China
has decided to further cut its troops by 200,000 to 2.3
million by the year 2005, following the previous disarmament
of 500,000 during the period of 1996 to 2000.
The decision, jointly made by
the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee and the
Central Military Commission (CMC), was announced Monday in
Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province, by CMC
Chairman Jiang Zemin at a celebration marking the50th
anniversary of the founding of the National Defense Science
and Technology University of the Chinese People's Liberation
Army.
"To shrink China's
armed forces is not only in accordance with the world
military reform trend but also out of the necessity of the
national economic construction," said Jiang.
With the development of modern
science and technology, especially information technology,
global competition in military affairs has intensified,
Jiang said, pointing out the current transformation from
mechanized warfare to information warfare, with the
information capabilities of the army playing an increasingly
decisive role.
"Further
reducing the scale of the army will help us concentrate our
limited strategic resources to quicken the pace ofthe
information technology construction of our army," said
Jiang.
The decision carries
great significance in that it will promoteChina's army
construction, accelerate the modernization drive of the
army, stimulate the national economic development and
contribute to the peace and development of the whole world,
said Jiang.
The total force of
the PLA, including both active and reserve components, has
been maintained below the 2.5 million-strong mark.
According to a white paper on
China's national defense issued in December 2002, the
Chinese government has always been strict inits control,
management and supervision of defense spending, and has
formed a complete system of relevant laws and regulations
for that purpose.
Based on the
continuous economic growth, China's defense expenditure has
somewhat increased at a fairly low level, and the increase
is basically of a compensatory nature.
According to a budget approved
by China's legislature in March,the Chinese government
earmarked 185.3 billion yuan for national defense in 2003, a
9.6 percent increase over the figure for the previous year.
However, defense expenditure,
which accounts only for 1.69 percent of the country's
budgetary expenditure, remains much lowerthan developed
nations, neighbor countries, and the world average,which
stands at three percent. Enditem
(from http://www.xinhuanet.com)
