China Weighs Defense Needs in New CenturyChinese strategists believe the challenge from hegemony and problems caused by splittism will be the main pressures on security that China will face in the new century.China's road to rejuvenation is by no means a smooth one, said Luo Yuan, director of Second Office of the Department of Strategic Studies of the Academy of Military Science of the People's Liberation Army. "Military allies, the arms race and nationalities splittism are still the threats to the security in the Asia-Pacific region," he said, noting the force behind the threat is the vicious expansion of hegemony. "Such growing power politics is poisoning the trend towards multipolarity, undermining the conditions necessary for establishing new political and economic orders, and breeding the potential danger of an arms race," he said. Luo's remarks were echoed by Peng Guangqian, a famous Chinese strategist and military analyst. While recognizing that factors that safeguard world peace are growing constantly, Peng pointed out that the world is still far from being multi-polarized as the former strategic balance was shattered by the ending of the Cold War. Just in the areas around China, about 300 military exercises take place every year, and most of them are directed against China. Peng said the Chinese Government firmly pursues a national defense policy that is defensive in nature, restricted in input and moderate in scale. "It doesn't mean our defense is passive," said Peng, characterizing Chinese defense strategy as being designed to forestall a war from happening; to stop a war from accelerating; to prepare for a war if necessary and to win a war if involved. At the same time, after reviewing the high-level exchanges between China and the United States, experts indicated that bilateral relations will continue to be the most important element in diplomacy for both sides. The former US President George Bush paid a working visit to China in 1989 and sent his national security adviser Brent Scowcroft to Beijing. President Bill Clinton, his defense secretary, his secretary of state, his secretary of the treasury, and his secretary of commerce have all been to China. Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Premier Zhu Rongji also have made significant visits to the United States during the past three years. Undoubtedly, both sides have a strong wish to build a stronger and better Sino-US relationship in the future. |
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