Mr. Xi's message when ordering the army to be ready for battle 4
Chinese President Xi Jinping on October 13 visited the Marine Corps base of the Chinese army (PLA) in Guangdong, asking the soldiers to `wholeheartedly prepare for war`,
Mr. Xi’s statement worried some Western experts, in the context of China’s increasing efforts to exert global influence.
`Mr. Xi’s message seems trite. The armed forces were created so that politicians have a choice when waging war, so they must always be ready to fight, even in peacetime,` Holmes wrote.
According to him, to complete its mission, any military force must be fully ready for combat and maintain a state of high alert.
Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke when visiting the marine unit in Chaozhou city, Guangdong province, October 13.
However, that is just the tip of the iceberg.
Mr. Xi asked the military to be ready to fight in the context of escalating tensions on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.
This expert commented that the Chinese President also implicitly affirmed that the PLA is increasingly better equipped, with the number of warships, aircraft and human resources surpassing Taiwan’s defense forces.
ZTD-05 amphibious armored vehicles of the Chinese Marine Corps conduct live-fire exercises in Jilin province in 2015. Photo: Reuters.
President Xi Jinping’s message of readiness to `fight` is also directed at the US, along with Asian powers and allies capable of `challenging China’s territorial claims and ambitions to create influence abroad.`
China has for years been building up its forces to slow down and weaken American forces as they cross the Pacific to join up with forces stationed in Guam, Japan and other areas in East Asia, in case a conflict breaks out.
Mr. Xi may not be able to convince the American political community and the public that the Chinese military can completely defeat them.
`If he can do this, Mr. Xi can make the US abandon military support for Taiwan (in the event of a conflict), which does not bring adequate results,` Holmes said.
Location of Taiwan island (China).
Mr. Xi may seek to make the US consider how much it will spend to repel the amphibious campaign launched by the PLA to support the island of Taiwan.
`Mr. Xi can ask Americans how much they are willing to pay to support a small island with 23 million people located close to mainland China,` Holmes wrote.
The US could significantly lose its Pacific fleet and combined forces in the region if it participates in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait.
`President Xi Jinping may be asking American political and military leaders and voters what is important to them,` Holmes wrote.
