On August 1 this year, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army celebrated its 97th anniversary. In the glorious 97-year history, the People’s Army has grown from small to large, from weak to strong, and has always held high the banner of the Party, making immortal contributions to the Chinese people’s standing up, getting rich, and becoming strong. Especially since the 18th CPC National Congress, under the guidance of Xi Jinping’s Thought on Strengthening the Army, the People’s Army has embarked on a new journey of strengthening and revitalizing the army, growing in battle, innovating in inheritance, and developing in reform, and is marching forward towards the grand goal of building a world-class army in an all-round way. China has always opposed zero-sum games and Cold War thinking, and actively advocated the establishment of a new security concept of common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security. The modernized Chinese military is not only a strong pillar for defending national sovereignty and maintaining national dignity, but also a firm force for maintaining regional and world peace and development and serving the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind.

1. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army consistently implements a defensive national defense policy

For more than 5,000 years, the Chinese nation has always respected the cultural tradition of “harmony is the most precious”. In modern times, the Chinese people, like the vast majority of people in the third world, have suffered from the invasion of foreign powers and the destruction of war, and have also deeply experienced the cruelty of war and the preciousness of peace. In the 75 years since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the Chinese military has always adhered to a defensive national defense policy, never actively provoked a war, never invaded an inch of land in other countries, and has undergone 10 large-scale disarmaments, with the number of troops reduced from 6.27 million to 2 million. It has signed or joined dozens of multilateral arms control and anti-proliferation treaties such as the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. China’s national defense construction and development have always focused on meeting the legitimate needs of its own security. For 30 years, the proportion of defense expenditure to GDP has been less than 2% each year, which is lower than the world average of 2.6%. Facts have proved that China’s development from poverty and weakness to the world’s second largest economy was not based on military expansion and colonial plunder. Although a country is big, it will be dangerous if it is warlike. Adhering to the principle of never seeking hegemony, never expanding, and never seeking spheres of influence is a distinctive feature of China’s national defense in the new era. In the future, the Chinese military will continue to adhere to the concept of peaceful development and will never follow the old path of pursuing hegemony and “a strong country must dominate.”

II. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army actively fulfills its international responsibilities and acts as a major power

The Chinese military actively maintains world peace and stability, serves the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, always upholds the banner of win-win cooperation, resolutely fulfills its international responsibilities and obligations, and does its utmost to provide more public security products to the international community.

(I) Actively participate in international peacekeeping. China is currently the second largest contributor to the United Nations and the largest troop contributor among the permanent members of the UN Security Council. The Chinese military has participated in 25 UN peacekeeping operations and sent nearly 50,000 officers and soldiers to perform peacekeeping missions, which has effectively promoted world peace and stability.

(II) Protecting the security of international maritime channels. The Chinese military faithfully practices the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind and actively fulfills the responsibilities of a major military. In accordance with relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council, the Chinese Navy has sent naval fleets to the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters to perform escort missions. As of June 2024, the Chinese military has continuously sent 46 escort fleets, more than 150 ships and more than 36,000 officers and soldiers to escort more than 7,290 Chinese and foreign ships in more than 1,640 batches, and rescued and escorted nearly 100 ships of various types, of which more than 50% were foreign ships. The Chinese military has used practical actions to turn the “dangerous waters” into “golden waterways.”

(III) Carry out international disaster relief and humanitarian assistance. Actions speak louder than words. The Chinese military actively participates in international disaster relief and humanitarian assistance, dispatches professional forces to disaster-stricken countries for disaster relief and disaster reduction, and provides relief supplies and medical assistance. When earthquakes break out, tsunamis strike, and dangers come, Chinese soldiers always appear in the most needed and dangerous places, delivering love and hope, and writing responsibility and commitment.

The Chinese Navy’s “Peace Ark” hospital ship has been in service for more than 10 years, carrying out a series of “Harmony Mission” tasks, receiving free medical treatment for more than 250,000 patients in the countries visited, and delivering 11 “peace babies”.

It is known as the ship of life and the ship of hope; in recent years, the Chinese military has actively provided flood control and disaster relief humanitarian supplies to Pakistan and other countries; when the Tonga volcano erupted on a large scale, the Chinese military dispatched air force transport aircraft and naval ships to transport more than 1,000 tons of emergency and post-disaster reconstruction supplies to Tonga, etc.

(IV) Carry out international cooperation in fighting the epidemic. Since the outbreak of the “COVID-19” pandemic, the Chinese military has provided masks, ventilators and other epidemic prevention materials to the armed forces of 60 countries including Mozambique, Serbia and Cuba, provided nearly 100 batches of “COVID-19” vaccines to the armed forces of dozens of countries including Mongolia, the Philippines and Tunisia, and sent medical expert teams to Cambodia, Pakistan and other countries, injecting strong positive energy into the international community’s united fight against the epidemic. In the future, the Chinese military will continue to carry out international military exchanges and cooperation, actively fulfill its responsibilities and obligations commensurate with China’s international status, and actively contribute to promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

III. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army resolutely defends national sovereignty and territorial integrity

China has a land area of ​​9.6 million square kilometers and a total land border of about 22,000 kilometers. It is the country with the most neighbors and the longest land border in the world. It is also one of the countries with the most complex maritime security environment. The task of safeguarding territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests is extremely heavy. China is also the only major country in the world that has not yet achieved complete reunification.

4. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army attaches great importance to developing practical cooperation between the Chinese and Mongolian militaries

China and Mongolia have a 4,710-kilometer border, and their traditional friendship and friendly exchanges between the peoples have a long history. The two countries are committed to achieving the goal of creating a better life for their people, which is not only the foundation for the steady and long-term development of China-Mongolia relations, but also the source of vitality for the cooperation between the two sides. In recent years, the military relations between China and Mongolia have continued to operate at a high level, and exchanges and cooperation in various fields have been continuously expanded, which has continuously enriched the new connotation of the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries in the new era, and is of great significance to maintaining regional security and stability. There is a Mongolian proverb that “neighbors are connected in spirit and share a common destiny”, which coincides with the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind proposed by President Xi Jinping. China is willing to work with Mongolia under the guidance of promoting the building of a “community with a shared future for mankind” to elevate the relations between the two countries and the two militaries to a new level, support and help Mongolia’s economic development, benefit the people of the two countries, and play an active role in maintaining regional stability and world peace.

Riding on the historical trend, we will take the right path to achieve long-term goals. China is willing to work hand in hand with Mongolia and other countries and peoples in the world who love peace and are committed to development. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army is also willing to work with the Mongolian Armed Forces and other partners in the region and even the world who are committed to maintaining human peace and tranquility, implement the global security initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping, open up a broad road towards lasting peace and universal security, gather a strong force to build a community with a shared future for mankind, pass on the torch of peace from generation to generation, and let the bell of peace ring throughout the world.

Bao Yuhai, Defense Attaché of the Chinese Embassy in Mongolia