Army Exercises Display New Achievements

President Jiang Zemin Receives Soldiers in the Military Exercise

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Friday morning began the largest show of military training achievements since its 1964 grand-scale contest of military skills.

The four-day military exercise is being carried out at four sites. The primary location is a military shooting range in a Beijing suburb. The other three sites are the training bases in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, used by ground forces; in the Bohai Sea, for the navy; and in northeast China, for strategic missiles troops.

President Jiang Zemin, who is also chairman of the Central Military Commission, watched yesterday morning's activities at the shooting range outside Beijing.

Other spectators there included more than 100 PLA generals from various PLA military area commands, PLA services and military universities.

Military Exercise Photo

Jiang emphasized that all PLA members should be aware of the hard work ahead, have a strong sense of political responsibility, and realize the historic mission they shoulder.

Jiang called on the PLA units at all levels to incorporate high-tech achievements into their training.

This is the fundamental way for the PLA to ensure success in possible future wars, he stressed.

He pointed out that the gap between military training and actual combat should be minimized, and a large group of military talent with the most up-to-date skills and ideas should be fostered.

Jiang emphasized that all PLA officers and soldiers should strengthen their awareness of creativity, particularly in the aspects of military theory, and training styles and content.

A PLA website is carrying footage of the three smaller-scaled exercises to observers outside Beijing.

Participating in the exercises are dozens of units of the ground forces, navy, and air force from various PLA Military Area commands, the Second Artillery force, the PLA services and arms, troops attached to the headquarters, the group armies and other PLA units.

More than 10,000 PLA soldiers are taking part in the exercises.

Helicopters, cargo transport planes, small navy vessels, tanks, armored cars, artillery, ground-to-air missiles and strategic missiles of various sorts are involved.