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September 4, 2015

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Military might as a force for peace

Source: Agencies | September 4, 2015, Friday | Print Edition

PRESIDENT Xi Jinping lauded his country as a major force for world peace yesterday as he presided over a spectacular military parade marking the 70th anniversary of victory over Japan in World War II.

Xi also announced that the People’s Liberation Army would be cut by 300,000 personnel.

“War is the Sword of Damocles that still hangs over mankind,” he said. “We must learn the lessons of history and dedicate ourselves to peace.

“Prejudice and discrimination, hatred and war can only cause disaster and pain,” Xi said. “China will always uphold the path of peaceful development.”

He then descended to Beijing’s main thoroughfare to inspect rows of troops, riding past them in a black limousine and telling them repeatedly: “Hello comrades, hard-working comrades!”

After a 70-gun salute, more than 12,000 soldiers, mostly Chinese but with contingents from Russia and elsewhere, then marched down Changan Avenue, led by WWII veterans carried in vehicles.

They were followed by ballistic missiles, tanks and armored vehicles, most of them never seen in public before. Advanced fighter jets and bombers flew overhead in a highly choreographed spectacle that lasted around 90 minutes.

Among the weapons China unveiled for the first time was an anti-ship ballistic missile, the Dongfeng-21D, which is reportedly capable of destroying an aircraft carrier with one hit. One commentator on Chinese television described the weapon as a “trump card.”

Also shown were several intercontinental ballistic missiles such as the DF-5B and the DF-31A as well as the DF-26 intermediate range ballistic missile.

China has said the parade was not aimed at any particular country, including Japan, which it regularly criticizes for its insufficient contrition over wartime atrocities.

“The unyielding Chinese people fought gallantly and finally won total victory against the Japanese militarist aggressors, thus preserving China’s 5,000-year-old civilization and upholding the cause of peace,” Xi said.

He described the eight-year conflict, in which more than 35 million Chinese were killed or injured, as “a decisive battle between justice and evil, between light and darkness” and that the victory had “re-established China as a major country in the world.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin was given a prominent position next to Xi on the rostrum, as were ranks of former Chinese leaders, including Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao.

Shaking hands with Xi were Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir and Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko, who brought one of his sons.

More mainstream guests included South Korea’s Park Geun-hye, whose country was colonized by Japan, Jacob Zuma of South Africa — which with China is part of the BRICS groups of major emerging economies — and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Among wartime allies, Xi mentioned the sacrifice of lives in the Soviet Union.

Recently, China has carried out such giant military shows just once a decade, and always on the anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic on October 1.

This one came the day after the 70th anniversary of Japan’s formal surrender in 1945 on the deck of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.

The commemoration has been aimed at bearing history in mind, honoring all those who laid down their lives, cherishing peace and opening up the future.

Xi’s announcement of troop reductions was widely expected and comes after a cut of around 2 million personnel from the PLA since the 1980s.

The move will mainly target troops equipped with outdated armaments, administrative staff and non-combatant personnel, to optimize the structure of China’s military forces.

Yang Yujun, a defense ministry spokesman, said the decision demonstrated China’s firm commitment to peaceful development, a defensive military strategy, world peace and regional stability.

The cuts will be the country’s fourth since reform and opening-up in the 1980s, downsizing the force to 2 million.

Yang said the cuts will help concentrate resources, accelerate progress in information technology and boost military quality.

In addition to combat drills, Chinese troops have been involved in a number of non-combatant military missions.

Since a devastating earthquake in 2008, the armed forces have deployed more than 2.5 million military staff in non-military missions. About 30,000 Chinese soldiers have so far served in UN peacekeeping missions.

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