“Both China and Albania are plagued by natural disasters, such as flood, forest fire, earthquakes and so on and the armed forces of both the two countries shoulder the duty of civil emergency, where they can share experience and learn from each other. Albania has just sent its first officers to UN Peacekeeping Operations and China is one of the important participants in UN Peacekeeping Operations. The military of the two countries could have some cooperation such as personnel training in the field of Peacekeeping Operations,” says Chinese Defense Attache to Tirana, Senior Colonel Liu Xingjiang
By Genc Mlloja
Senior Diplomatic Editor
If 92 years ago the slogan that whoever had an army had the power was the leitmotif of the Chinese veteran top leader, Mao Zedong, now China sees the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) as the key instrument for the protection of national sovereignty, security, territorial integrity and safeguarding the interests of national development, and the interests of the Chinese people above all else.
The initial bid to establish the people’s army dates back to August 1, 1927 when the Communist Party of China (CPC) launched the Nanchang Uprising to counter the anti-communist purges by the Kuomintang, and August 1 has been used as the major symbol of the PLA flag and army emblem since 1949. The date is also celebrated as China’s Army Day.
Asked by Albanian Daily News on the significance of that historical event being observed with special veneration by all the segments of the Chinese society, Beijing’s Defense Attache to Tirana, Senior Colonel Liu Xingjiang, said: “We commemorate history in order to remember where we are from and where we are going. The PLA was born in the war for national independence and liberation of the people. In the future, PLA will continue to fulfill its mission to safeguard the interests of the country and people.”
Over the past decades, under the leadership of the party and leaders the PLA has spared no efforts to modernize and strengthen its capabilities as a fighting force. It has gradually modernized in all aspects developing among others its own tanks, aircraft and ships in order to replace weapons bought from other countries earlier and on top of all it has developed precision missiles.
China’s President Xi Jinping has said his “Chinese dream” includes a “dream of a strong armed forces”. That, he says, involves “modernizing” the PLA by 2035 and making it “world-class” by mid-century. “He has been making a lot of progress… He has done more to achieve this than any of his predecessors,” noted The Economist on June 27, 2019.
China’s military reform a strategic shift
It is widely believed that China’s ongoing military reform began in 2015 when an army leadership, a Rocket Force and a Strategic Support Force were established in PLA. But in fact, since 2013 a new round of reform in China’s defense and military has been put high on the agenda of the newly elected party and state leaders headed by President Xi Jinping. The creation of the National Security Commission (NSC) on March 17, 2013, which was tasked with the coordination of major issues and important work concerning national security and improving the national security system and the national security strategy, has actually been considered as the prelude to China’s national defense and military reform. Many crucial measures have been taken as part of a strategic shift designed to transform the army into a comprehensive modern force.
“To the year of 2020, a breakthrough will be made in leadership management system and the joint operational command system reform, and important achievements will be achieved in optimizing the scale structure, perfecting the policy system, efforts should be made to build a modern military power system that can win the information warfare and effectively fulfill its mission,” said President Xi in November 2015. As a result of such reform of national defense and armed forces Chinese military currently has five independent branches, including the army, navy, air force, rocket force – the strategic and tactical missile operator – and strategic support force, which is in charge of cyber, space, and electronic warfare.
Another key reform has been the establishment of “five theatre of operations” on February 1, 2016. Xi emphasized that, to establish the east, south, west, north and middle theatre of operations, forming a joint operations command in each zone, is the strategic decision made with a view to realize China’s dream, is the iconic measure for fulfillment of the strategy of making armed forces powerful by reform, is a historic progress in the construction of Chinese joint military operation system. According to the President, the theatre of operations bears the mission of coping with security threats, maintaining peace, curbing wars and winning wars in its strategic direction, and plays a vital role in safeguarding national security strategy and the overall military strategy.
An important step was also the decision made on December3, 2016 on the reform of the size and structure of the armed forces. Soon after, the Army turned from 18 army groups into 13 army groups. From April 18, 2017, 84 new military level units of the whole army, including the Army, Navy, Air Force, Rocket Force and Strategic Support Force, as well as the provincial military area command system, began “appearance”.
In the meantime the PLA has been cutting back on ground forces as part of ‘transformational change’ to military. “The past reform focused mainly on the reduction of the troops. However, in the reform that started from 2013 not only the size of the military is further cut down by 300,000, but the administration system and command system is totally restructured and the forces reshaped,” Senior Colonel Liu Xingjiang said.
Those measures led to the result that the Chinese army has a direct leadership structure, its organizational structure has been optimized, and its grass-roots units have been increasingly integrated. Coupled with the “upgraded” former Second Artillery to the Rocket Force, the newly established strategic support force, and so on, this reform is expected to bring far-reaching impact on the future of the PLA.
Veterans not left behind…
“Chinese government set up a special ministry to deal with the issues of veterans and has been releasing a series of policies, aiming to protect the interests and improve the welfare of decommissioned officers and soldiers, and make servicemen enjoy the respect of society and enjoy the glory they deserve. We will never allow the veterans shed tears after they shed blood on the field,” Mr. Liu told Albanian Daily News explaining that as the military reform goes on, China has been attentive to veterans having as motto the principle that no one is left behind. Ministry of Veteran Affairs formally started operation on April 16, 2018 as integral part of institutional reform. “The ministry will work for a centralized and unified management and support system for veterans with clarified power and duties,” said Vice Premier Sun Chunlan at the inauguration ceremony as quoted by Xinhua. “The ministry’s work is important for motivating veterans to play a constructive role in their civilian life and attracting more young talent to join the service.”
Local governments provided more than 80,000 former military officers with civilian jobs and helped over 400,000 retired soldiers resettle in 2018, said Wang Zhiming, a spokesman for the ministry at a press conference as quoted by Xinhua on January 1, 2019. The ministry noted that a draft law on veterans’ welfare had been sent to departments at the central and provincial governments and the military for consultation.
‘Win-win cooperation’ even in military field
“Sticking to the policy of win-win cooperation, Chinese PLA is willing to promote exchanges and friendly cooperation with all those countries that love peace, with a view to making joint efforts to pursue a community with a shared future for mankind,” underlined the Chinese Defense Attache to Albania, Liu Xingjiang.
Differently from the past when ‘mystery’ veiled this large Asian country and in particular its military aspect, now China is open to the world in all aspects, including military matters and all these developments have happened against the backdrop of the wish and will of the party and state leadership that Chinese military should promote friendly cooperation with all those countries that love peace on the basis of equality and mutual respect. Following such a trend, of course within the limits that country’s interests and security are not affected, China has been constant in its bid to increase cooperation in different military and security areas throughout the world.
So after a three- year pause NATO and China have reconvened military to military staff talks. The 5th iteration of the staff talks were held on 5th of June 2018, in the New NATO HQ in Brussels, said www.nato.int on June 11, 2018. NATO and China’s military dialogue has been constant since 2010, with yearly meetings. NATO’s military interaction with China in the form of staff talks follows a clear political guidance that has developed over the last 10-15 years. “Dialogue is one of NATO’s most effective tools and cannot be neglected. There was a clear and strong agreement between the staff talks’ participants that the best way forward was to strengthen the military dialogue between NATO and China,” said www.nato.int, which underlined: “This 5th edition of the talks was a resounding success, allowing NATO to restart its a dialogue with a key global player and setting up a methodology for further, deeper and more meaningful engagement, in line with individual political guidance. The talks concluded with an agreement to hold follow-on meetings to keep the “action plan” active and alive.” The 6th edition of the staff talks should be held in Beijing in 2019.
In the meantime nearly 100 senior representatives from defense departments of 50 African countries and the African Union, including 15 defense ministers and chiefs of general staff, attended the forum, the first China-Africa Peace and Security Forum hosted by China’s Ministry of National Defense which, as Xinhua reported on July 15, 2019, was held in Beijing in mid July. The topics of the agenda included “China-Africa relationship and bilateral peace and security cooperation in the new era” and “regional maritime security situations and militaries’ role in peace and security field”. The representatives from African countries visited China’s army, navy and air force troops as well as Shanghai City during the forum which concluded on July 20.
“The Chinese military stands ready to deepen mutual trust and consolidate friendship with the militaries of the Caribbean countries and Pacific island countries,” Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe told attendees of the Fourth Forum for Senior Defense Officials from Caribbean and South Pacific Countries held in China in early July this year. Wei said that cooperation will be promoted in such areas as anti-terrorism, peacekeeping and disaster relief to strengthen exchanges and cooperation under the framework of the BRI.
In another event the live-fire China-Germany joint military exercise on medical support, codenamed “Combined Aid-2019”, was concluded on July 12 this year at the Feldkirchen Training Base, Germany. More than 200 troops and observers from both sides attended the closing ceremony. This is the first live-fire China-Germany military exercise conducted in Europe, according to Xinhua. Against the background of joint implementation of international humanitarian medical rescue missions, the exercise focused on responding to major outbreaks and treating multiple batches of casualties. Major General Li Yong, head of the Chinese delegation and commander of the Chinese PLA Joint Logistic Support Force, said that the joint exercise was a result of the continuous deepening of the military cooperation between the two militaries under the framework of the all-round strategic partnership between China and Germany, and the ever-deepening of bilateral traditional friendship between the two militaries.
Thomas Silberhorn, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Defence of Germany, said that this is the second joint military exercise between the German and Chinese militaries, which has further consolidated the medical cooperation mechanism between the two sides. The exercise highlighted “under the UN framework” and “international humanitarianism.” The success of the joint exercise has proven that both Germany and China are surely able to hand in hand complete the tasks in need, which is of great significance to improving the international humanitarian rescue capability, said Thomas.
China backs world peace with deeds through peacekeeping operations
Peacekeeping contributions have steadily become an important part of China’s soft power strategy, allowing Beijing to advance its interests abroad while fostering collaboration with other nations. According to UN official data, China is one of the main troop-contributing countries for UN peacekeeping operations.
As the Chinese militarized diplomatic envoy to Tirana Liu Xingjiang said China has been a major Troop Contributing Country and financial contributor to Peacekeeping Operations as a permanent member of the Security Council. “While continuing its efforts to the enhancement of the capability of UN to carry out Peacekeeping Operations, China will back its promise for world peace with deeds,” he said.
For his part, Lieutenant General Carlos Humberto Loitey of Uruguay, Military Adviser for UN Secretary-General (UNSG) said during an interview with the PLA Daily on June 28, 2019 that China plays a key role in the UN peacekeeping operations showing its sense of responsibility to the world. He noted that the Chinese military has dispatched many senior officers for peacekeeping operations apart from sending peacekeeping troops to Sudan, South Sudan, Lebanon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali and other countries. Earlier, there were Chinese officers serving as commanders of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) and the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP). In the near future, a Chinese officer will travel to South Sudan to serve as deputy commander of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). “I have always felt China’s firm support for the UN peacekeeping cause during my work in the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations,” he said.
Since 1990, the Chinese military have participated in 24 UN peacekeeping operations, with more than 40,000 military personnel involved, and 13 of whom have sacrificed their precious lives on the front line of peacekeeping operations. At present, there are altogether more than 2,500 Chinese officers and soldiers executing missions in seven UN mission areas and at the UN Headquarters. During nearly 30 years’ participation in peacekeeping operations, Chinese peacekeeping officers and soldiers have cleared more than 12,500 mines and unexploded explosives, and transported 1.35 million tons of various materials and equipment with a total transportation mileage of over 13.8 million kilometers. In addition, they have treated 216,000 patients, and successfully fulfilled more than 600 patrols and armed escorts of long or short journeys.
In September 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping made six commitments in support of UN peacekeeping operations when attending the Leaders’ Summit for UN Peacekeeping. Over the past three years, China has established an 8,000-person peacekeeping standby force and two standing police forces for peacekeeping operations. There are several engineering, transportation and medical forces in the peacekeeping standby force, which are three engineering companies, two transportation companies, four secondary hospitals, two medium-sized multi-purpose helicopter detachments, two transport aircraft detachments, etc. The Chinese military has trained nearly 2,000 peacekeepers for various countries, carried out many mine-clearance assistance programs, offered free military assistance to the African Union (AU), and deployed peacekeeping helicopter detachments to Africa. What’s more, China has provided a total of 1 billion dollars to the United Nations Peace and Development Trust Fund (UNPDF) which will contribute to the building of peacekeeping capacity, facilitate the UN to strengthen the support for peacekeepers’ security, and support developing countries in building peacekeeping capacities.
Part of the military cooperation with other countries are also visits of Chinese naval vessels to other countries. Among the latest was the visit of the 31st Chinese naval escort taskforce which arrived in Sydney on June 3, 2019 on a five-day friendly visit to Australia.
In another event the guided-missile destroyer Xi’an (Hull 153) attached to the 32nd escort taskforce of the Chinese PLA Navy arrived at Toulon port, southern France on July 2 this year on a five-day military exchange. Joint exercises and other events were held during this visit, it is officially reported. In addition, the Chinese and French naval officers and soldiers will also visit each other’s warships and hold friendly basketball matches to promote mutual trust, cooperation and exchanges. Yu Jinsong, Charge d’Affaires of the Chinese Embassy in France was quoted by Xinhua as saying that the visit of the destroyer Xi’an is of special significance for promoting exchanges between the Chinese and French militaries, enhancing China-France comprehensive strategic partnership, and strengthening the understanding and friendship between the two peoples.
Since 2008, Chinese Navy has deployed 32 escort taskforces to the Gulf of Aden and Somalian sea for anti-piracy missions. Totally around 100 military ships and more than 26,000 military personnel served in the missions, escorting over 6600 commercial ships of different countries safely and successfully.
Albanian Daily News asked the Defense Attache, Liu Xingjiang if there was any kind of cooperation between China and Albania in the field of military related issues. His answer is as follows: “Both China and Albania are plagued by natural disasters, such as flood, forest fire, earthquakes and so on and the armed forces of both the two countries shoulder the duty of civil emergency, where they can share experience and learn from each other. Albania has just sent its first officers to UN Peacekeeping Operations and China is one of the important participants in UN Peacekeeping Operations. The military of the two countries could have some cooperation such as personnel training in the field of Peacekeeping Operations.”
