China carries out an active defence military strategy that is based
on a principle of self-defence and winning only after the enemy has
struck, said a senior military official yesterday.
General Xiong Guangkai, a deputy chief of the People's Liberation
Army, explained China's national defence policy at the
International Forum on China and the World in the 21st Century
yesterday.
China has no imaginary enemy and does not think it faces the threat
from one or several countries, Xiong said. Today, the nation's goal
is to safeguard peace and guarantee development, the common goals
of all nations.
China has enjoyed a comparatively stable period of good-neighbourly
relations and security in recent years. Still, threats remain in
the world because leaders of some countries still adhere to Cold
War thinking and play power politics in the international arena, he
noted..
Local wars, armed conflicts arising from racial, religious,
territorial and resource disputes continue to agitate the world
scene.
Accordingly, China has made changes to its national defence policy
to meet these challenges, the general said. The core of the
adjustment lay in the shift from a combat-ready posture to a
peacetime effort.
China has made three force reductions, dropping the number of
servicemen to 2.5 million from a high of 6.6 million in 1975.
Defence spending is at a low level compared with that of some major
powers.
China's economy in the past 20 years has increased at a speed of at
least 7 per cent each year, but defence spending has not grown
accordingly. The average growth rate of China's defence spending
between 1974 and 1994 was minus 1.1 per cent after considering
inflation.
The general also addressed the Taiwan question, noting the
situation has become grimmer and more complex due to a surging
"Taiwan independence" force.
Under the formula of "one country, two systems," peaceful
reunification is in the interest of all Chinese people, he
added.
The Chinese mainland will not commit to giving up the use of
military force. Yet hostile forces on the island province that are
a threat to the nation's sovereignty and territorial integrity must
be considered, Xiong said.
(
chinadaily.com.cn
09/12/2001)