Golez: Xi in unusual combat fatigue: "Chinese President Oversees Military Show of Strength" INQUIRER.net philstar.com ABS-CBN News Aksyon Politico MANILA BULLETIN GMA News Rappler
Golez: President Xi in combat uniform, sends ominous message, presides over China military parade. In my recollection, since the Mao days, this is the first time that a China President has come out in combat uniform to preside over a military parade. It is a strong message to the world, but not exactly projecting China in positive terms, This is contrary to the gentle, rising image that rising China originally aimed to project. it is not reassuring to the world, especially China's immediate neighbors in the South China Sea, Pacific Ocean hegemon US, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, and giant India which is now in a months long standoff with China in the Himalayas.
I military parade is very normal among big powers, even small powers. both Japan and India had their recent maritime reviews (parade at sea) and big exercises. But this is the first time in recent memory that a military parade was presided by a head of state wearing combat uniform. It is an ominous message especially with President Xi declaring: "the PLA ready to defeat all "invading enemies" and "We need to build a strong people's military more than any other time in history,"
I am curious what "invading enemies" President Xi was referring to as I do not see any force preparing to invade China. In fact, it is other way around as China continues to consolidate its illegal nine-dash line and more deeply occupy reefs in the South China Sea way outside its legal exclusive economic zone, even threatening now the Natuna area of Indonesia outside it excessive claims. In the Himalayas, a high tension standoff was triggered when China started building a road into Bhutan, seen by both Bhutan and India as security threats as the road would enable China to more easily mobilize forces leading to Bhutan and threatening India's northeast frontier.
However, just like in physics, in geo-strategy, for every action, there is an equal counteraction. This will for sure trigger a more robust alliance, still emerging at this stage, among the other powers in the Indo-Pacific Region: India, Australia, with the US and Japan. Said countries have conducted their own joint exercises and are all in the process of beefing up their military forces with more modern planes (like the potent F-35s), surface warships and submarines. Even UK and France, both with big stakes in the region, are coming in.
China is triggering an arms race it cannot possibly win with the much larger combined economies and industrial capacity of the countervailing powers.
I quote from this article:
1. A Communist Party "princeling" fond of deploying revolutionary lore and nationalistic rhetoric, Xi declared the PLA ready to defeat all "invading enemies" as he celebrated the 90th anniversary of the PLA's founding. It was the first time a parade has been held to mark the occasion.
2. "We need to build a strong people's military more than any other time in history," Xi said as he inspected troops, armored vehicles, missiles and aircraft, hailing each formation by shouting "Comrades, you've worked hard!"
3. The forces addressed him as "Chairman Xi" as they rumbled past. The parade was blanketed by state media coverage and streamed for foreign audiences on YouTube, which is blocked inside China.
4. On display were advanced weaponry, including a new Dongfeng-31AG variant of the nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile and the Dongfeng-21D "carrier killer." Several H-6K bombers, the long-range aircraft recently involved in exercises near Japan and the South China Sea, flew overhead.
5. Xi has emphasized combat readiness for the PLA -- long criticized as a corrupt bureaucracy with scant combat experience -- and pushed for an ambitious modernization program to make it a leaner force capable of projecting power overseas.
6. Xi ordered 300,000 troops cut from the world's largest standing army two years ago while overseeing investments in aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines and stealth fighters, with the goal of surpassing the United States in regional and even global influence.
7. Although China has framed its growing military as a force for stability and peace, its expanding footprint and assertive posture in contested regions like the South and East China seas have worried neighboring nations and U.S. allies in the Pacific.
8. Xi has been similarly emboldened on the domestic front as he took on powerful figures within the influential military establishment. He ordered anti-corruption campaigns that took down top-ranking generals and creating new battle theaters that placed trusted officers in command and shunted aside others.
https://t.co/8DgZf2ZZ6A via @Militarydotcom
Chinese President Oversees Military Show of Strength
Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks at a July 30 military parade commemorating the 90th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army. (CCTV via AP Video)
BEIJING -- China's military has the "confidence and capability" to bolster the country's rise into a world power, President Xi Jinping said Sunday as he oversaw a large-scale military parade meant to show off the forces at his command to foreign and domestic audiences.
Live state television broadcasts showed Xi, dressed in fatigues and speaking from an open-top jeep, telling his troops that China needed a strong military "more than ever" as it moved "closer to the goal of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation."
Xi, who commands the People's Liberation Army (PLA) as chairman of the Central Military Commission, has frequently spoken of his "China Dream" to restore China to a leadership position in international affairs with a modern, far-reaching military force to match.
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The parade, held at the Zhurihe military training base in China's Inner Mongolia region, was also a sign domestically of how Xi has enhanced his control over the PLA, just as he has over every other political power base within the sprawling Communist Party, ahead of a pivotal party congress this autumn.
A Communist Party "princeling" fond of deploying revolutionary lore and nationalistic rhetoric, Xi declared the PLA ready to defeat all "invading enemies" as he celebrated the 90th anniversary of the PLA's founding. It was the first time a parade has been held to mark the occasion.
"We need to build a strong people's military more than any other time in history," Xi said as he inspected troops, armored vehicles, missiles and aircraft, hailing each formation by shouting "Comrades, you've worked hard!"
The forces addressed him as "Chairman Xi" as they rumbled past. The parade was blanketed by state media coverage and streamed for foreign audiences on YouTube, which is blocked inside China.
On display were advanced weaponry, including a new Dongfeng-31AG variant of the nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile and the Dongfeng-21D "carrier killer." Several H-6K bombers, the long-range aircraft recently involved in exercises near Japan and the South China Sea, flew overhead.
Xi has emphasized combat readiness for the PLA -- long criticized as a corrupt bureaucracy with scant combat experience -- and pushed for an ambitious modernization program to make it a leaner force capable of projecting power overseas.
Xi ordered 300,000 troops cut from the world's largest standing army two years ago while overseeing investments in aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines and stealth fighters, with the goal of surpassing the United States in regional and even global influence.
Although China has framed its growing military as a force for stability and peace, its expanding footprint and assertive posture in contested regions like the South and East China seas have worried neighboring nations and U.S. allies in the Pacific.
Xi has been similarly emboldened on the domestic front as he took on powerful figures within the influential military establishment. He ordered anti-corruption campaigns that took down top-ranking generals and creating new battle theaters that placed trusted officers in command and shunted aside others.
To reinforce his political position, Xi has extracted televised vows of loyalty from top generals while holding frequent events to show his affinity and support for the military, including a troop inspection in Hong Kong in June and a ceremony to present citations to 10 officers last week.
On Sunday, Xi issued another call for loyalty as he instructed his amassed 12,000 troops to "unswervingly stick to the fundamental principle and system of the party's absolute leadership over the army," the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
"Always listen to and follow the party's orders," Xi said. "And march to wherever the party points to."
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