Chinese President tells PLA to strengthen training for combat

Xi Jinping inspected the armed forces’ Southern Theatre Command’s navy on Tuesday and stressed the need for “training and combat readiness” amid heightened tension in the South China Sea.

China’s President Xi Jinping inspected the armed forces’ Southern Theatre Command’s (STC) navy on Tuesday and stressed the need for “training and combat readiness” amid heightened tension in the South China Sea (SCS) where Chinese warships frequently track and monitor of US battleships including aircraft carriers and destroyers.

(AP)

Xi also visited the STC’s navy in the backdrop of heightened tension in the Taiwan Strait and neighbouring maritime region where Chinese navy went ahead with “actual combat training” on Tuesday, state media reported, a day after Beijing announced the end of intense three-day drills including simulated blockading of the self-ruled island.

Xi, who is also the chairman of the Central Military Commission, “…stressed strengthening training and combat readiness and accelerating transformation to boost the armed forces’ modernisation levels on all fronts,” official news agency Xinhua said in a report on Wednesday evening.

Xi also told the People’s Liberation Army’s STC navy that the military must “resolutely defend China’s territorial sovereignty and maritime interests, and strive to protect overall peripheral stability,” state broadcaster CCTV reported.

The US and Philippines are also currently holding their largest joint military drills over shared concerns about China’s assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific region, Reuters reported

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin said such drills “should not target any third party and should be conducive to regional peace and stability.”

Wang “denounced” a joint statement issued by the U.S. and the Philippines, in which it had allegations that some of China’s maritime activities in the South China Sea were “unlawful”.

“The joint statement distorts and smears China’s legitimate maritime law enforcement activities. It even slanders China out of nothing, and the Chinese side is seriously concerned and strongly disapproves of it,” Wang said, according to official English broadcaster, CGTN, on Wednesday.

“In terms of the US’s newly-added sites for military cooperation in the Philippines, mentioned in the statement, he said the intention has been self-evident considering their locations.”

Wang, according to the CGTN report, said China has always maintained that the Asia-Pacific region is the common home of the countries in the region and urged some countries in the region not to cater to extraterritorial forces.