My students were pleasantly surprised two years ago after attending a lecture by General Xiong Guangkai, then deputy chief of Staff of the People's Liberation Army, at Tsinghua University.

Xiong Guangkai salutes the audience during a speech at the China Science and Humanity Forum in 2003. The general incisively analyzes complicated international relations issues. [Yang Shen]

One student asked me why Xiong talked so much like a scholar. I answered, "Because the general is a scholar."

In China today, an increasing number of its high-ranking military officers are well-qualified academically, and Xiong is one of their outstanding representatives.

Just recently, another of Xiong's books, entitled "International Situation and Security Strategy," has been published. It is a selection of his speeches and articles on the subject during the past two years and more.

As one who has been engaged in the study of China's international strategy over a long period of time, Xiong, in his writing, combines his strategic thinking with first-hand experiences in the field. And, summing up the latest developments in the international situation, he sheds much light on China's security strategy in accordance with its overall peaceful development strategy.

The book is first of all a summarization of the current international and regional situation. It deals with a key issue in China's internal strategic studies, for example, how should we evaluate the international situation.

After the end of the Cold War, the international situation has gone through profound changes with the intermingling of traditional security factors and the non-traditional ones.

Therefore, a precise and timely understanding of its characteristics not only has much bearing on China's overall strategy of peaceful development, but also ensures a stable environment for the execution of its internal and foreign policies.

That is why how to define the international situation is the concern of both researchers and practitioners of international strategy and a key problem which must be resolved if the country is to develop. Only when we have answered this question can we face the fast-changing international situation with a clear mind.

The author has long been studying international strategy and, being in the ranks of policy decision-makers, has a clear understanding of the rules and intricacies of international strategy.

Hence, the second major question the book needs to answer is: What should China do now, as a major and responsible developing country confronted with the current international situation?

This may well be the core of China's security strategy.

From 1929, when the Englishman Liddell Hart first published his "Grand Strategy," to the post-Cold War contributions made by scholars of many countries to the concept of security strategy, national security has become an essential concern of major power diplomacy.

On the strategic level, national security has become a matter of concern for the decision-makers, the media and the general public.

In fact, in the author's professional life, he has played a significant role in the mechanism of many bilateral defence consultations as well as of multilateral co-operation such as the Shanghai Co-operation Organization. In this book, readers will find answers to the question.

Interestingly, Xiong goes beyond the questions of how and what. He raises questions for all who are interested in and concerned with the international situation and China's security strategy.

That is to say, in what direction will the international situation develop and what kind of expectations can China envisage for its security strategy in accordance with the trends of the international situation.

If the responsibility of journalist is to record what is happening now, then the major task of the strategist is to analyze and predict what might happen in the future, and thereby help the country make adequate preparations for all eventualities.

There are certain patterns in the general trend of development of the international situation. Only through a profound and cool-headed analysis of past developments in the international security situation can there be the kind of far-sighted analysis and predictions made by Xiong in his book.

That is what makes the book doubly valuable.

Another notable feature of the book is its analysis of the strategic situation of different countries and regions of the world and China's views on the issues of its regional and functional security.

China's diplomacy in relation to the major powers and her neighbours are two major aspects of the country's foreign affairs. They are also an important component of China's security strategy. The book's expositions on these concrete issues help us have a deeper understanding of China's security strategy and add to its reference value.

Through his rational and precise analysis of the three aspects listed above, Xiong has presented in his book an image of China as a responsible power in the 21st Century, not a "threat" as the Pentagon repeatedly preaches.

The fact that China is able to take part in international dialogues and become an important force upholding international security both represents the country's development and strength and the understanding and trust it has gained from the international community.

As mentioned earlier, deep down the general is a scholar. He is not only adept at strategic studies but also well versed in serious scholarship in general.

That explains the profundity of the ideas presented in his book. Chinese international strategy specialists, as represented by Xiong, have far-sighted strategic considerations as well as scholarly qualifications. They are thus able to present their thoughts in their books to the benefit of the reading public.

Like its predecessor "International Strategy and Revolutionary Military Affairs," the current book adopts a new form of scholarly publication in China in so far as it has both the Chinese and the English versions in one book, making the two simultaneously available to readers at home and abroad.

For Chinese readers, while helping them understand the international environment the country faces and China's national security strategy, the book also provides them with relevant English-language reading material.

For officials and scholars abroad who are interested in China's national security strategy, the book enables them to peruse first-hand material on the subject.

The English translation is authoritative and readable. It is edited by two veteran Chinese translators, Lin Wusun, former president of the China International Publishing Group and advisor to the Translation Association of China, and his wife Zhang Qingnian, former director of the English Department of China Radio International.

(China Daily 05/31/2006 page14)