paper titled 鈥淐hina鈥檚 Military Strategy,鈥 published in 2015. Besides the growth in numbers, the PLA has armed its soldiers with world-class equipment.
During China鈥檚 epic V-Day parade in September 2015, the country displayed its Dongfeng-5B intercontinental strategic missiles, designed to carry nuclear warheads, and its Dongfeng-21D anti-ship ballistic missiles, described by some media as the 鈥渃arrier killer.鈥
In April of this year, China launched its second aircraft carrier in a Dalian shipyard in northeastern province of Liaoning. It is the first carrier designed and built by China. The country鈥檚 first carrier, the Liaoning, was a refitted Soviet Union-made carrier put into commission by the PLA Navy in 2012.
Another Navy development was the launch of a new destroyer, a domestically designed and produced 10,000-tonne vessel.
The destroyer is the first vessel of China鈥檚 new generation of destroyers equipped with new air defense, anti-missile, anti-ship and anti-submarine weapons.
For military observers, all these achievements can be seen in a video titled 鈥淧LA Today鈥 released by the Ministry of National Defense (MND) last week.
The 16-minute English-language video, with Chinese subtitles, displayed a host of unmanned 鈥渟mart鈥 military vehicles, reconnaissance robots and drones, followed by footage of live-fire drills in the South China Sea and the East China Sea in July last year.
鈥淚f war is declared, we are ready,鈥 one line said.
The video was not the PLA鈥檚 only bid for attention on social media.
The military debuted a five-episode live-streaming program on China鈥檚 Twitter-like Weibo service last week.
The first episode featured China鈥檚 airborne troops and showed the tough training soldiers must undergo.
The other four episodes will focus on soldiers from other service branches, the descendants of war heros, and war veterans.
Last year, the military released an action-packed online video featuring rap music to attract young recruits.
The PLA has also made real-life outreach efforts.
In early July, a flotilla including the aircraft carrier arrived in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for a visit. During the trip, the Liaoning opened to the public for visits for the first time.
More than 5,000 Hong Kong people boarded the aircraft carrier and three escorting warships, during their stay in Hong Kong from July 7 through July 11.
鈥淚 have witnessed the progress of my country, and I am so proud standing on board the Liaoning,鈥 said a Hong Kong visitor who spent 14 hours queueing for the free ticket.
In 2017, China, the world鈥檚 second largest economy, budgeted 1.04 trillion yuan (US$153 billion) for annual military expenditures, according to the Ministry of Finance in March.
The figure is second only to the United States, which has a military spending budget of 583.7 billion dollars.
However, China鈥檚 defense budget growth in 2017, at 7 percent, is actually the slowest in at least a decade. The increase last year was 7.6 percent, down from a multi-year run of double-digit growth.
China is also continuing its efforts in international cooperation.
As of June 2017, the Chinese military had participated in 24 UN peacekeeping missions, sending 31,000 personnel, 13 of whom lost their lives in duty, according to the MND鈥檚 鈥淧LA Today鈥 video.
(Xinhua)
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