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| China's National Defense |
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| 2004/05/13 |
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Foreword
Mankind is about to enter the
21st century of its history. It is the aspiration of the
Chinese government and people to lead a peaceful, stable and
prosperous world into the new century.
At the
turn of the century, an important historical period, China
is devoting itself to its modernization drive. China needs
and cherishes dearly an environment of long-term
international peace, especially a favorable peripheral
environment. The Chinese people are willing, together with
the people of the other countries in the world, to make
unremitting efforts for the lofty cause of promoting world
peace and development, and for initiating a glorious future
for mankind. Guided by its aspiration for peace and
development, China unswervingly pursues a national defense
policy that is defensive in nature, keeps national defense
construction in a position subordinate to and in the service
of the nation's economic
construction,
strengthens international and regional security cooperation
and actively participates in the international arms control
and disarmament process. Facts show that China is a
responsible big country and a firm force safeguarding world
peace and stability.
In 1995
China issued a white paper titled, China: Arms Control and
Disarmament, which mainly describes China's substantial
efforts and progress in the sphere of arms control and
disarmament. Here China wishes to present a further
introduction to and exposition of her work in defense.
I. The International Security
Situation
Peace and development
are the major themes of the present era. The striving for
peace and cooperation, and the promotion of development have
become irresistible historical trends.
In general, the present
international security situation has continued to tend
toward relaxation. With the end of the cold war, a tendency
toward multipolarity has further developed both globally or
regionally in the political, economic and other fields as
various world forces are experiencing new splits and
realignments. The relations among the major powers are
undergoing significant and profound readjustments; various
kinds of partnerships are gradually developing along the
line of institutionalization; and each country is enhancing
its consciousness of independence, unity for strength, and
coordinated development. The overall strength of the
developing countries is growing, and they are becoming an
important force on the international stage. The sustained
development of the multipolarity tendency and economic
globalization has further deepened their mutual reliance and
mutual condition and helped toward world peace, stability
and prosperity. The factors for safeguarding world peace are
growing constantly. The influence of armed conflicts and
local wars on the overall
international
situation has been remarkably weakened. In the past, when
the two major military blocs confronted each other, armed
conflicts and local wars in some regions seriously disturbed
world security and stability. For a time in the post-cold
war period, regional conflicts were still frequent, even
showing a trend of escalation. In the past few years,
however, some conflicts and wars that had lasted for many
years have been settled, and some are being put on the track
of political settlement, or are gradually being cooled down.
At present, armed conflicts and local wars touched off by
disputes about territory, natural resources, ethnicity or
religion are relatively limited in terms of scale, intensity
and region, and are under control to varying degrees. The
international community is making more and more efforts to
mediate such disputes, with its capability to do so
improving constantly. Military factors still occupy an
important position in state security. In the new
international security environment, while stressing the
settlement of disputes through political, economic and
diplomatic means, most countries still regard military means
and the reinforcement of military strength as important ways
to safeguard their own security and national interests. A
profound reform in the military field led by the development
of high-tech weapons is taking place throughout the world.
This reform, which is developing rapidly, will exert an
important and profound influence on weaponry, military
system and setup, combat training and military theory. To
adapt to the new situation and strive for their own
advantages, many countries have readjusted their defense
policies and military strategies, reduced the scale of
armaments and paid more attention to improving the quality
of their armed forces.
Economic security is
becoming daily more important for state security. In
international relations, geopolitical, military security and
ideological factors still play a role that cannot be
ignored, but the role of economic factors is becoming more
outstanding, along with growing economic contacts among
nations. The competition to excel in overall national
strength, focused on economy and science and technology, is
being further intensified; globewide struggles centered on
markets, natural resources and other economic rights and
interests are daily becoming sharper; and the quickening of
economic globalization and intensification of the formation
of regional blocs render the economic development of a
country more vulnerable to outside influences and impacts.
Therefore, more and more countries regard economic security
as an important aspect of state security. The financial
crisis in Asia has made the issue of economic security more
prominent, and has set a new task for governments of all
countries to strengthen coordination and face challenges
together in the course of economic globalization.The
political security situation in the Asia-Pacific region is
relatively stable. The development of the
trend toward multipolarity in this region is being
quickened, and the relations among the big nations are being
readjusted strategically and gradually becoming stable.
Despite the emergence of a nancial crisis in Asia, the
Asia-Pacific region remains one of the areas with the
greatest economic development vitality in the world, and
developing the economy is the most important task for each
country. The countries in the Asia-Pacific region rely more
and more on each other economically, and, to solve their
disputes by peaceful means, to stress the search for the
meeting points of their common interests and to strengthen
cooperation and coordination are becoming the main current
of the relations among the countries of the region. Various
forms of regional and sub-regional multilateral cooperation
are constantly being developed, and security dialogues and
cooperation are being carried out at many levels and through
many channels. However, there still exist some factors of
instability both globally and regionally: Hegemonism and
power politics remain the main source of threats to world
peace and stability; cold war mentality and its influence
still have a certain currency, and the enlargement of
military blocs and the strengthening of military alliances
have added factors of instability to international security;
some countries, by relying on their military advantages,
pose military threats to other countries, even resorting to
armed intervention; the old unfair and irrational
international economic order still damages the interests of
developing countries; local conflicts caused by ethnic,
religious, territorial, natural resources and other factors
arise now and then, and questions left over by history among
countries remain unsolved; terrorism, arms proliferation,
smuggling and trafficking in narcotics, environmental
pollution, waves of
refugees, and other
transnational issues also pose new threats to international
security.In May 1998, in defiance of strong opposition by
the international community India flagrantly carried out
nuclear tests, thus provoking a nuclear arms race in South
Asia. Then Pakistan followed suit, in response to India's
nuclear tests. The nuclear tests successively conducted by
India and Pakistan have seriously impeded the international
non-nuclear arms proliferation efforts and produced grave
consequences on peace and stability in the South Asian
region and the rest of the world. The task for the
international community to strengthen non-proliferation
mechanisms has become even more pressing now.
History has proved that the
concepts and systems of security with military alliances as
the basis and increasing military might as the means could
not be conducive to peace during the cold war. Under the new
situation, especially, enlarging military blocs and
strengthening military alliances run counter to the tide of
the times. Security cannot be guaranteed by an increase in
arms, nor by military alliances. Security should be based on
mutual trust and common interests. We should promote trust
through dialogue, seek security through cooperation, respect
each other's sovereignty, solve disputes through peaceful
means and strive for common development. To obtain lasting
peace, it is imperative to abandon the cold war mentality,
cultivate a new concept of security and seek a new way to
safeguard peace. China believes that this new concept and
way should include the following:
--The
relations among nations should be established on the basis
of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence: mutual
respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, mutual
non-aggression, non-interference in each other's internal
affairs, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful
coexistence. These are the political basis and premise of
global and regional security. Each country has the right to
choose its own social system, development strategy and way
of life, and no country should interfere in the internal
affairs of any other country in any way or under any
pretext, much less resort to military threats or aggression.
-- In the economic field, all
countries should strengthen mutually
beneficial cooperation, open up to each other,
eliminate inequalities and discriminatory policies in
economic and trade relations, gradually reduce the
development gaps between countries and seek common
prosperity. Such steps can form the economic basis of global
and regional security. Maintaining a normal and sound
economic, trade and financial order calls for not only a
perfect macro-economic management system as well as a sound
system of economic operations, it also calls for
strengthening regional and international economic contacts
and cooperation, so as to jointly create a stable and secure
external economic environment.
-- All countries should promote
mutual understanding and trust through
dialogue and cooperation, and seek the
settlement of divergences and disputes among nations through
peaceful means. These are the realistic ways to guarantee
peace and security. Security is mutual, and security
dialogues and cooperation should be aimed at promoting
trust, not at creating confrontations, still less at
directing the spearhead against a third country or
infringing upon the security interests of any other nation.
As a country in the Asia-Pacific region, China places great
importance on the region's security, stability, peace and
development. China's Asia-Pacific security strategy has
three objectives, i.e., China's own stability and
prosperity, peace and stability in its surrounding regions,
and conducting dialogue and cooperation with all countries
in the Asia-Pacific region. Hence China devotes its efforts
to promoting equal treatment and friendly cooperation with
other countries, and attaches importance to developing
healthy and stable relations with all countries and all
major forces in the region; actively participates in
regional economic cooperation and promotes an open type of
regionalism; insists on handling and settling disputes among
countries through peaceful means; and takes an active part
in the dialogue and cooperation process aimed at regional
security.
On the basis of equal
consultation, mutual understanding and mutual accommodation,
China has solved in an appropriate manner border issues with
most of its neighbors. As for remaining disputes on
territorial and marine rights and interests between China
and neighboring countries, China maintains that they are to
be solved through consultation by putting the interests of
the whole above everything else, so that the disputes will
not hamper the normal development of state relations or the
stability of the region. China has clearly stated that
relevant disputes should be properly solved through peaceful
negotiation and consultation, in accordance with commonly
accepted international laws and modern maritime laws,
including the basic principles and legal systems as
prescribed in the United Nations Convention on the Law of
the Sea.
Taiwan is an inseparable part of
Chinese territory. It is a lofty mission and a common
aspiration of all Chinese people, including the Taiwan
compatriots, to put an end to the cleavage between the two
sides of the Taiwan Straits and realize the reunification of
the motherland. The Chinese government adheres to its stand
for solving the issue of Taiwan according to the basic
principle of "peaceful reunification, and one country,
two systems,'' and resolutely opposes any attempt, by words
or deeds, to split the country by creating an
"independent Taiwan,'' "two Chinas,'' or "one
China, one Taiwan.'' The issue of Taiwan is entirely an
internal affair of China. Directly or indirectly
incorporating the Taiwan Straits into the security and
cooperation sphere of any country or any military alliance
is an infringement upon and interference in China's
sovereignty. The Chinese government seeks to achieve the
reunification of the country by peaceful means, but will not
commit itself not to resort to force. Every sovereign state
has the right to use all means it thinks necessary,
including military means, to safeguard its own sovereignty
and territorial integrity. In deciding which way to deal
with the issue of Taiwan, the Chinese government has no
obligation to make a commitment to any country or any person
attempting to split China. The Chinese government opposes
any country selling arms to Taiwan, which not only violates
the basic norms of international law but also threatens
China's security and regional peace and stability.
The Chinese government steadfastly follows an
independent foreign policy of peace, and stands for
establishing and developing relations of friendship and
cooperation with all countries on the basis of the Five
Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and other commonly
recognized international relationship norms. China is
willing to make unswerving efforts to safeguard world peace
and promote international security together with other
countries.
II. National Defense
Policy
The Chinese government
firmly pursues a national defense policy that is defensive
in nature. The Constitution of the People's Republic of
China (PRC) clearly specifies the tasks of the armed forces
of the PRC as being to consolidate national defense, resist
aggression, defend the motherland, safeguard the people's
peaceful labor, participate in national construction and
strive to serve the people. China's state interests, social
system, foreign policy and historical and cultural
traditions postulate that China will inevitably adopt such a
national defense policy.
China has always
attached primary importance to safeguarding the state's
sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity and security.
Following the Opium War in 1840, China was gradually reduced
to a semi-colonial and semi-feudal country, and the Chinese
nation was subject to the imperialist powers' invasion,
oppression, bullying and humiliation time and time again.
After a protracted, persistent and heroic struggle, the
Chinese people won the independence for their country and
the emancipation of the nation; therefore they hold dear
their hard-earned right to independence. Defending the
motherland, resisting aggression, safeguarding unity and
opposing split are the starting point and underpinning of
China's defense policy.
China being at the
primary stage of socialism, the fundamental task of the
state is to concentrate its strength on the socialist
modernization program. The situation in which China has a
large population, a poor foundation, uneven regional
development and underdeveloped productive forces will
continue for a comparatively long period of time to come.
China is now confronted with the extremely heavy task of
economic construction, so the work in defense must be
subordinate to and in the service of the nation's overall
economic construction. The social system, development
strategy and way of life that China has chosen conform to
the actual conditions of the country, and no factors
prompting invasion of another country can emerge.
The development of China
requires an environment of long-term international peace,
especially a favorable peripheral environment. China
unswervingly pursues an independent foreign policy of peace,
advocates handling international affairs in light of the
fundamental interests of the Chinese and other people of the
world, and refrains from forming alliances with any big
power or any group of countries. China holds that conflicts
and disputes among countries should be solved in a peaceful
way through consultation, and opposes the threat or use of
force, hegemonism and power politics. China advocates
establishing a new fair and rational international political
and economic order, and developing relations of friendship
and cooperation with all countries on the basis of the Five
Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. China will always be an
important force defending world peace and regional
stability. Even when China becomes strong and powerful in
the future, it will by no means take to the road of foreign
aggression and expansion.
The defensive nature
of China's national defense policy also springs from the
country's historical and cultural traditions. China is a
country with 5,000 years of civilization, and a peace-loving
tradition. Ancient Chinese thinkers advocated ``associating
with benevolent gentlemen and befriending good neighbors,''
which shows that throughout history the Chinese people have
longed for peace in the world and for relations of
friendship with the people of other countries. In military
affairs, this maxim means solving disputes by non-military
means, being wary of war and strategically gaining mastery
by striking only after the enemy has struck. During the
course of several thousand years, loving peace, stressing
defense, seeking unification, promoting national unity, and
jointly resisting foreign aggression have always been the
main ideas of China's defense concept. The defense policy of
New China has carried forward and developed such excellent
Chinese historical and cultural traditions.
China's defense policy has mainly the
following aspects:
--Consolidating national
defense, resisting aggression, curbing armed subversion, and
defending the state's sovereignty, unity, territorial
integrity and security. These are the basic objectives of
China's defense policy, as well as the main tasks the
Chinese Constitution has entrusted to China's armed forces.
China spares no effort to avoid and curb war, and to solve
international disputes and questions left over by history
through peaceful means. However, as long as hegemonism and
power politics still exist, a country must have the
capability to defend its sovereignty, unity, territorial
integrity and security by military means. The modernization
program of China's national defense work is entirely for
self-defense, and arises from the need to safeguard the
country's modernization drive and security. The size of
China's armed forces is suited to the needs of defending the
country's security and interests. China builds and
consolidates its national defense independently and through
self-reliance.
-- Subordinating national
defense work to, and placing it in the service of, the
nation's overall economic construction, and achieving the
coordinated development of these two kinds of work. This is
China's long-term basic policy for its work in defense. The
modernization of the national defense of a country requires
the support of its economic and technological forces; and
the modernization level of national defense can only be
improved gradually along with the increase of the country's
economic strength. The Chinese government insists that
economic construction be taken as the center, that defense
work be subordinate to and in the service of the nation's
overall economic construction and that the armed forces
actively participate in and support the nation's economic
construction. While concentrating its efforts on economic
construction, the state also endeavors to improve its
national defense work and to promote a coordinated
development of the two.
-- Implementing the
military strategy of active defense. Strategically China
pursues the defensive policy featuring self-defense and
gaining mastery by striking only after the enemy has struck,
and adheres to the principle: ``We will not attack unless we
are attacked; if we are attacked, we will certainly
counter-attack.'' China possesses a small number of nuclear
weapons, entirely for meeting the needs of self-defense.
China upholds the principle of self-defense by the whole
people and the strategic concept of people's war, and works
hard to enhance the defense consciousness of the whole
people, perfect the defense mobilization system and
intensify the building of the reserve force for defense. On
the basis of its existing weaponry, China carries forward
and develops its fine traditions. It seeks to adapt to
profound changes in the world's military sphere, and makes
proper preparations for defensive combat in the situation
where modern technology, especially high technology,
prevails.
-- Streamlining the army the Chinese
way. During the new historical period, the Chinese army is
working hard to improve its quality and endeavoring to
streamline the army the Chinese way, aiming to form a
revolutionized, modernized and regularized people's army
with Chinese characteristics. Reducing quantity and
improving quality is a basic principle upon which the army
is to be modernized. The Chinese army strengthens itself by
relying on science and technology, and strives to make the
transition from a numerically superior type to a
qualitatively efficient type, and from a manpower-intensive
type to a technology-intensive type. In view of the
characteristics of modern wars, no effort will be spared to
improve the modernization level of weaponry, reform and
perfect the army system and setup, and improve the training
of troops and curricula and teaching methods of military
academies.
-- Safeguarding world peace, and
opposing aggression and expansion. China upholds the Five
Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, and handles foreign
military relations and engages in military exchanges and
cooperation independently. China does not seek hegemonism,
nor does it seek military blocs or military expansion. China
does not station any troops or set up any military bases in
any foreign country. China opposes the arms race, and
maintains that effective arms control and disarmament should
be carried out in accordance with the principles of
fairness, rationality, comprehensiveness and balance. China
supports the international community in its activities to
promote world and regional peace, security and stability,
and also in its efforts to fairly and rationally solve
international disputes and to bring about arms control and
disarmament.
III. National
Defense
Construction
China's
national defense construction is an important part of its
modernization program. Given the new historical conditions
the Chinese army upholds the absolute leadership of the
Communist Party of China (CPC), implements the strategic
principle of active defense, emphasizes quality in army
building, administrates the armed forces along legal lines,
engages in army building through diligence and thrift, and
actively participates in and supports national economic
construction. As a result, it has made great contributions
to the country's security, stability and modernization
drive.
Defense System
In accordance with the Constitution, the
National Defense Law and other relevant laws, China has
established and improved its national defense system. The
state exercises unified leadership over defense-related
activities.
The National People's Congress
(NPC) of the PRC is the highest organ of state power. It
decides on the questions of war and peace, and exercises
other defense-related functions and powers provided for in
the Constitution. The Standing Committee of the NPC is the
NPC's permanent body. It decides on the proclamation of a
state of war, decides on general or partial mobilization,
and exercises other defense-related functions and powers
provided for in the Constitution. The president of the
state, in accordance with decisions of the NPC and its
Standing Committee, proclaims a state of war, issues
mobilization orders and exercises other defense-related
functions and powers provided for in the Constitution. The
State Council directs and administrates national defense
work, and the Central Military Commission (CMC) directs and
assumes unified command of the nation's armed forces.
The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) is
organized in accordance with a system whereby the General
Staff Department, the General Political Department, the
General Logistics Department and the General Armament
Department are placed under the leadership of the CMC. The
General Staff Department organizes and leads the building-up
of the nation's armed forces, and organizes and directs
their military operations. The General Political Department
administrates the army's Party work and organizes and
conducts its political work. The General Logistics
Department organizes and leads the army's logistics work.
The General Armament Department organizes and leads the
army's work in military equipment.
The armed
forces of the PRC are composed of the PLA, both the active
and reserve components, the Chinese People's Armed Police
Force and the militia. The active components of the PLA
comprise the state's standing army, which mainly undertakes
the task of defensive combat, and helps to maintain social
order, if necessary, according to law; reservists undergo
military training in peacetime according to relevant
regulations, and help to maintain social order, if
necessary, according to law, and in wartime they shall be
incorporated in the forces in active service in pursuance of
the state's mobilization order. The Chinese People's Armed
Police Force undertakes the tasks for maintenance of
security and social order entrusted by the state. The
militiamen, under the command of military organs, perform
combat service support and defensive operations, and help to
maintain social order. The PLA, comprised of the Army, the
Navy, the Air Force and the Second Artillery Force, is
organized in seven military area commands nationwide.
The state exercises unified leadership and
planned control over defense research and production. The
State Council leads and administrates defense research and
production, as well as defense expenditure and assets. The
CMC approves the military equipment system of the armed
forces and military equipment development plans and
programs, leads and administrates defense research and
production in coordination with the State Council, and
manages defense outlays and assets jointly with the State
Council. The state practices a state military supplies order
system to guarantee the acquisition of weapons and other war
materials. The state practices a financial allocation system
for defense spending. It decides the size, structure and
location of the defense assets and the adjustment and
disposal of these assets in accordance with the needs of
national defense and economic construction.
The State Council and the CMC jointly lead
mobilization preparation and implementation work. In
peacetime the state conducts mobilization preparation and
integrates armed mobilization of the people, mobilization of
the national economy, civil air defense, national defense
transportation and other mobilization preparations into the
state's overall development plan and program. It improves
the mobilization system step by step, and establishes a
strategic materials storage system. The state attaches
importance to national defense education and conducts it in
line with its plan for economic and social development.
Military Legislative Work
China attaches importance to the building of a
military legal system, regarding the improvement of the work
in this regard as a basic approach and important guarantee
for realizing defense modernization and the regularization
of the armed forces. In order to meet the needs of defense
and army building in the new historical period, the state
has laid down the principles for administrating the armed
forces along legal lines. It has improved its military
legislative work comprehensively to ensure that China's
defense and army building advance along a legal track and to
propel it in that direction.
Since 1982 the
military legislation system has been further fine-tuned as
part of the state legislation system:
The NPC
and its Standing Committee have formulated laws on defense
and army building; the CMC has formulated military laws and
regulations, or jointly worked out military administrative
laws and regulations with the State Council; all general
departments, all services and arms and all military area
commands of the PLA have drawn up military rules and
regulations or jointly worked out military administrative
rules and regulations with the relevant departments of the
State Council. The Interim Regulations on Legislative
Procedures of the PLA promulgated by the CMC contains
clear-cut provisions on legislation programming and planning
and the drafting, examination, promulgation and enforcement
of laws and regulations, which embody the standardization
and systemization of military legislation.
Over the past ten-odd years, remarkable
achievements have been made in military legislation. The NPC
and its Standing Committee have formulated 12 defense and
army-building laws and legality-related decisions, including
the National Defense Law of the PRC, Military Service Law of
the PRC, Military Facilities Protection Law of the PRC,
Civil Air Defense Law of the PRC, Law on the Reserve
Officers of the PRC, the Garrison Law of the Hong Kong
Special Administrative Region of the PRC, Military Service
Regulations Pertaining to PLA Officers in Active Service,
and Regulations on the Military Ranks of PLA Officers. The
State Council and the CMC have worked out 40-odd military
administrative laws and regulations, such as the Regulations
on National Defense Transportation, Regulations on
Conscription Work, Regulations on Militia Work, and Military
Service Regulations Pertaining to PLA Soldiers in Active
Service. The CMC has formulated 70-odd military laws and
regulations, including the Regulations of the PLA
Headquarters, Regulations on Political Work in the PLA,
Logistics Regulations of the PLA, Routine Service
Regulations of the PLA, Discipline Regulations of the PLA,
and Drill Regulations of the PLA. The various general
departments, services and arms and military area commands
have drawn up 1,000-some items of military rules and
regulations. Now, China has laws to go by basically in the
principal aspects of its defense and army building, as a
military legal system with Chinese characteristics now is
initially in place. While adhering to the principle of
suiting military legislation to its national and military
conditions, China also lays stress on bringing it into line
with the international military-related treaties and
agreements that China has acceded to, so as to make China's
military laws consistent in content with international legal
norms and practices.
In the sphere of national
defense construction, China has set up and improved its
defense leading system and operating mechanism at both the
central and local levels in accordance with the law,
together with basic national defense systems and
institutions, such as those of military service,
mobilization, research and production, assets management and
military facilities protection, as well as those of giving
special care to the bereaved families of servicemen. In the
area of army building, the principles defining the nature,
tasks and building of the armed forces have been determined
in accordance with the law, and a series of important
systems and institutions are in operation, such as those of
military ranks and insignia, military training, headquarters
work, political work, logistic support, garrison service,
and military discipline-related rewards and penalties, which
ensure that national defense activities and army building
can be carried out in an orderly manner, within a legal
framework and along a regulatory line.
In
order to guarantee the unified implementation of the
nation's relevant laws and regulations in the armed forces,
the state has established mechanisms of military law
enforcement and military judicature, military legal
institutions and legal service organizations, forming a
fairly complete military legal system in the armed forces.
The military-law enforcement system is mainly formed of
relevant leading organs and functional departments at
various levels. Besides, discipline inspection organs and
financial auditing organs have been set up in units at and
above the corps level, which carry out supervision and
inspection over law enforcement, and garrison service organs
in garrison units in large and medium-sized cities, which
check, inspect and handle cases of infringements of military
discipline by military personnel as well as cases of
violations of relevant rules by military vehicles. The
military judicial system is composed of military courts and
procuratorates established by the state at the three levels
of the PLA, the military area command and the corps, which,
together with the PLA's security departments at various
levels, exercise their respective functions and powers and
handle criminal cases involving military personnel in
accordance with the law. The military legal system is
composed of the legal organs or personnel authorized by the
Bureau of Legislative Affairs of the CMC, the various
general departments, services and arms and military areas
commands, and are in charge of the legal work of the entire
PLA as well as the various army units. The legal service
organizations are composed of legal advice offices and legal
counseling stations of the army units at various levels,
which provide legal advice and services to help leading
military organs at various levels to make decisions as well
as for individual officers and men. By the end of 1997, over
240 legal advice offices with more than 1,360 lawyers had
been set up by the PLA units, in addition to more than 4,250
legal counseling stations with 65,700-some legal consultants
at the grassroots level.
China attaches
importance to promoting publicity and education in the law
in the armed forces, bringing it into the orbit of the
army's regular education and training. In order to equip
officers and men with knowledge of the law in accordance
with the state's unified plan on publicity and education in
the law for all citizens, the Chinese armed forces carried
out two sessions of the Five-Year Legal Education Program
from 1986 to 1995. The Third Five-Year Legal Education
Program started early in 1996.
Defense Expenditure
China has always stressed rationally scaled
expenditure on defense. The costs of defense are allocated
based on the needs of defense and the country's financial
capacities and the principle of overall balance. Since the
introduction of the policies of reform and opening to the
outside world, the Chinese government has strictly
controlled its defense expenditure at a comparatively low
level so that it can concentrate on economic construction.
The Chinese government has consistently stuck
to the principle of strict control, strict management and
strict supervision of defense spending; it has established
and perfected a complete administrative and regulatory
system. China's defense budget and final accounts are
examined and approved by the NPC, and the state and army's
auditing organs exercise strict audit and supervision of the
execution of the budget.
China's expenditure
on national defense falls into the following categories:
personnel expenses, mainly including pay, food and clothing
of military and non-military personnel; costs for
maintenance of activities, mainly including military
training, construction and maintenance of facilities and
running expenses; and costs for equipment, including
research and experimentation, procurement, maintenance,
transportation and storage. In terms of the scope of
logistic support, these expenditures cover not only active
service personnel, but also militia and reserve
requirements. In addition, a large amount of spendings are
used to fund activities associated with social welfare,
mainly pensions for some of the retired officers, schools
and kindergartens for children of military personnel,
training personnel competent for both military and civilian
services, supporting national economic construction, and
participation in emergency rescues and disaster relief
efforts.
Plain living and hard working is a
fine tradition of the Chinese armed forces. China's military
personnel have launched a sequence of mass movements for
practicing economy, such as conducting checkups of
warehouses to make better use of the stored goods and
repairing or utilizing old or discarded things. They have
also done everything they can to join in agricultural and
sideline production or engage in business, mainly for the
purpose of providing employment for dependents of military
personnel and improving the material and cultural lives of
officers and men in grassroots units.
Since
the introduction of the policies of reform and opening to
the outside world the Chinese government has placed work in
national defense in a position subordinate to and in the
service of overall national economic construction and has
made relatively major reductions in defense inputs. From
1979 to 1994 defense spending increased by 6.22 percent
annually in absolute terms, which represented in real terms
a negative growth of 1.08 percent compared to the 7.3
percent annual increase of the general retail price index of
commodities in the same period.
China's annual
defense outlay from 1995 to 1997 came to RMB 63.672, 72.006
and 81.257 billion yuan, respectively. The annual increase
in defense outlay went for the most part to ensure that the
living standards of military personnel keep up with the
nation's social and economic development and with the
increase of the per capital incomes of urban and rural
residents, so as to improve the living conditions of
officers and men. Even so, defense spending in the total
state expenditure declined annually in the same period,
accounting for 9.3, 9.1 and 8.8 percent respectively.
The composition of China's defense expenditure
in 1997 (Table 1) was as follows: 29.162 billion yuan for
personnel expenses, accounting for 35.89 percent; 26.536
billion yuan for maintenance of activities, 32.66 percent;
and 25.559 billion yuan for equipment, 31.45 percent. From
the above, we can see that most of the defense outlay went
to the personnel's living costs and maintenance of normal
activities. In addition, more than four billion yuan, or
about 5 percent, was spent to fund activities associated
with social welfare.
Compared with the defense
expenditures of some other countries, China has a fairly low
level of defense spending (Table 2).
Based on
the above exchange rate, China's defense expenditure in 1997
was US$ 9.80 billion, which was 3.67 percent of the USA's,
61.25 percent of Russia's, 27.53 percent of Britain's, 26.7
percent of France's, 22.79 percent of Japan's, and 56.98
percent of the Republic of Korea's.
China's
defense expenditure is low in relative terms, as well as in
absolute terms. In the past two decades the percentage of
China's defense expenditure in the gross domestic product
(GDP) has declined successively (Table 3). Compared with the
USA, Russia, Britain, France, Japan and the ROK, China has a
comparatively low burden of defense expenditure (Table 4).
Reducing Military Personnel
In September 1997 China solemnly announced
that it would reduce the number of its military personnel by
500,000 within the coming three years on the basis of its
disarmament move in the 1980s, which had cut the number by
one million. This important strategic decision of unilateral
disarmament once again fully expressed China's genuine wish
for peace. It was a new effort made by China to further
promote the lowering of the world's armament level, increase
mutual trust and advance the cause of peace for humanity.
Adhering to the defensive policy for national
security, China has always controlled the numbers and size
of its armed forces within the limit allowed by the national
strength and necessary to maintain state security. After the
founding of the PRC in 1949, China undertook two disarmament
steps -- one in 1955 and the other in 1958. In the mid-1980s
China's guideline for army building was strategically
shifted from all-time preparedness against a large-scale war
of aggression to peacetime construction, and the size and
structure of the armed forces were adjusted accordingly. In
1985 the government decided unilaterally to cut its troops
by one million men in real terms. By 1990, the total
reduction had reached 1.039 million men. Since 1990 the size
of the PLA has further shrunk through successive
adjustments. When the drawdown of 500,000 has been completed
the total size of the PLA will be 2.5 million men.
Different from many other countries, China
includes all its border and coastal defense forces, military
service mobilization organs, administration organs of
military-run agricultural and sideline productions, civil
cadres and active service personnel in the reserve service
forces in the overall strength of the PLA.
China's latest disarmament move will be
carried out actively and steadily, and completed within the
planned three years. The reductions in the land, naval and
air forces account for 19 percent, 11.6 percent and 11
percent respectively. While the numbers of men are being
reduced, steps are being taken in tandem to optimize the
structure, adjust the composition and intra-relationship,
and enhance the competence of the armed forces by enhancing
their scientific and technological knowledge, so as to raise
the modernization of the Chinese armed forces to a new
level.
Participating in and
Supporting National Construction
Participating
in and supporting the country's construction is an important
task entrusted by the Constitution to the Chinese armed
forces, and a reflection of the fundamental purpose of the
people's army -- to serve the people wholeheartedly. Since
the 1980s, while fulfilling its education and training
tasks, the Chinese army has taken an active part in and
fully supported the nation's economic construction, and
through this it has made significant contributions to the
country's prosperity and development.
--
Turning military facilities over to the public or converting
them to civilian use. While cutting down large numbers of
personnel, the Chinese armed forces have transferred part of
their military facilities to local authorities or opened
them to the public to support the country's construction.
Over the past 20 years China's armed forces have opened 101
airports to the public, and opened or surrendered 29 harbors
and docks, more than 300 special railway lines, 90
telecommunications lines, 1,000-some warehouses and over
three million square meters of land on former military
reserves and some barracks facilities.
--
Participating in emergency rescues and disaster relief work.
China has a vast territory, and local natural disasters are
frequent. Whenever a natural disaster occurs, the armed
forces are always in the forefront of efforts to protect the
people's lives and save the state and people's property.
Over the past two decades they have participated in
emergency rescues and disaster reliefs on more than 100,000
occasions. They have mobilized more than 23 million men, and
organized more than one million vehicle trips, and some
15,000 plane and ship journeys to save more than 10 million
people and transport more than 200 million tons of materials
out of perilous conditions.
-- Participating
in the construction of key national and local projects. The
armed forces have participated in the construction of many
key national and local projects and undertaken urgent,
difficult and dangerous tasks connected with them. In the
past two decades they have devoted more than 400 million
work days and organized 25 million vehicle trips to
participate in and support 10,000-odd key projects,
including 150 railway, expressway and underground railway
projects, 340 tunnels and culverts, 260 bridges, 4,100
kilometers of highways and railways, 50 docks, 40 civil and
military-civil airports, 500 energy projects, 2,000 water
conservancy projects, 20,000 kilometers of optical cable
telecommunication lines and 500 economic and technological
development and tourism development projects.
-- Bringing the superiority of talented
personnel and technology into full play and assisting people
with the use of science and technology. Military academies,
scientific research and medical units, as well as special
technological units actively support national construction
by transferring scientific and technological findings to the
civilian sector or by offering it assistance in tackling key
technical problems and personnel training. In the last ten
years China's armed forces have supported more than 1,000
national economic construction projects with their advanced
scientific and technological achievements, solved urgent and
key problems for more than 150 scientific research projects,
transferred 10,000-some scientific and technological
findings to the civilian sector, trained nearly one million
scientific and technological personnel, and helped civilian
enterprises complete 900-odd technical transformation
projects which enabled 320 enterprises to get out of the red
and become profitable.
-- Supporting
agriculture and assisting in poverty-relief and development
efforts. China is a large agricultural country, so
agriculture has always been the foundation of China's
national economy. In the past decade, to support
agricultural development China's armed forces have dredged
more than 500 rivers, built 200,000-odd kilometers of
irrigation channels and dams and dikes, dug more than 1,000
reservoirs, and reclaimed wasteland and leveled land of over
two million hectares, thus laying a foundation for bumper
harvests. Army units stationed
in
poverty-stricken areas have made great efforts to assist the
local people to develop production, up to now helping nearly
one million people in 23,000 poor areas get rid of poverty
and live more comfortable lives. Especially, they have
concentrated on helping the poor in 20 key areas in the
Yimeng and Taihang mountains and other regions, assisting
them to run 3,500-some village and township enterprises.
Moreover, they have carried out 12,000
scientific and technological projects aimed at
helping the poor to get rid of poverty, and offered
agro-technique training courses to some 4.5 million people.
Military medical organizations at various levels and army
hospitals have sent medical teams to poor areas on 860
occasions, which have supported more than 8,100 township
hospitals with medical equipment worth upwards of 20 million
yuan, and given free training to more than 20,000 medical
personnel.
-- Participating in work for the
public good. In the past decade the PLA has devoted more
than 100 million work days to the repair of bridges and
roads, the tidying up and beautifying of the environment,
and the repair and construction of water, gas and power
supply projects. Altogether, it has completed over 100,000
projects for the public good and planted more than 400
million trees. Besides, it has contributed 41.5755 million
yuan to the ``Hope Project,'' together with various kinds of
goods and materials worth some 11 million yuan, and helped
to build 697 ``Hope'' primary schools, which have enabled
more than 115,000 dropouts to return to school.
-- Training personnel competent both for
military and civilian services. The Chinese armed forces pay
great attention to training qualified personnel for the
country's economic construction. To meet the needs of
national economic construction and the wishes of both
officers and men, the Routine Service Regulations of the PLA
stipulate that every Saturday may be reserved for training
personnel competent for both military and civilian services.
Saturdays are also when military personnel are organized to
study scientific and cultural subjects. Since the early
1980s, when the PLA started to organize these special
training courses, through on-the-job training nearly one
million officers have received academic certificates at or
above the junior college level; more than 85 percent of the
ordinary soldiers have received in-service technical
training, and nearly half of them have been awarded
technician's certificates of various grades. When they leave
active service they have become or will become an important
force promoting the country's economic construction and the
overall progress of Chinese society.
Stationing a Garrison in Hong
Kong
The Chinese government resumed
sovereignty over Hong Kong on July 1, 1997, and stationed a
garrison of the PLA in the Hong Kong Special Administrative
Region (HKSAR) to take charge of its defense affairs. The
stationing of the PLA troops in the Region is an important
symbol of the Chinese government's resumption of exercise of
sovereignty over Hong Kong. It is also an important
guarantee for the preservation of state sovereignty and
security and the maintenance of the Region's long-term
prosperity and stability.
The PLA troops
entered Hong Kong strictly in accordance with provisions of
the law. The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region of the PRC, passed at the Third
Session of the Seventh NPC in April, 1990,
clearly stipulated that the Central People's Government
shall be responsible for administrating the defense affairs
of the HKSAR. The Garrison Law of the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region of the PRC was approved at the 23rd
meeting of the Standing Committee of the Eighth NPC in
December 1996, and came into effect on July 1, 1997. The
Garrison Law stipulates that the Hong Kong Garrison shall
not interfere in the local affairs of the HKSAR; that its
duties are to perform routine defense service, administrate
military facilities, handle relevant foreign-related
military affairs, and ensure the security and stability of
Hong Kong; that its expenditures shall be borne by the
Central People's Government; and that the garrison troops
shall be rotated. The law contains specific provisions on
the duties and rules of discipline of the garrison
personnel, the judicature and other questions, fundamentally
guaranteeing that the Hong Kong Garrison fulfils its defense
functions along legal lines.
The PLA Hong Kong
Garrison, composed of ground, naval and air forces, is under
the direction of the Central Military Commission of the PRC.
While performing its defense duties,
the Hong
Kong Garrison must abide by both national and HKSAR laws, as
well as the current rules and regulations of the PLA.
After its entry into Hong Kong, the PLA Hong
Kong Garrison abided strictly by the Basic Law and the
Garrison Law, fulfilled its defense duties within legal
framework, actively organized military training,
strengthened army-building along regularization lines,
studied Hong Kong's related laws, and acquainted the rank
and file with the social conditions in Hong Kong. According
to the Garrison Law, the Garrison established working
contacts with the HKSAR government, and opened the barracks
on the Stonecutters Island and Chek Chu to the public
to promote Hong Kong compatriots'
understanding of and trust in the garrison troops.
It is a long-term task for the PLA Hong Kong
Garrison to fulfil its responsibility for Hong Kong's
defense affairs. The garrison troops will consistently
adhere to the principle of ``one country, two systems,''
strictly abide by the Basic Law and the Garrison Law, and
contribute to the preservation of the long-term prosperity
and stability of Hong Kong.
IV.
International Security Cooperation
As a permanent member of the
United Nations Security Council and a large country in the
Asia-Pacific region, China attaches great importance to, and
takes an active part in, international security cooperation
by sticking to its principles and promises, treating others
in a sincere and friendly way, and developing cooperation.
In recent years, China has actively carried out exchanges
with foreign armed forces on the basis of mutual equality
and mutual benefit. China has also actively participated in
multilateral and bilateral security dialogues and
cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as in United
Nations peace-keeping operations, playing its due part in
keeping peace in the region and the world as a whole.
Foreign Military
Contacts
As an important component of China's
overall diplomacy, China's foreign military contacts are
subordinate to and serve the modernization of national
defense and the armed forces. China insists on dealing with
its foreign military relations independently and engaging in
military exchanges and cooperation based on the Five
Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. In its contacts with
foreign military circles, China has always advocated the
principles of mutual respect, enhancing understanding,
developing friendship, mutual benefit and cooperation.
Chinese armed forces have been active in participating in
multilateral military diplomatic activities to bring the
positive role of the Chinese armed forces into full play in
the sphere of international military affairs.
China has been active in developing an
omni-directional and multi-level form of military diplomacy.
So far, Chinese armed forces have established relations with
the armed forces of more than 100 other countries. China has
set up military attachés offices in more than 90
Chinese embassies abroad, and some 60 countries have set up
their military attach's offices in China. In the last 20
years, more than 1,300 Chinese military delegations, of
which some 180 were headed by senior officers, have visited
over 80 countries. In the meantime, 2,100-some foreign
military delegations involving several tens of thousands of
persons have visited China, more than half of which were
high-ranking delegations headed by defense ministers,
commanders-in-chief of the armed forces or chiefs of the
general staff.
China has always placed the
development of military contacts with adjacent countries in
a prominent position. Following the principles of
good-neighborliness and friendliness, mutual benefit and
cooperation and long-term stability, it has developed
extensive and beneficial contacts with the armed forces of
those countries, especially contacts on the senior level. In
1996 and 1997 alone, China sent more than 100 military
delegations to most of its adjacent countries, and hosted
over 130 military delegations from such countries. China has
placed special stress on friendly military exchanges and
cooperation with developing countries, and has offered
assistance in personnel training, equipment and health care
to over 70 countries. Since 1973, China has trained nearly
10,000 officers at all levels as well as military
technicians for developing countries, and sent over 8,000
experts to those countries. China is enthusiastic for
expanding military relations with the United States and
other Western countries in Europe. Proceeding from the
objective of safeguarding world peace and the fundamental
interests of the people all over the world, Chinese armed
forces have successively resumed and improved their
relations with the armed forces of those countries on the
principle of increasing dialogue and narrowing differences,
resulting in the deepening
of mutual under
standing.
Since the beginning of the 1990s
China's naval vessels have visited nearly a score of
countries. From March to May 1997, two formations of Chinese
naval vessels made friendly
visits to the
United States, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Thailand, the
Philippines and Malaysia, which have enhanced the friendship
between the armed forces of China and the armed forces and
people of those countries.
In their foreign
contacts, Chinese armed forces stress technological
exchanges in specialized fields. They have developed
extensive exchanges and cooperation with armed forces in
other parts of the world in the fields of scientific
research, academic studies, military education, armed forces
administration, culture, sports, and medical and hygiene
work.
The positive, extensive foreign military
contacts on the part of the Chinese armed forces have
promoted mutual understanding and trust between the PLA and
other armed forces. The Chinese armed forces, which have
gone among the international community, have presented
themselves before the world as a civilized force and a force
of peace, a force which has made its due contributions to
keeping regional peace and peace throughout the world.
Promoting Confidence-Building
Measures
China places great stress on and
actively promotes cooperation in confidence-building
measures (CBM), considering the establishment of mutual
trust between nations as an effective way to maintain
security. In recent years, China has reached agreements with
some neighboring countries on confidence-building measures
and reduction of military forces in border areas, which is
an important step China has taken to develop relations with
other countries and promote regional peace and stability.
These agreements reflect a new kind of security concept
vigorously advocated by China and embody some principles and
spirit of universal significance for Asian-Pacific security
dialogues and cooperation. These include mutual and equal
security; seeking security by establishing mutual trust,
dialogue and cooperation without interfering in the internal
affairs of other countries and without aiming at a third
party; preventing military forces from threatening or
harming other countries' security and stability;
implementing and sticking to a national defense policy that
is defensive in nature; adopting suitable
confidence-building measures in border and disputed areas on
a bilateral basis; and engaging in friendly contacts between
military forces.
In April 1996, China and
Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan signed the
Agreement on Confidence-Building in the Military Field Along
the Border Areas, which stipulates that military forces
deployed in the border areas shall not be used to attack
each other; each party shall refrain from staging military
exercises directing against the other; there shall be
restrictions on the military exercises in terms of scale,
area and the number of such exercises; all the important
military activities of one party in the areas between the
border and 100 kilometers from the border line shall be
notified to the other which shall be invited to observe the
troop exercises; measures shall be taken to prevent
dangerous military activities and enhance friendly exchanges
of their armed forces in the border areas.
In
November 1996, China and India signed the Agreement on
Confidence-Building Measures in the Military Field Along the
Line of Actual Control in the China-India Border Areas. The
agreement provides that each side should not engage in
military activities that threaten the other side or
undermines peace, tranquility and stability in the border
areas; that they should strictly respect and observe the
line of actual control in the border areas and neither side
should overstep the line of actual control in their
activities pending ultimate resolution of the boundary
question; that they should reduce or limit the size of field
army, border defense forces, para-military forces and any
other mutually agreed category of armed forces and armaments
deployed in the mutually agreed geographical zones along the
line of actual control to the mutually agreed ceilings; that
each side shall refrain from staging military exercises
directing against the other in the close proximity of the
line of actual control in the border areas and restrict the
scale of military exercises and provide prior notification
to the other with regard to military exercises of certain
scale in the close proximity of the line of actual control
in the border areas; that they should prevent air intrusions
by military aircraft across the line of actual control and
dangerous military activities in the areas along the line of
actual control; that both sides should strengthen exchanges
and cooperation between their military personnel and
establishments in the border areas along the line of actual
control.
In addition, in 1994, China and
Russia signed the Agreement on Prevention of Dangerous
Military Activities and the Joint Statement by the President
of the People's Republic of China
and the
President of the Russian Federation on Non-First-Use of
Nuclear Weapons and Detargeting of Strategic Nuclear Weapons
Against Each Other. In January 1998, China and the United
States signed the Agreement Between the Ministry of National
Defense of the PRC and the Department of Defense of the USA
on Establishing a Consultation Mechanism to Strengthen
Military Maritime Safety. In June of the same year,
President Jiang Zemin of China and President Clinton of the
United States announced that the two sides had decided not
to target each other with the strategic nuclear weapons
under their respective control. In addition, confidential
direct redline telephone communication links have been
established between the head of state of China and the heads
of state of Russia and the United States.
Regional Security
Cooperation
China advocates regional-security
dialogue and cooperation at different levels, through
various channels and in different forms. Such dialogue and
cooperation should follow these
principles:
participation on an equal footing, reaching unanimity
through consultation, seeking common ground while reserving
differences, and proceeding in an orderly way and step by
step. China has participated in the ASEAN Regional Forum
(ARF), Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building
Measures in Asia (CICA), Council on Security Cooperation in
Asia and Pacific Region (CSCAP), Northeast Asia Cooperation
Dialogue (NEACD) and other activities, holding that all
countries should further mutual understanding and trust by
discussions on security issues through these important
governmental and non-governmental channels, so as to promote
regional peace and stability.
China has
attended all the ARF foreign minister meetings and ARF
senior official meetings. Chinese representatives of foreign
and defense affairs have attended official and unofficial
meetings within the framework of the forum, their topics of
discussion including promotion of confidence-building
measures, peace keeping, maritime search and rescue, the
handling of emergencies and disaster relief, preventative
diplomacy, non-proliferation, and guiding principles. In
1996 China and the Philippines jointly sponsored the
Conference on Confidence-Building Measures in Beijing.
Between sessions of the conference, which was crowned with
success, foreign representatives were invited to visit
Chinese military units and observe military exercises. China
supports the ARF's creative explorations for the promotion
of confidence-building measures and has made a series of
constructive suggestions and opinions in this regard. For
example, China advocates development of military medicine,
science of military law and multilateral cooperation on
conversion of military technologies and facilities for
civilian use. It encourages the exchange of high-level
visits by senior military officers, and port calls by naval
vessels, as well as exchanges of military personnel between
different countries, and supports cooperation in emergency
rescue and disaster relief, maritime navigation safety, and
marine environmental protection. In addition, every year
China submits to the forum a statement on national defense
policy and other related documents.
China has
always been an active participant in the process of the CICA
initiated by Kazakhstan, regarding the purpose of the
conference as basically suiting China's security goal in
Asia. It suggests that the conference develop steadily with
full consideration of Asia's regional peculiarities and
diversities. In 1996 China formally joined the CSCAP, and in
1997 established the CSCAP China Committee, which has always
conscientiously participated in the council's activities.
Since 1993, when the NEACD was founded, China has attended
all NEACD meetings and, in 1996, hosted its fourth
conference in Beijing. Along with other member states, China
has also helped the NEACD to achieve unanimity on the
guiding principle of cooperation between Northeast Asian
countries.
China has held consultations in
different forms with the United States, Russia, Japan,
France, Canada and Australia on issues of common interest in
the areas of security and defense. Officials and scholars of
China's Ministry of National Defense and other related
departments have participated, in increasing breadth and
depth, in various discussions and other activities on
Asian-Pacific security, which has promoted understanding and
trust between China and the countries concerned, and shown
China's positive intentions and efforts to maintain lasting
peace in the Asia-Pacific region.
Participating in the UN
Peace-Keeping Operations
As a permanent member
of the UN Security Council, China has consistently engaged
in efforts to maintain international peace and security. It
cherishes and supports the role of the United Nations in
keeping international peace and security under the guidance
of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations. In
order to help UN peace-keeping operations achieve success
and develop in a healthy way, China holds that the following
guiding principles should be stipulated and followed:
-- The aims and principles of the Charter of
the United Nations must be adhered to, especially the
principles of respecting the sovereignty of all countries
and non-interference in other countries' internal affairs.
-- Disputes must be settled using peaceful
means, such as mediation, good office and negotiation.
Compulsory means should not be adopted indiscreetly, nor
should military means be resorted to even for humanitarian
ends.
-- Double standards should be opposed.
The policies and views of any one country or a few countries
should not be imposed on the UN Security Council, and
military interference by a small number of countries under
the guise of the UN should not be allowed.
--
In peace-keeping operations, the following principles, which
have proved to be effective in the past, should be adhered
to: obtaining agreement from the country concerned
beforehand,
strictly observing neutrality and
prohibiting the use of force except for self-defense.
-- Be practical and realistic. A
peace-keeping operation should not be undertaken when
conditions are not yet ripe, nor should a peace-keeping
force become a party to a conflict,
which
would be a deviation from the fundamental purpose of
peace-keeping operations.
Adhering to the above
principles, China has participated in UN peace-keeping
operations. In 1990, China began to assign military
observers to UN peace-keeping operations; since then it has
sent 437 military observers in 32 groups to join six UN
peace-keeping operations, viz, the United Nations Truce
Supervision Organization (UNTSO) in the Middle East, United
Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM), Un ited
Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC), United
Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara
(MINURSO), United Nations Operation in Mozambique (ONUMOZ)
and United Nations Observer Mission in Liberia (UNOMIL).
In 1992, the Chinese government dispatched an
engineer unit to support the UNTAC peace-keeping operations.
A total of 800 men were sent in two batches, who, in 18
months, repaired or extended four airports, repaired four
highways totaling 640 kilometers, built or rebuilt 47
bridges and completed many other service projects, making
useful contributions to the successful operations of the
United Nations peace-keeping forces in Cambodia.
China still has 32 military observers serving
with the UNTSO, UNIKOM and MINURSO. In May 1997, the Chinese
government decided that in principle China would take part
in the UN's stand-by arrangements and would provide military
observers, civilian policemen, and engineering, medical,
transportation and other logistic service teams in due time
for UN peace-keeping operations.
Chinese
personnel assisting UN peace-keeping operations have
conscientiously fulfilled their responsibilities and made
great contributions to world peace. Some of them have even
sacrificed their lives. In the years to come, China will
continue to participate in UN peace-keeping operations in a
positive and down-to-earth manner.
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