China’s military a force for peace, defense minister tells conference
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CHINA’S top defense official yesterday called for better regional crisis management, saying the country’s armed forces want peace but will never forget the bitter lessons of the past.
The expansion of China’s military has raised the hackles of some of its neighbors, which have competing territorial claims in the East China and South China seas.
“We call for further strengthening of dispute management procedures to improve our ability to cope with crises,” Defense Minister Chang Wanquan told a security forum in Beijing attended by senior officials and academics from Central Asia and the Asia-Pacific region.
“Disputes should be resolved through negotiation with full respect to historical facts and international law,” Chang told the forum.
The country is also “exploring the possibility of opening a defense hotline” with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Chang said, without elaborating.
China’s military modernisation is rooted in both past humiliations and a present need to combat threats, including terrorism, Chang said.
“The remarkable growth of China’s comprehensive national power, and the continued progress in national defense modernisation, have become a focus of international attention in recent years,” he said.
Among the reasons he cited for the makeover were China’s “wretched modern history” as a victim of aggression and the “practical need to secure its own territory,” catch up with other militaries and cooperate internationally to combat “terrorism, extremism and separatism.”
China’s military lags behind those of other nations, he told delegates to the conference sponsored by the China Association for Military Science.
The forum’s more than 200 participants came from about 50 countries.
“China’s military has yet to be fully mechanized and its application of information technology is still at an early stage. It lags far behind those advanced military forces elsewhere in the world,” Chang said.
The country’s defense budgets are aimed at modernizing and better cooperating with other countries on natural disasters and terrorism, he said.
The former People’s Liberation Army’s head of foreign affairs Qian Lihua said China is working to ease tensions with Japan, India, Vietnam and other countries.
“It will take time, but we’re working toward building trust between all the countries in Asia,” he said.
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