President Xi orders military to be “world class”

March 10, 2023

China’s Minister of National Defense Wei Fenghe at the Bayi Building, China’s Ministry of National Defense in Beijing. DoD photo by Army Sgt. Amber I. Smith

BEIJING – Chinese President Xi Jinping demands his military upgrade to “world class”, calling for further modernization of the People’s Liberation Army and the country’s paramilitary People’s Armed Police, in a speech delivered during a ceremonial parliament meeting on Wednesday.

He ordered the country’s military to upgrade to “world-class” standards, intensifying China’s push to strengthen its military power and expand its global influence.

Xi’s remarks come just days after China’s Foreign Minister, Qin Gang, warned that the United States is heading toward military conflict with China.

Chinese military must move faster to become world-class fighting force, Xi Jinping tells party congress.
What is decided at the Congress of the #CCP is more important than US-midterms, all the Tory mess, garden&jungle talk at EU – bellicose times. Taiwan? https://t.co/rmwzRXwkeB

— Karin Kneissl (@Karin_Kneissl) October 18, 2022

In his speech, Xi emphasized the importance of building a strong national defense and military, saying that China’s armed forces must be capable of responding to any threat and safeguarding the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

“We must uphold the Party’s absolute leadership over the military, deepen the reform of national defense and the armed forces, and accelerate the modernization of the military,” Xi said.

Xi also called for efforts to enhance the military’s combat readiness, modernize equipment, and improve the quality of personnel. He emphasized the importance of training and education, and called for the establishment of a modern military training system that can meet the needs of the new era.

Xi emphasized the importance of technological innovation and urged China to develop its own core technologies and intellectual property rights.

He also called for efforts to strengthen China’s supply chains, which have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and global trade tensions. He emphasized the need for China to enhance its strategic reserves of key materials and components, and to improve the efficiency and security of its logistics and transportation systems.

Recently the Chinese government announced a 7 percent increase in its military budget to 1.56 trillion yuan from 1.45 trillion-yuan last year. This increase is seen as a result of worsening relations with the US over the Russia-Ukraine war, Taiwan dispute, and the recent spy balloon incident.

The budget increase has raised concerns among some countries in the region, who fear that China’s growing military power could lead to increased aggression and territorial disputes.

The United States has also expressed concerns about China’s military expansion and has called for greater transparency and accountability from the Chinese government.

The United States considers China as a top national security threat and has accused it of engaging in unfair trade practices, intellectual property theft, and cyber espionage.

In its recently released Annual Threat Assessment, the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence identified China as an “unparalleled priority” for the U.S. intelligence community. The report warned that China has the capability to alter the “rules-based global order” and poses a significant challenge to U.S. interests.

As China continues to assert its power on the global stage, the world will be watching closely to see how its military modernization efforts develop and what impact they will have on regional and global security.