White paper maps military's future
Chen Zhou and Deng HongzhouChina Daily  Updated: 2004-12-28 09:39

A thorough understanding and grasp of the general international situation is a prerequisite for drafting the national defence policy and defence building.

As a document elaborating the Chinese Government's judgment of the security environment, the defence white paper attaches great importance to a scientific and accurate evaluation of the world security environment.

The changing international and domestic situation is the base on which the tone of the defence white paper is set.

The 1998 defence white paper emphasized development and co-operation, while the 2000 paper highlighted the grim security situation, which featured the Kosovo War, the bombing of Chinese Embassy in Belgrade and the development of Taiwan Straits situation.

The white paper in 2002 underlined a stable security environment and co-operation, thanks to the strengthened anti-terrorist co-operation among the world's major countries after 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

The 2004 white paper points out that while peace and development remain the theme of the present times, the international situation continues to undergo profound and complicated changes. Unstable and insecure factors are on the rise.

After having a full analysis of the multipolarization and globalization, the rise of military factor and the entangled traditional and non-traditional security issues, the post Iraq War situation and future trend of cross-Taiwan Straits relations, the white paper expounds the features of the current security climate and its trend.

First, the world multipolarization and economic globalization are progressing amid twists.

The world power equilibrium features new changes and relations between major countries witness profound adjustments.

While peace, development and co-operation have become an irresistible historic tide, hegemonism and unilateralism also have new forms, leading to waves of conflicts caused by the desire to pursue strategic strongholds, resources and dominance.

Secondly, the impact of military factors on international situation and national security is ascending.

Arms race

A new round of arms race, which is centred on military revolution, is unfolding - driving many countries to make adjustments in their security and military strategies.

With the military disequilibrium going on, the tendency of relying on military might to grab the strategic and economic interests intensifies.

The role of military power in defending the national security is thus on the rise.

Finally, conventional and unconventional security issues are getting intertwined, with the threat posed by the latter increasingly looming large.

Although military skirmishes and regional wars caused by ethnic, religious, border and territorial disputes ebb and flow, cross-border issues such as the rampant international terrorist activities, environment pollution, illegal immigration, drug trafficking and cross-border crimes are becoming more prevailing.

The unconventional security threats, characterized by its cross-border, fluid, complex and abrupt nature, have become an important factor affecting world security and stability.

Security in the Asia-Pacific region is of vital importance to China's security.

The 2004 white paper's general assessment is that the security in the region is basically stable but complicated factors are also on the rise.

As the world's most economically dynamic area, most countries in the Asia-Pacific region pursue a policy which values peace, stability and co-development, and peaceful consultation has been accepted as a basic tool in resolving disputes.

But the old security problems in the region have not been fundamentally removed while new insecure elements are emerging.

The United States is realigning and beefing up its military presence in the region and strengthening military alliances.

Japan, swayed by the right-leaning political current, is adjusting its military security policy, developing and deploying the anti-missile shield system.

Challenges

The uncertainty over resolving the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula still looms large.

As such, the security situation in Asia-Pacific region is getting complicated, posing new challenges to countries in the area.

The 2004 defence white paper depicts the cross-Taiwan Straits relationship as grim, viewing Taiwan independence forces' separatist activities as the biggest and the most pressing threat to peace and stability in the Straits and in the Asia-Pacific region.

After a thorough analysis of the global, Asia-Pacific and Taiwan Straits situation, the white paper concludes that China's national security environment has been generally improved but new challenges have also surfaced.

The Taiwan independence forces, the military know-how gap with some countries, the risks and challenges brought about by the economic globalization, and the long-standing discord between unilateralism and multilaterlism will have a major impact on our national security.

This is the first time the defence white paper has clearly expressed our security concerns, demonstrating the new leadership's collective strategic judgment about the security issue.

Defence policy is always the key part of the defence white paper. The 2004 defence white paper has illustrated the relationship between the defence policy and the national security strategy, and has listed the basic targets and tasks in maintaining the national security and pointed out the essence of the military reform with Chinese characteristics.

The white paper spells out for the first time in the form of a State document, the defence policy takes the national interest as its starting point. It is subordinated to and serves the needs of the nation's strategies for development and security.

Defence policy and military strategy must be co-ordinated with the country's politics, diplomacy and economy to serve their strategic targets.

Core interest

The 2004 defence white paper summarized the targets and tasks for maintaining the national security into the following five aspects.

First, to fight separatism and exterior invasion, guard the national sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as the interests on seas and oceans.

This aspect is the nation's core interest, which is closely related with the survival and development of the country.

Second, to promote the sustainable economic and social development of the country.

To defend the country's economic progress and improve the nation's comprehensive strength is in the interest of the Chinese people. It is also an important cornerstone for the country to win an important position in the multipolar global pattern.

Third, to maintain a balance between the development of national defence and economic progress, establish a modernized national defence in line with real Chinese situations and trends in the development of the world military.

This is one of the strategic tasks in the country's modernization. It will also help realize the target of establishing an all-round well-off society in the country.

Fourth, to protect the public interests in politics, economy and culture, impose harsh and timely punishment on crimes and maintain the social stability.

Social stability is a prerequisite for reform and development. Only when the public interests are protected and the society is in harmony, could the reform and development enjoy a good environment.

Fifth, to stick to an independent and peaceful foreign policy, to the new security concept featuring mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and co-operation and to creating a friendly environment on the long run.

Such an environment is an indispensable factor for the country's reform and development in the current world.

To meet the challenge posed by the world military revolution, the Central Committee of the Party and the Central Military Commission (CMC) decided to promote a military reform with Chinese characteristics.

The 2004 defence white paper explicitly depicts the ideas of reform.

The military should take informationalization as the latest direction for military modernization.

It will also rely on science and technology for improvement in nurturing talents, innovating arms and equipment, reforming military training and managing the military.

The 2004 defence white paper also further stressed the guidelines, policies and principles of the central government on the Taiwan question.

Military training

The State firmly opposes any form of Taiwan independence, foreign interference, sales of arms to Taiwan and any kind of military alliance with Taiwan.

Should the Taiwan authorities attempt to split Taiwan from the rest of the country, Chinese people and the military will crush such attempts at any cost.

At the same time, the central government also harbours greatest sincerity for settling the Taiwan question peacefully, which will not reduce as the cross-Straits relationship becomes grimmer.

The white paper also pointed out that as long as the Taiwan authorities accept the one-China principle and stop their separatist activities, the two sides of the Straits could begin talks to end the state of hostility, including the establishment of a confidence-building mechanism in military field.

The white paper also stresses the importance of training talented people for the army.

Qualified personnel are the basics for a strong army and essential for winning modern wars.

It is an important decision by the CMC to implement a strategic programme for talented people. It will help promote the modernization construction of our armed forces.

The CMC began to implement the Strategic Project for Talented People in August, 2003. According to the new white paper, the goals of this project are to possess a contingent of command officers capable of directing informationalized wars and of building informationalized armed forces. A contingent of staff officers proficient in planning armed forces building and military operations, a contingent of scientists capable of planning and organizing the innovative development of weaponry and equipment and the exploration of key technologies, plus a contingent of technical specialists with thorough knowledge of new- and high-tech weaponry performance, and a contingent of non-commissioned officers (NCOs) with expertise in using weapons and equipment at hand will also be built. Such a team should be composed of a large number of military personnel with fine overall quality, comprehensive knowledge and ability, as well as creativity.

The white paper also pointed out that the overall quality of the military personnel should be improved by the year 2010 and be further refined by 2020. Such a two-stage design has put the reality of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) into consideration and will guarantee a rational and scientific development of the Chinese army's personnel strategy.

The establishment of the Strategic Project for Talented People has a profound background. With the rapid development of military science based on information technology, science and technology has become decisive factors on battlefields. Modern wars will just become competition of qualified military personnel.

Developed countries have all given great importance to the fostering of high quality military personnel. The educational level of their military officials is rather high. Many Western countries have recognized in recent wars that high-quality and well-trained personnel can play a more important role than high-tech weapons in modern battles.

Educational resources

It is urgent to implement the strategic programme for talented people. The PLA has educated and absorbed about 30,000 people with Master's or PhD degrees in the past decade. And the overall educational level and quality of military personnel have improved. But it is still far from the requirement of building an information-based fighting force and being capable of winning informationized war.

The overall scale of qualified personnel is limited. The structure of the military personnel should be improved. And there is still a lack of high-level military officers. If the issue of qualified personnel were not properly dealt with, it would be a bottleneck for China's military reform.

It is a pressing issue and a long-term solution to foster more qualified military personnel who have high political consciousness, possess modern military technology, be good at military construction and management and master the art of directing modern wars.

Both the country's military and civil educational resources should be fully utilized to implement such a strategic project for talented people. Civil institutions of higher learning can play a more important role in providing qualified people for the military forces. And military schools should continue to be the major platforms for training military personnel. More commanders can be sent to receive overseas training.

The implementation of the military personnel strategic development project will help the construction of the PLA and lead to a big leap in the overall quality of our armed forces.

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