To mark the 77th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's
Liberation Army (PLA), the PLA Daily publishes an editorial titled
Strive for Achieving a Great Leap-Forward in the Modernization of Our
Army.
The editorial points out that the PLA is in a new historical period
of development. The new world revolution in military affairs is developing
swiftly and vigorously. The extensive application of high and new
technologies, with information technology (IT) at the core, is propelling
the transformation of the pattern of war from mechanized warfare to
information warfare. This does not only pose a serious challenge, but also
offers a rare opportunity. Modernization construction in our army has made
noticeable progress in recent years, and yet, on the whole, it is still in
a mechanized or semi-mechanized stage, with information construction just
kicking off. Only by embarking on the road of great leap-forward
development can we keep abreast of the worldwide military changes.
The editorial stresses that in ideological and political construction
lies the powerful driving force and fundamental guarantee for realizing
great leap-forward development in the modernization of armed forces,
promoting military changes with Chinese characteristics is a substantial
part and the cardinal approach to it, and be strict with the army is the
intrinsic requirement by and a vital guarantee for it.
(August 2, PLA
Daily)