World War 3: China’s Xi Jinping puts world on alert with chilling warning to troops
XI JINPING has told his military not to fear death as thousands of Chinese troops put on a stunning display of military strength in a major warning to the world.
Xi, reaffirming his status as China’s most dominant leader since Mao Zedong, told around 7,000 troops they should fear “neither hardship nor death” in a sabre-rattling speech in the northern province of Hebei.
The 64-year-old wore military uniform as he addressed the troops, who were positioned in front of dozens of military tanks to listen to the president’s speech.
He said the military should “create an elite and powerful force that is always ready for the fight, capable of combat and sure to win in order to fulfill the tasks bestowed by the Party and the people in the new era.
“The military at all levels should strengthen military training and war preparedness, unswervingly place military training at a strategic position and effectively implement military training as its central task.”
The president received wild applause from the troops present at the event, according to the Communist Party’s official newspaper, the People’s Daily.
The two-minute speech was broadcast live to more than 4,000 branch venues so that soldiers across China could listen.
Turning to the scarlet flag of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), they vowed to “resolutely obey Chairman Xi’s order”.
Xu Guangyu, a retired major general, told The Global Times: “This is the first time since the founding of the country that instructions on military training have been directly issued by the chairman of the CMC [Central Military Commission], and it shows that improving combat readiness is now a strategic mission for the Chinese military.”
The news comes amid growing global tensions as rivalries between Washington, Moscow and Beijing, as well as disparate views on the best way to solve the North Korea crisis, threaten to upset the fragile balance of peace between the main superpowers.
While President Xi and his US counterpart Donald Trump appeared friendly and united during the US President’s first year in the Oval Office, the leaders of the world’s two major economic powers are thought to be preparing for a far more cut-throat relationship in 2018.
Trump has swerved between praising China’s involvement in the North Korean crisis and condemning Beijing for not doing enough during his first year in office, but the President’s early 2018 tweets suggest a considerably more volatile foreign policy.
He told the New York Times shortly after Christmas: “If they [China] don’t help us with North Korea, then I do what I’ve always said I want to do.”
Mr Trump’s first tweet of the new year was an attack on Pakistan, accusing the country of lying and deceiving the United States and threatening to withdraw billions of dollars of aid.
While India and Afghanistan praised the President’s condemnation of Pakistan, China rushed to defend the “great sacrifices” the country has made to combat terrorism.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said: “It has made a prominent contribution to global anti-terror efforts.
“The international community should fully recognise this.”
However, the US President has repeatedly vowed to rectify what he sees as huge trade discrepancies between the US and China, and should Xi put nursing his own ego ahead of flattering Mr Trump, 2018 could prove rocky for Sino-US relations.
Source:- https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/900502/china-news-xi-jinping-chinese-army-china-war-warning
