CHINA’S LONG MARCH OF MODERNISATION

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With the support of its strong leadership and industrious population of close to one billion working Chinese, fully committed and dedicated to its peaceful development and comprehensive modernization, China is forging ahead on the driver’s seat in various fields of human endeavour. A leading global role is resourceful and resurgent New China’s manifest destiny, with the confidence of attaining (and regaining) the world’s largest economy within the coming decade. Holding high the new banner of the Fourth Industrial Revolution IR 4.0, China will continue steadfastly and strongly on its Long March of Modernization. In the military field, the People’s Liberation Army has developed from a ragtag fighting force of some 20,000 troops into a two-million-strong military that ‘s presently rated as the world’s third strongest after its counterparts in the US and Russia. Speaking at a grand rally to mark the 90th anniversary of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on 1 August 2017, President Xi Jinping said the PLA has transformed itself from a “millet plus rifles” single-service force to one that has fully-fledged services. Having basically completed its mechanization, the PLA is moving rapidly toward having “strong” informationized armed forces. (12) President Xi stressed that China must step up the PLA ‘s transformation into a world-class military that’s ready to fight and win wars in defence of its national sovereignty. (13) To quote from the May 2017 Report by the US Department of Defense: “... The PLA is pursuing an ambitious modernization program that aligns with China’s two centenary goals...” “DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency) director, Lieutenant General Robert Ashley, emphasized that “China Military Power 2019” (published and released by the DIA on 15 January 2019) showed China’s evolution from a domestically oriented force to a global one. He told reporters the PLA was changing “from a defensive, inflexible ground-based force charged with domestic and peripheral security responsibilities to a joint, highly agile, expeditionary, and power-projecting arm of Chinese foreign policy that engages in military diplomacy and operations across the globe,” Gabriel Black reported on 30 January 2019 on the World Socialist Web Site. (14) According to President Xi, the PLA’s military mechanization will basically be achieved with advanced IT application and much enhanced strategic capabilities by 2020, on the eve of the CPC’s centenary on 1 July 2021. The people’s armed forces will be transformed into a world-class military by mid-21st century – to mark the centenary of the founding of New China/the People’s Republic of China/the PRC on 1 October 2049. In his 56-page statement to the Senate Armed Services Committee on 15 March 2018, Adm. Harry B. Harris Jr., then naval head of US Pacific Command (USPACOM), wrote that on the current trajectory, the PLA will likely attain its goals of completing military modernisation by 2033 and achieving “world class” status by 2049 “well ahead of the projected completion dates…” With the companion volume CHINA’S RENAISSANCE, the following narrative adumbrates the saga of CHINA’S LONG MARCH OF MODERNISATION and the phenomenal transformation of the world’s most populous nation of nearly one and a half billion Chinese -- from abject poverty to its dream of becoming a fully developed and modernized country by mid-21st century. (15) It’s the greatest development story in human history!

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