Chinese President Xi Jinping. (Photo: Reuters)
The statement comes as tensions between China and the US remain at their highest in decades, with disagreements over Taiwan and the coronavirus pandemic creating sharp divisions between Washington and Beijing.
- CNN
- Last update: October 15, 2020 7:52 AM IST
- FOLLOW US:
Chinese President Xi Jinping called on troops to “put all (their) mind and energy into preparing for war” on a visit to a military base in southern Guangdong province on Tuesday, according to the state news agency Xinhua. .
During an inspection by the Marine Corps of the People’s Liberation Army in Chaozhou City, Xinhua said Xi told the soldiers to “maintain a state of high alert” and asked them to be “absolutely loyal, absolutely pure and absolutely trustworthy. “.
The main purpose of Xi’s visit to Guangdong was to deliver a speech on Wednesday to mark the 40th anniversary of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, which was established in 1980 to attract foreign capital and played a vital role in helping China’s economy. to become the second largest in the country. world.
But the military visit comes as tensions between China and the United States remain at their highest in decades, with disagreements over Taiwan and the coronavirus pandemic creating sharp divisions between Washington and Beijing.
The White House notified the U.S. Congress on Monday that it planned to go ahead with the sale of three advanced weapons systems to Taiwan, according to a congressional aide, including the Advanced High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS).
In a stern response from Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian called on Washington to “immediately cancel any plans to sell arms to Taiwan” and cut all “military ties between the United States and Taiwan.”
Although Taiwan has never been controlled by the ruling Communist Party of China, Beijing authorities insist that the democratic and autonomous island is an integral part of their territory, and Xi himself refuses to rule out military force to capture it if necessary. .
Despite the Chinese government’s disapproval, relations between Washington and Taipei have tightened under the Trump administration. In August, US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar became the highest-ranking US official to visit Taiwan in decades, when he traveled to the island ostensibly to discuss the pandemic.
In response, Beijing increased military exercises around Taiwan. Nearly 40 Chinese fighter jets crossed the median line between the mainland and Taiwan on Sept. 18-19, one of several exits that the island’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, called a “threat of force.”
In a speech to the RAND Corporation on September 16, US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said that China “cannot match the United States” in terms of naval power and called Beijing an “evil influence.”
“(China and Russia) are using predatory economics, political subversion and military force in an attempt to shift the balance of power in their favor, and often at the expense of others,” he told the audience.
In early October, Esper announced his “Battle Force 2045” plan, which calls for an expanded and modernized US Navy of 500 manned and unmanned vessels by 2045.
.
