Defence Minister urges high level of military preparedness for the Chengdu Military Area Command; Legislation giving armed police statutory authorization to respond to riots, terrorist attacks and other social security emergencies passed;
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    • Chinese defence minister Liang Guanglie has highlighted the need and importance of military preparedness in national security. At a meeting of the Defense Mobilization Committee under the Chengdu Military Area Command of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), he said that the southwest region of the China is strategically very important and, the highest order of military preparedness at every governmental level must be maintained in that region1.

    Meanwhile on Thursday, August 27, 2009, China passed legislation on armed police, giving them new duties with a statutory authorization to respond to riots, terrorist attacks and other social security emergencies. This is China’s first legislation in this regard2. With little more than a month before the Oct 1 National Day celebration marking the nation's 60th birthday, the government has begun deploying thousands of additional police officers and checking vehicles entering the city to ensure a safe National day celebration3.

    Reports have noted that in mid August, a reserve airfield station of the PLA Air Force successfully organized a simulated multiple-type aircraft support exercise under actual-war background, becoming a reserve troop unit of the PLA Air Force possessing emergent combat support capability. Established in November 2005, the reserve airfield station has shouldered the training support task for a type of fighter since September 20064.

    Besides, the Military Representative Office of the Guangzhou Military Area Command (MAC) stationed in the Guangzhou Railway Bureau is reported to have organized a training to transport organic troop unit with high speed electric multiple units (EMU). In this exercise, under the guidance of the railway military representative, hundreds of officers and men of a troop unit of the Guangzhou MAC rapidly boarded “Hexie” EMU with weapons, ammunitions and provisions and rushed to the designated site with a speed of 200 km per hour5.

    The Chinese government has designated the Anti-Chemical Command and Engineering College (ACCEC) as the “state designated agency for anti-terrorism chemical test and appraisal”. The ACCEC has been very useful in the field of chemical research6. Besides, on August 26, 2009, The 5th Science and Technology Conference of the Second Artillery Force (SAF) of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was organized. It was noted in this conference that over the past 13 years since the 4th Science and Technology Conference of the SAF, the troop units have registered nearly 3,000 scientific and technological achievements. It was also noted that the achievements of the SAF in the development of weapons and equipment of the SAF have been quite conspicuous7. Incidentally, the hydropower and traffic troops of the Chinese People's Armed Police Force (APF) have formally been included in the National Emergency Rescue Force System on August 21, 20098.

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