BEIJING – China put its growing military might on full display Tuesdaywith a parade of new ballistic missiles, supersonic drones andnext-generation battlefield tanks that highlighted Beijing’s acceleratingrace to match the firepower of its US rival.
The tightly choreographed procession across Tiananmen Square underscored alevel of material and technological innovation that is increasingly viewedby many as a threat to US dominance in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.
President Xi Jinping, who reviewed the troops before the parade marking 70years of Communist Party rule, has pushed for the People’s Liberation Armyto become a “world-class” military by mid-century.
China’s rapid military modernisation comes as it faces rising diplomatictensions with the United States, with Washington worried about Beijing’sterritorial claims in the South China Sea and its ambitions to reunifyself-governed Taiwan with the mainland.
Some 15,000 PLA soldiers marched, while 580 pieces of military hardwarerolled across the square and 160 aircraft buzzed overhead as Xi and otherparty leaders looked on.
One of the standout new additions on display was the intercontinentalballistic missile DF-41, which can possibly carry up to 10 nuclear warheadsand reach any point in the United States.
According to state news agency Xinhua, the Dongfeng-41 missiles are “themainstay of China’s strategic nuclear strength”.
Another star at the parade was the ballistic missile JL-2, which can befired from a submarine and is equipped with a nuclear charge.
Its supposed range of 8,000 kilometres (5,000 miles) would allow it toreach Alaska and parts of the western United States, according to militaryinformation company Jane’s.
A new cruise missile, the DF-100, is reputed to travel beyond the speed ofsound and be able to neutralise aircraft carriers.
The short-to-medium-range DF-17 missile made its public debut. It isbelieved to be capable of releasing a “hypersonic glider” from the edge ofspace, with a tough-to-predict trajectory.
For the first time, Beijing showed off its WZ-8 drone, a supersonicreconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicle that could potentially be deployedby aircraft.
Anti-terrorist assault vehicles and armoured anti-riot vehicles from theFalcon Commando Unit also rolled through the square, which Xinhua said was”mainly used to crack down on terrorism and violence” and used for “dealingwith emergencies and fighting riots”.
The parade also featured new-generation main battlefield 99A tanks.
Xinhua said 40 percent of the weaponry displayed at the parade was new andall the armaments were made domestically.
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Adam Ni, an expert on China’s military modernisation at MacquarieUniversity in Sydney, told AFP the parade showed a “substantial progress ofChina’s nuclear forces”.
“Its nuclear arms are increasingly more mobile, resilient, reliable,precise, and technologically advanced,” he said.
“They are also more diversified: China is transitioning its nuclear forcefrom a reliance on land-based to one that is also sea-based and air-based,using submarines and stealth bombers.”
Xi said in a speech to kick off the parade that China only seeks “peacefuldevelopment” and that the two-million-strong PLA will “firmly uphold worldpeace”.
“This display of nuclear weapons doesn’t signal a change in China’s nuclearstrategy,” said Cui Yiliang, editor-in-chief of industry magazine “Modernwarships”.
“It will continue to have a small but effective nuclear arsenal. The goalis to have a nuclear deterrent and be able to conduct a second strike inretaliation in case of an attack by a third country,” Cui said.
In July Beijing outlined a national defence plan to build a modern,high-tech army.
China’s defence spending is second only to the United States — though itstill lags far behind — and it said earlier this year it planned to raiseit by 7.5 percent in 2019, though the increase in expenditure has slowed asthe economy has cooled in recent years.
In March Beijing said it would spend 1.19 trillion yuan ($177.6 billion) ondefence in 2019, after it increased its outlay by 8.1 percent to 1.11trillion yuan in 2018, according to a government report presented at thestart of the annual meeting of the National People’s Congress (NPC).
A report in April by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institutefound China’s military spending has risen 83 percent since 2009, bringingit up to second place, ahead of Saudi Arabia, India and France.
According to the report, the US figure alone of $649 billion in 2018 was asmuch as the next eight highest military budgets.
James Char, a military expert at Singapore’s Nanyang TechnologicalUniversity, warned there is still some way before China is as big amilitary technological power as the US.
“Actual martial prowess is not as easily showcased as displaying militaryhardware,” he said.
“So showing off these weapons — some of them probably still prototypes –at the parade has to be the easiest method for the Chinese Communist Partyregime to showcase the country’s military might to the world,” Char said.-APP/AFP
