A lighter but sharper force for peace

Chinese President Xi delievers a speech on Thursday. [Photo/Xinhua]

In his opening remarks at the parade, held in Beijing on Sept 3 to mark the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Chinese People's War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-45), President Xi Jinping announced that China would reduce the its military personnel by 300,000 troops, which, along with the parade, made headlines worldwide.

There could be no better move toward peace than the announcement of a troop cut on such an occasion. Thanks to the displays in the parade, viewers are convinced of China's ability to protect its people. And the troop reduction has assured them of China's firm determination to defend peace and counter any challenge to it.

More importantly, the troop cut gives lie to the "China threat" theory, because it reduces the already low population to military ratio of China－or the number of military personnel to every 100,000 Chinese citizens. China's current population is 1.37 billion and its military is 2.3 million strong, which means for every 100,000 Chinese citizens, there are 168 military personnel.

In comparison, the United States has a population of 315 million and a military of 1.4 million personnel. That means 445 out of every 100,000 American citizens are military personnel. And neighboring Japan, with a population of 126 million, has 247,000 personnel in its "Self-Defense Forces", for a ratio of 200 SDF personnel for every 100,000 people. Both are higher than China's.

After the troop cut, only 146 out of every 100,000 people in China will serve in the military. That is solid evidence of China's defense policy being purely defensive in nature and the country is not pursuing military superiority.

The move to cut troops is also in accordance with the central leadership's policy of improving the quality of the military. As a country advances on the technology front, it can afford to reduce the size of its military without compromising its ability to defend itself. For example, even though the size of the US military is smaller than China's, advanced technologies, excellent support systems and modern equipment enable it to reach every corner of the globe to defend American interests.

For almost a decade, China has been trying to modernize the equipment of the People's Liberation Army to make it more efficient. Reports say the number of troops with old-fashioned equipment would be reduced, with the leadership using the money to provide advanced equipment and devices for elite troops. If that's true, the troop cut would be another giant step forward toward building a highly efficient and well-equipped military, which is sure to be the future trend.

There is still a huge gap between China and the world's sole superpower in terms of military technology and equipment, but China has been trying to narrow that gap and its efforts are bearing fruits.

Many analysts say the PLA will mainly cut the number of its performing troupes instead of "true military" personnel. That's a reasonable guess, because it conforms to the top leadership's ongoing military reform plan, and its efforts to root out corruption from all walks of life, including the PLA. It is possible that the military will fill the majority of its non-combative posts, like performing artists and administrative staff, with people recruited from outside who will not be in uniform.

In other words, the troop cut will make China's self-defense sword lighter but sharper. And Xi made it absolute clear in his speech that China will defend peace, not war.

The author is a senior consultant for the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association. The article is an excerpt from his interview with China Daily's reporter Zhang Zhouxiang.