Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday told the armed forces that the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is capable of defeating "all invading enemies" to protect the country's sovereignty. His remark comes amid a border standoff between India and China in the Doklam region along the Sikkim border.
Jinping made the statement while inspecting a massive military parade of the PLA at the Zhurihe combat training base, China's largest army base, in Inner Mongolia to mark the 90th anniversary of the 2.3 million strong Chinese army. It is the first time a parade has been held to mark the founding of the PLA.
Jinping, who heads the Central Military Commission, said: "I firmly believe that our gallant military has both confidence and ability to defeat all invading enemies." He also told the army to transform itself into an elite force and strictly follow the absolute leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and "march to wherever the Party points to."
"Officers and soldiers, you must unswervingly stick to the fundamental principle and system of the Party's absolute leadership over the army, always listen to and follow the Party's orders, and march to wherever the Party points to," Jinping said.
"Our military has the confidence and ability to write a new chapter in building of a strong military and make new contributions to towards realisation of the Chinese dream of great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and safeguarding world peace," the Chinese president said in his 10-minute address to the military.
Jinping also asked the military to improve its combat capabilities and modernise the defence and armed forces of the nation. There was no direct mention of the Sikkim standoff in his speech but his reference to "invading enemies" was an obvious giveaway. The Chinese army is the world's second largest with a defence budget of US' $152 billion.
Chinese officials and the media have repeatedly accused Indian troops of having "invaded" and "illegally trespassed" into Chinese territory in Donglang (name given to the Doklam region by China) by crossing an established border in Sikkim.
The military parade held on Sunday was the biggest since 2015 with the Chinese army and air force displaying some modern weapons, including long range nuclear and conventional missiles, the new aircraft based carrier J-15 and a new tank which had held defence exercises along the Indian border, PTI reported.
Dongfeng missiles which include short, long and medium rage of rockets, variety of armoury including light tanks, drones were also displayed along with helicopter-borne troops demonstrating quick landing and taking combat positions.
Officers and soldiers of the PLA must firmly adhere to the funadamental goal of serving the citizens of the country and always stand together with the people, Jinping told the military adding that China needs a stong army more than ever.
"Today, we are closer to the goal of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation than any other time in history, and we need to build a strong people's military more than any other time in history," the Chinese president said urging the PLA to strengthen itself with with Chinese characteristics and build a strong military.
The PLA was founded on August 1, 1927 during the national liberation movement of Mao Zedong-led Communist Party of China (CPC). The PLA is one of the rare national military organisations that continues to work under the CPC and not the government of the country.
In the military parade on Sunday, around 12,000 troops participated while 129 aircraft and 571 pieces of equipment were on display.
