China issues first white paper on military strategy

On Tuesday, Beijing issued its first white paper on military strategy, ushering in greater military transparency by giving details of the direction of its military buildup to other nations.

The document of about 9,000 Chinese characters revealed a list of new expressions that have never before appeared in Chinese white papers.

In the preface it reaffirmed China's adherence to peaceful development and its "active defense" military strategy.

It interpreted the policy as "We will not attack unless we are attacked, but we will surely counterattack if attacked".

"China will never seek hegemony or expansion," it added.

On China's security environment, it mentioned increasing security challenges brought by certain countries, citing the growing US military presence in Asia and Japan's major adjustment in its security policies.

For the first time, the paper noted that "some offshore neighbors take provocative actions and reinforce their military presence on China's reefs and islands that they have illegally occupied".

"It is thus a long-standing task for China to safeguard its maritime rights and interests."

Vietnam and the Philippines have kept building on some of China's islands in the South China Sea.

Accordingly, the paper said the navy of the People's Liberation Army will "gradually shift its focus from 'offshore waters defense' to a combination of 'offshore waters defense' and 'open seas protection'".

It also mentioned an adjustment in preparations for military struggle. Following the guideline set in 2004 in order to win "informationized local wars", the new expression highlighted maritime military struggle.

Regarding outer space, the paper reaffirmed China's opposition to the weaponization of outer space and its disapproval of an arms race in outer space.

As for cyber space, it said "China will expedite the development of a cyber force" and enhance its capabilities in cyber situation awareness and cyber defense.

The paper also noted that as Chinese national interests stretch further abroad, it will "strengthen international security cooperation in areas crucially related to China's overseas interests".

It said the PLA will engage in extensive regional and international security affairs, and promote the establishment of the mechanisms of emergency notification, military risk precaution, crisis management and conflict control.

The paper highlighted future cooperation with Russian armed forces, saying the PLA will foster a comprehensive, diverse and sustainable framework to promote military relations.

On cooperation with the US, China intends to build a "new model of military relationships" that conforms to the two nations' new model of major-country relations.

It will strengthen defense dialogues, exchanges and cooperation with the US military, and improve the mechanism for the notification of major military activities as well as the rule of behavior for safety of air and maritime encounters.

Zhao Weibin, a researcher on China-US military relations with the PLA Academy of Military Sciences, said though the paper named the US, Japan and some neighbors which pose security challenges, it is not written to counter them.

"In this chapter on the security environment, we just objectively assessed China's situation."

Wen Bing, a researcher on defense policies with the academy, said China has become one of the few countries that have published white papers to clarify military strategy. According to him, the US, Russia and Britain have issued similar reports.

"That is indeed a big step in China's military transparency."

Wen suggested the readers of the report examine every word of it, as "there are so many new expressions and ideas, through which you can better understand today's PLA."