SCMP: Xi Jinping tells Chinese army to step up preparations for combat as budget rise is blamed on security threats
* Military must boost its ability to perform military missions, China’s president says, after praising its Covid-19 efforts
* Defence ministry spokesman says China’s campaign against separatism is ‘getting grimmer’
The Chinese army has to step up its preparedness for armed confrontation and become more capable of carrying out military tasks, Chinese President Xi Jinping said, as the country’s increase in defence spending was defended and attributed to security threats.
Xi told Chinese military officers on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s top legislature, that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) had performed well in helping to contain the Covid-19 outbreak but should explore new ways of training during the pandemic.
“It is necessary to explore ways of training and preparing for war because epidemic control efforts have been normalised,” Xi was quoted by the state-run Xinhua news agency. “It is necessary to step up preparations for armed combat, to flexibly carry out actual combat military training, and to improve our military’s ability to perform military missions.”
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WNU Editor: More threats from Beijing.
