By Prof. Engr. Zamir Ahmed Awan
Some media, misquoting Xi’s remarks, released rumors that the Chinese President asked, on May 26, 2020, Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) to be prepared for War. Enemies of China may hide behind such lame excuses for their designs and intentions.
It is a common practice worldwide that whenever leadership meets their armed forces, always praise them, motivate them, and ask them to be ready for the worst case. The US presidents, whenever meets their overseas solders, have witnessed similar remarks. British queen was using similar comments and many other world leaders. Political leadership must encourage, motivate, and praise their armed forces.
Chinese President Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks, when attending a plenary meeting of the delegation of the People’s Liberation Army and People’s Armed Police Force, at the third session of the 13th National People’s Congress, China’s national legislatures- a high-level platform.
Chinese President Xi Jinping praised achieving the targets and missions of strengthening the national defense and armed forces for 2020 while maintaining effective epidemic control regularly. In fact, Armed forces played a vital role in fighting the outbreak and made it possible to overcome the Pandemic so quickly.
After heard speeches by military deputies on fulfilling epidemic control tasks, President Xi emphasized; strengthening training amid the Pandemic and accelerating capacity building on biosecurity defense. Commending their role in battling COVID-19, President Xi said that the people’s armed forces have once again proven themselves to be heroic forces that can be fully trusted by the Party and the people. He ordered the military to think about worst-case scenarios, scale up training and battle preparedness, promptly and effectively deal with all sorts of complex situations and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests. Further demanded reforms and innovations to address new situations and problems exposed in the Pandemic. He ordered accelerating the research and development of COVID-19 drugs and vaccines by tapping the advantages of military medical research. He demanded good planning on the next five-year plan. On defense expenditure, Xi said every penny must be well spent to produce maximum results. He also asked the military to support economic and social development, poverty relief, and others.
President Xi’s remarks seem very much reasonable and standard practice all over the world, but some part of the bias media has been trying to twist them.
India, which shares the longest border with China approximately 3,488 kilometer-long, like with all its neighboring countries ( Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Mayanmar), has severe border disputes with China. Since the beginning of May, some border tension was witnessed in the Ladakh border area. India was undertaking road & airstrip construction and infrastructure building activities in villages near the LAC (Line of Actual Control) as development work as well as to boost its strategic position. It is worth mentioning that, under an agreement between the US and India, Americans have access to use Indian military bases, directly threatening China from Ladakh airbase.
China is a responsible country, and centuries-old wisdom prevails in the leadership in China. We are optimistic; China can satisfy Indians like Doklam stand-off in 2016. In either case, India is in the habit of blaming its neighbors and gaining sympathies from the West. It may not work anytime. We wish peace and stability in these regions as well as globally.
Author: Prof. Engr. Zamir Ahmed Awan – Sinologist (ex-Diplomat), Editor, Analyst, Non-Resident Fellow of CCG (Center for China and Globalization), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan.
(The views expressed in this article belong only to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy or views of World Geostrategic Insights).
Image Credit: CCTV