Recent cutbacks in China’s vast military — part of Beijing’s ongoing campaign to modernise and strengthen its army — were accompanied by an unusual public relations stunt. In contrast to traditional secrecy surrounding the country’s military affairs, Beijing chose to publicise its new downsizing campaign by selecting two experts from military-backed think tanks to be interviewed on the Chinese Central Television on what the new cuts mean for China’s ambitions to build a slimmer and more mobile force.

A 200,000-soldier reduction, underway since 2003, was completed in December, leaving about 2.3 million troops in the Chinese military or what is still the world’s biggest standing army, according to a report in the official People’s Liberation Army Daily. But responding to doubts in the US and neighbouring Asian countries that its growing military clout might become a regional threat, Beijing chose not to limit its announcement to the state-run print media and air its views on the significance of the military cuts.

Major-General Peng Guangqian, from the research unit of China Military Control and Reduction Association suggested the new round of downsizing has achieved a different objective in comparison to previous cuts. “It is not only about reducing numbers, this time it is also about getting the army tailored to the needs of a new information age and the requirements of a future high-tech war,” he said.

The latest staffing reductions included 170,000 military officers. The emphasis on high-tech warfare, as opposed to China’s traditional reliance on masses of ground troops, has also seen the infantry falling to an all-time low proportion of the military force, according to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA)’s newspaper.

This modernisation trend was also reflected in a series of military personnel changes completed last year. The Communist Party’s decision-making Central Military Commission, which has long been dominated by the People’s Liberation Army, for the first time admitted in its ranks commanders from the air force, the navy and the missile forces in order to cope with high-tech warfare in the future.

Military experts took pains to emphasise that the top-to-bottom modernisation drive aimed at forming a skilled and lean army was as important as the purchase of sophisticated weapons China wants to acquire. Though China’s total spending is far below US levels, the rate of its increase is much greater than in the West and the mainland now ranks as the fifth country in the world in terms of military spending.

Russia remains China’s primary supplier of military hardware but Beijing has been lobbying the European Union to lift its ban on weapon sales in the coming spring.

The lifting of the embargo foreseen originally for last spring was delayed by a combination of strong US opposition and the passing by Beijing of the anti-secession law, which provides the PLA with the legal base for invading China’s arch rival, Taiwan. — IPS