Chinese defence diplomacy shows new vigour; Chinese and Russian navies conduct joint military exercise in the Gulf of Aden; China terms as “totally groundless and irresponsible” the US description of the country as “very aggressive in the cyber world”
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  • Chinese defence diplomacy continued with new rigour with Defense Minister Liang Guanglie retuning from a tour of Slovakia, Serbia and Bulgaria on September 14. Liang also met with the visiting Deputy Minister of Defense of Brunei on September 25, senior military officers from Mongolia and Vietnam, the Chief of Staff of the Indonesian Army on September 25, and the Moldovian Army Chief on September 19. The Chinese and Russian navies also held a joint military exercise on September 18 in the Gulf of Aden1.

    The Chinese defence ministry spokesperson Hu Changming termed as “totally groundless and irresponsible” the description of his country as “very aggressive in the cyber world” by the 2009 National Intelligence Strategy document, which was recently released2.

    Defence Minister Gen. Liang Guanglie, in an interview on the newly launched website of the Ministry of National Defense on September 14 stated that the PLA had “almost all types of weaponry in the arsenal of Western countries3.” Reports noted that the PLA will be displaying 52 new weapon systems, all claimed to be made indigenously, in the National Day parade on October 1. These include the J-10 fighter aircraft, main battle tanks, strategic missiles, early warning aircrafts, armed helicopters and improved type-95 rifles. The country’s newest nuclear and other upgraded missiles will also be on display. In a related development, Maj. Gen. Gao Jianguo, a spokesman at the joint headquarters for the military parade, dismissed suggestions that the Chinese National Day parade might create concerns among its neighours. He pointed out that holding a military parade on major festivals was an international practice4.

    Defense Minister Liang stated that China had drawn up a three-step strategy for modernization of the armed forces. He added that “the army will give priority to nationwide mobility instead of regional defense, the navy will be armed with strong coastal defense capabilities, as well as means of warfare farther out to sea, the air force will be updated from mere territorial air defense to the combination of offense and defense, and the missile force will become an effective strategic force capable of both conventional and nuclear launches5.”

    In other developments, more than 150 Lhasa-based PLA officers and soldiers participated in a publicity activity for “building safe and sound Tibet” on September 166.

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