Xi’s sets year 2035 as deadline to revolutionize national defense

By Shafei Moiz Hali

During the all-important opening session of the CPC’s 19th National Congress, President Xi Jinping presented his report. Within the report, he highlighted the various achievements of the CPC during the past five years and also put forward the plans for the future of China. Among these plans, Xi emphasized the importance of China’s armed forces and accentuated the need to revolutionize the military, in this respect, he said, “The CPC will strive to fully transform the people's armed forces into a world-class military by the mid-21st century.”

He went on, to further elaborate the timelines set to achieve these goals when he stated, “By the year 2020, mechanization will be basically achieved, with IT application coming a long way and strategic capabilities seeing a big improvement. The modernization of the national defense and armed forces should be basically completed by 2035.”

The press center of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) holds a group interview on "solid strides on the path of building a powerful military with Chinese characteristics" in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 22, 2017.[Photo: Xinhua]

It is a known fact that under the leadership of President Xi, China has, for the first time, been investing heavily in research and development, and the investments have not only come in the form of hiking grants for research but also by passing policies which promote research and innovation. President Xi has been successful in breeding an environment for research and development in China, as Chinese innovators powered global patent applications to a new record high in 2015, filing more than a million applications. These innovations are not only being developed in China within the commercial sector but also in the realm of military applications. This is the reason why he is confident in setting these targets as he sees the People's Liberation Army (PLA) advancing according to the set goals. 

China is advancing tremendously in terms of research on new technologies, and these advancements being made are forcing the perceived global giants to pursue China and to compare notes with their Chinese counterparts. One example from the commercial sector was seen last year when Microsoft researchers declared that the company had produced software proficient in matching human skills in comprehending speech. This achievement was being lauded as a first, and a cause for rejoicing but the celebrations were cut short when it was learned that Baidu had done the same thing two years earlier. 

In the past, Chinese weapon systems and technology were not considered comparable with the modern weapon systems rolling out of the western military factory lines. Now the situation is fast changing, and this is quite evident as the news from various military quarters around the world is resonating on the same wavelength. According to a report by the RAND Corporation, “Over the past two decades, China's PLA has transformed itself from a large but antiquated force into a capable, modern military.” Now the concern in various quarters is that eventually, the western military technological superiority is going to lose to rivals such as China and Russia, which is why NATO states are gearing up to develop innovative weapons in close cooperation to optimize military spending. 

President Xi, though satisfied with the current advancements in China’s military, has the vision to see China go beyond the competition in all aspects. That is why he said, "A military is built to fight," stressing combat capability as the criterion to meet. Technology is the core of combat capability, he said, adding "the people's military will be made more innovative.” The problem with such advancements is that some media outlets around the world are spreading propaganda about so-called China’s hidden hegemonic designs as the reason behind the military advancements. However, such fear mongering is never going to work as time and again the leadership of China has addressed that the country is modernizing its military to safeguard its own assets and sovereignty. 

Some people cite Hegemonic Stability Theory (HST) and use arguments that, since the U.S. hegemony is on the decline with the rise of China, that China will fill the gap which the US will leave behind. There is a major flaw in this hypothesis as the core principles of HST states that the occurrence of hegemonic stability negates the otherwise anarchic landscape of international politics, because hegemons utilize the power at their disposal to orchestrate the rise and fall of regimes and institutions that nurture international trade and peace, and lastly hegemons typically materialize through world wars or in the culmination of world wars. Whereas, in the case of China, none of these assumptions of HST apply. As China’s history from ancient times tells, it has always been amongst the top three economies of the world but has never invaded any other country. Instead China, even in ancient times, used its soft power of trade, which is exactly what the CPC of modern China is trying to establish. 

China’s efforts so far are all contrary to the western propaganda regarding its hegemonic designs. As the Belt and Road Initiative is a revival of the ancient silk route and is an initiative which solely dwells on creating a win-win situation for all through the enhancement of trade. Similarly, China has always been a champion of the developing world and has never exercised interventionist policies with its trade partners. In terms of military operations, China is also heavily invested in fighting piracy around the world, which is a major step towards helping others. China is massively contributing towards the UN peacekeeping force, in fact on average, China contributes more troops to United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions than any other permanent member of the UN Security Council. Similarly, China recently opened its first overseas military base in Djibouti, which too is basically for the betterment for all as it is a logistics base created to aid navy ships taking part in peacekeeping missions and humanitarian missions off the coast of Yemen and Somalia.    

To conclude, if China is advancing its military, there is nothing wrong with it as it is the right of every country to maintain a strong military to safeguard its interests as well its sovereignty. The Chinese armed forces during the last five years have carried out major missions related to the defense of maritime rights, countering terrorism, maintaining stability, disaster rescue and relief, international peacekeeping, escort services in the Gulf of Aden, and humanitarian assistance. These are what every responsible and strong military does and once China’s military advances further it will only augment the PLA capabilities and resolve to serve humanity. At the same time maintaining a strong military is a deterrent for war. Which is why earlier this year on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of PLA, President Xi stated, "The world is not all at peace, and peace must be safeguarded…Our heroic armed forces have the confidence and capability to defeat all invading enemies and safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests."

(Dr. Shafei Moiz Hali studied at George Mason University, Virginia, USA and specialized in the field of International Commerce and Policy. He did his Ph.D. from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China specializing in Chinese foreign policy focusing on the Belt and Road Initiative and energy issues. Currently, Dr. Hali is working as an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Contemporary Studies, National Defence University (NDU) Islamabad, Pakistan.)