Poster of Taiwan Province documentary "Soaring into the Sky" (2015).

Taiwanese drama’s touch of green (2015) poster.

For a long time, there are often only heroes and devils, or heroes and villains, but no one in the war narrative in Chinese-speaking circles. In this narrative, we almost forgot that the war was fought by people. In fact, soldiers, whether friend or foe, like all ordinary people, have some emotions, some dignity, some pride, and a lot of love and concern. In 2015, two video works produced by Taiwan Province-the documentary "Soaring into the Sky" and the TV series "touch of green"-did not stick to the old pattern, which made us see many such ordinary people in the war, and thus let us see the real war, not the myth about it.

The story of "Chongtian" covers the period from the founding of the Kuomintang Air Force to the end of the Anti-Japanese War. Touch of green goes on to tell the story of the Air Force’s journey from the Civil War to its retreat to Taiwan Province. It is almost a historical necessity to "live thousands of tragedies and change a few lines of notes in history" However, these two works run in the opposite direction, re-combing the "love for flying, longing for the sky, and those who hate each other and love each other" from the thin historical notes. Watching "Going to the Sky" is both heartbreaking and exciting, while watching "touch of green" is like being hollowed out bit by bit, and finally you can’t cry or move. During the Anti-Japanese War, the air force’s heroism and tragic look like Phnom Penh embedded in the rumble of war. In the civil war, the same group of people lost their heroism and tragic look. Facing their own rivers and mountains, their own people only saw the distortion and ferocity of the war, and this kind of war is like a mirror that makes people have nowhere to escape, forcing them to look straight at their struggles and even madness.

Both "Soaring into the Sky" and "touch of green" tell the cruelty of war, but the contrast between them shows an extremely profound moral insight: even in a very cruel war, the justice of war purpose (jus ad bellumThe just war recognized in the Charter of the United Nations is only self-defense war and humanitarian intervention authorized by the United Nations) and the justice of war means (jus in belloThe main requirements include prohibiting deliberate attacks on civilians, prohibiting violence against prisoners of war or taking revenge actions, and all the wounded and sick should be cared for and protected; These provisions, mainly concentrated in the Geneva Convention, are still the bottom line of human nature and provide vital protection for people’s natural moral feelings.

I. "Death Training Camp"

After the September 18th Incident, in response to Japan’s full-scale war of aggression against China, the Republic of China established a school for training air force pilots in Jianqiao, Hangzhou (now Jianqiao Town, Jianggan District, Hangzhou) in 1932, namely "Central Aviation School" (hereinafter referred to as "Aviation School"). This is almost a "death training camp", and it’s no secret. Every student approaching the school gate will see the inscription: "Our bodies, planes and bombs should perish together with the enemy, warships and positions." The banner hanging at their graduation ceremony reads: "Strong men will fly in the storm and swear to serve the country and not survive." Yes, for them, death comes quickly. Many of them were shot and crashed while fighting the enemy in the sky.

Others regret it before it soars into the sky. Gao Zhihang, known as the "God of War of the Air Force", learned to fly a plane in France in the 1920s. After returning to China, he worked as an instructor in an aviation school and trained the first generation of China pilots. He shot down several Japanese planes in just three months after the Sino-Japanese war, and was promoted to the position of Colonel Commander of the Air Force Expeller. In November 1937, Gao Zhihang was ordered to go to Lanzhou to receive Soviet aid fighters. After receiving the fighters, according to the order, he led the fighters to fly to Zhoujiakou (now Chuanhui District, Zhoukou City, Henan Province). Stay where you are because of the bad weather. On November 21st, Zhoujiakou Airport received a report that 11 Japanese planes were flying to the airport. He immediately ordered the battle, but by this time the Japanese fighters had flown over the airport. Under the dive bombing of the Japanese plane, Gao Zhihang boarded the plane, and just entered the engine room, he was hit by the shells dropped by the Japanese fighters. When he was killed, his hands were still tightly holding the joystick of the plane, at the age of 30.

They may even die of all kinds of misfortunes. At that time, Liu Cuigang, one of the "Four donkey kong" of the Air Force (the second student of the Aviation School), shot down seven Japanese planes in three months. He is not only a famous flying general, but also an iron bird and an idiot. When pursuing Ms. Xu Xilin, she flew low on the other side’s roof, and she first touched her future mother-in-law by doing flying stunts.

On October 25th, 1937, Liu Cuigang was ordered to lead three planes to cover the Eighth Route Army’s counterattack against Niangziguan. On the 26th, he took two wingmen off from Lishui Airport in Jiangsu and arrived in Luoyang to refuel. At that time, the weather was very bad. He still insisted on taking off and flew near Niangziguan at 8 o’clock that night, but failed to get in touch with the Eighth Route Army by air and decided to fly back to Luoyang. On the way back, the three planes ran out of fuel. Liu Cuigang sent flares to help the two wingmen parachute and insisted on landing. At that time, the national army had less than 300 planes, and one was destroyed and one was less; If the pilot parachutes, the plane will almost certainly be damaged, but if it is successfully forced to land, it may be both man and machine. However, during the forced landing, he crashed into the Kuixing Building in Gaoping (now Gaoping City, Shanxi Province) and died on the spot. He is only 24 years old and has been married to Xu Xilin for one year.

Their death may have gone through many twists and turns, with hope and despair alternating. On April 29th, 1938, Japan sent 54 planes to attack Wuhan, its capital. Chen Huaimin (the fifth student of Aviation School), who had not recovered from the injury, took the place of his sick comrade-in-arms to meet the enemy. At that time, a Japanese plane piloted by Gao Qiao Kenichi, a pilot of the Second Air Force of the Japanese Navy, bit his landline. In the air fight, he was shot and the fuel tank caught fire. Instead of dying, he turned the fuselage and rushed to the enemy plane, which collided. In this fatal collision, he escaped death again: he successfully parachuted during the plane crash. However, he landed on the Yangtze River and fell into the water. After several struggles, I finally failed to get out of danger because of old injuries, new injuries and parachutes. Only 22 years old.

The death notice parcels that appear constantly in "Chongtian", the scene of burning paper and money that reappears repeatedly in "touch of green", the wailing of relatives, and the pilots’ black boxes (which contain their simple lives, such as their small items and various documents) are all reminding people that the deaths of these national pilots come so frequently and suddenly. The cause of death of many people is even unimaginable. However, it was themselves who first reconciled with this fact.

Shortly before Liu Cuigang’s death, he wrote to his wife Xu Xilin: "If I sacrificed my life for my country, it would be my bounden duty … I only hope that you will always remember to meet such a person as me in your life journey." Another pilot, Zhang Dafei (the 12th student of Aviation School), wrote in his diary: "I also went drinking and dancing on vacation now. I’m 26 years old, and I’ve never tasted these things before … Three days ago, my last friend didn’t return home at night, and I knew it was my turn next. I pray, I meditate, and I feel calm inside. "

Death is a moment for them, but their death often brings irreparable pain to the living, throwing the relatives and orphans into the tide of ruthless fate. Treating this aspect of war, there seems to be a strange paradox between Soaring into the Sky and touch of green.

On the one hand,As a TV series, touch of green guards deep realism.. After her husband’s death, his family members will either stay under the umbrella of the village as soon as possible, accept the "handover", marry another soldier under the arrangement of the army, and live a husband-and-wife life of "you don’t like me"; Either walk out of the umbrella of the family village and face the problem that women in that era could not escape alone: "What happened after Nora left?" Not surprisingly, they can’t escape the fate of women running away-selling themselves.

On the other hand,As a documentary, "Soaring into the Sky" tells the story of the idealism that women in reality have personally lived.. After receiving the news of Liu Cuigang’s death, Xu Xilin wrote: "In essence, you are really benevolent and have done your duty as a soldier. But I’m in the middle of nowhere, and I don’t know how to spend my time … You always say that I will spare no effort to run a school after retirement. Now that you have done your best, I have decided to follow your legacy and start with basic education to instill your indomitable spirit in the future youth. " At the end of 1937, Xu Xilin founded Cuigang Primary School in Kunming.

Japanese pilot Gao Qiao Kenichi died in an air fight with Chen Huaimin. A letter and photos just sent to him by his wife Mieko were found among his relics.

Kenichi:

Somehow I always feel uneasy and want to hear from you … I even sometimes think that it is better not to be a pilot’s wife. Being a pilot’s wife always leads a lonely life. So I am sometimes happy and sometimes sad, and my heart is full of tears! Sometimes I can comfort myself when I think that many people have died innocently … and you are still alive, but after three or four days, I am still disheartened! ….. Your family misses you infinitely, and I hope you take good care of yourself. It is not an honor to die alone. I pray you to perform your duties very carefully! The nanny who takes care of the children, after taking a bath for them every day, puts them into the warm bed with great concern, and the children always sleep soundly. These two children live in laughter every day. …

The day before, I watched my brother Chen Huaimin go out of the house and read a letter from Mihui Zi. The twenty-year-old woman actually wrote back to the twenty-year-old woman in the enemy country:

Mrs Gao Qiao, Ms Mieko:

….. I lost my brother’s mood, which made me put myself in your shoes (literally) thinking that you lost Mr. Gao Qiao’s mood, and that the Chinese and Japanese people were so tragically sacrificed under the wrong policies of your warlords! My mother, who only gazed sadly at the careless river and the bleak moonlight, let the painful memories beat her old and broken heartstrings. However, you are young and affectionate, and pieces of cherry blossoms will also arouse acacia. You may be able to think about the fate of mankind from the tragic experience! Brother Huai Min resolutely rammed Gao Qiao’s plane and mutually assured destruction with Gao Qiao. This is not to vent his personal vendetta against Gao Qiao. He and Gao Qiao Jun have no personal enmity. They just crushed themselves on behalf of two different forces … I often miss you. Thinking of your two children who lived in laughter all day, and your disabled and desolate life since then, I wish I could not come to your country immediately to see you in person and share a friendly life with you. I will never hate you for your domestic warlords’ aggression against us. I deeply understand your pain of being oppressed by that crazy warlord … I have to tell you that I hate war. But we in China are fighting against violence, and this kind of war is a war to safeguard justice and humanity. This meaning is different from yours. If your warlord’s brutal behavior towards China and his ambition to occupy China’s territory don’t stop for a day, every Chinese of us, regardless of sex, age and age, will take part in a more violent and intensified struggle, and even if it is shattered, no one will give in …

Chen Nan wrote on May 31, 1938.This letter was published in Wuhan Daily at that time, and it was translated into many languages and spread all over the world. After that, Chen Nan searched for Miyoko in many ways and finally found her in 1990, half a century later. —— Author’s Note)

Second, the debt of conscience in war

Pilots are likely to look down on their own death, because they know that "every take-off may be a farewell, and every landing should be thanked to God". What makes it more difficult for them to let go is the death of others that they saw with their own eyes and even caused with their own hands. In a letter to his girlfriend Qi Bangyuan, Zhang Dafei, a student of the 12th Aviation School, wrote his "victory" like this: "I took off two days ago to search for enemy planes. A plane painted with red sun suddenly appeared in the crack in the clouds directly ahead. I saw the face of the man in the cockpit gently and clearly. Look frightened. I didn’t have time to think about it. I only knew that if I didn’t shoot first, I would die. Up to now, I can’t forget the face of the pilot who fell into the plane. "

For ordinary people, "Do not kill" is the deepest moral law. Soldiers used to be ordinary people, and many soldiers still can’t overcome this heavy moral law when they go to war.. According to the research of American military historian Marshall (1900-1977), 75% of American soldiers who fought in the front line in World War II never fired a gun at the enemy, even though they were facing threats. It seems that they are more afraid of killing people than of being killed themselves. For people with a sound conscience, killing people always seems to kill their own humanity at the same time. Zhang Dafei’s haunting face of Japanese pilots is full of fear, which represents the common conscience debt of soldiers, even though they firmly believe that their actions are just. (For data on the proportion of American soldiers who never fired at the enemy in World War II, see Marshall’s book: Men Against Fire: The Problem of Battle Command, first edition, 1947; The data was later questioned, but in World War II, many American soldiers were afraid to shoot because of moral concerns, which was indeed widespread. —— Author’s Note)

If the conscience debt of killing the enemy can be alleviated by resorting to justice for the purpose of war, another debt may be more difficult to discharge:When the comrades who fought with themselves were desperate, there was nothing they could do..

In June, 1944, American soldier Bill Evan landed in Normandy with his village friend Frederick Jones. When they were marching to a French village, they were attacked by the German army, and the branches scattered by the bomb pierced Jones’ face. More than fifty years later, Bill recalled the scene in a documentary:

Jones kept screaming … All I could see was that the flesh on his face was torn open, the cheekbones were exposed, and the blood kept spraying out … I took out my bandage and wrapped it around his face three times, when I heard the chief shouting, "Ivan, leave him alone, leave him alone! Leave him to the medical team … Get out, get out … "I left him there … I didn’t know until a few years ago that Jones died that day, bleeding to death …" (See World War II: The Last Heroes, 1 Season, Episode 2. —— Author’s Note)

At this point, Bill’s wrinkled cheeks are red, his lips are trembling and his eyes are full of tears: "I feel guilty, I am not smart enough … what I did didn’t help him at all …"

Watching his comrade-in-arms die, Bill still can’t get over it after more than 50 years, and the experience of killing his comrade-in-arms personally made Guo Fan, a pilot in touch of green, almost completely collapse. The Japanese army provoked him. He took two wingmen to meet the enemy and was surrounded by the Japanese fleet. A wingman disintegrated in the air after being shot. Another wingman crashed, and the pilot Zhang Zhichu couldn’t leave the cabin. The plane caught fire and was about to be burned alive. Zhang Zhichu radioed Guo Fan for help, begging Guo Fan to kill him in the air, so that he could avoid longer and more severe pain. Guo Fan flew back in tears and used the last row of bullets on Zhang Zhichu. For a long time after that, Guo Fan was afraid to visit his dead comrades in the Air Force Mausoleum.

Jiang Weicheng (the captain of the 11th Brigade in touch of green) cherishes his superb flying skills. For his future, he lets him hide this experience of falling into enemy’s trap, losing the whole team and killing his comrades by himself. However, Guo Fan can’t help it. He must say it, even shout it out, and let everyone know that it seems that only in this way can he get the qualification to worship in Zhang Zhichu’s cemetery, and at the same time get the inner peace of flying to the sky again.

In any case, killing the enemy, witnessing the death of a comrade-in-arms, and even sending a comrade-in-arms on the road by hand are all right in a sense, or at least not wrong. So Bill would say, "I feel guilty, but not that I blame myself." Therefore, Guo Fan will feel comforted by Zhu Qing’s words, "I think it is courage for you to fly back".

Compared with all this,There is another kind of death and killing that seems never to be right: killing civilians in war..

According to the international law of war, in war, the army should openly hold weapons and clearly identify itself; The target of the attack can only be the opposing army; At any time, we should try our best to avoid hurting civilians who are not involved in the war. Touch of green tells the story that the air force swept away and killed villagers in the civil war, which is the most disturbing. The superior ordered them to go out on a task, and they were choosy and found various reasons to escape. The officer angered them: "You are not fighters or bombers. What kind of planes are you!" " Guo Fan replied, "We are dustpans, and we specialize in sweeping villages!" They were humbled in one word.

Even if there is a situation, even if there are military orders, they still can’t escape the condemnation of their conscience. Killing the innocent has become a curse that they can’t cross over. After a village sweeping operation, looking at the bodies of women and children, Jiang Weicheng choked and said, "We will pay for it." Guo Fan picked up the bamboo-woven insect that the little girl was playing with before she died, and said, "I have already called for retribution; Zhu Qing wrote that the child was gone. " ….. He took the bamboo insect back to the barracks and put it in front of his bed. He often took it out and played with it, thinking about his unborn child. It seems that only this explanation of exchanging life for life can bring him some comfort. At the end of the civil war, this hot-blooded young man who fought against Japan for seven years and tried to die with the Japanese plane died in the northeast battlefield. The banner of "People’s War Criminals" hung on the wreckage of the plane revealed the absurdity and sadness of his fate.

Third, post-war syndrome

For soldiers, compared with their common death, living is not necessarily much better. When the war comes, it is often time for soldiers and their families to separate, because the battlefield is in the front and home is best in the rear. This separation has opened two parallel worlds: people in one world have to face death and disability constantly, and people in the other world have to calculate daily necessities. The pilot is like a kite in the sky, walking through the bloody rain, and his family’s concern for him is the thread tied to the kite, which becomes their only connection with another world.

Zhang Dafei said in his diary: "In the past eight years, her (Qi Bangyuan) letter has been my greatest comfort." In the northeast battlefield, Jiang Weicheng, Shao Zhijian (in "touch of green", first served as the vice captain of the 11th Air Force Brigade, then promoted to captain) and Guo Fan gathered around to open a letter from Nanjing, which was one of the few warm scenes under the dark background of the war. But as the war unfolds for a long time, how can the thin thread tied to the kite stop these two parallel worlds from drifting away?

Guo Fan is an iron bird idiot like Liu Cuigang. He left home after his wedding. Every day, he took a photo of his wife Zhu Qing in his hand and put it in his bag, but he had to admit painfully, "I don’t even remember what my wife looks like." This alienation is not only the alienation of time and space, but also the alienation of military career and peaceful days. For those desperate people who always wander between life and death, lovers and children seem to have become some abstract values, as if you just "know" that they are important, but that kind of "importance" has no body temperature, no breath, and is more like a symbol. Because of this, Guo Fan can’t remember his married life with Zhu Qing, but only remembers her when she was a student. Soldiers are actually in a very poor living condition, because in the long-term survival condition, they simply can’t spare more psychological space for those things that could have made their lives full and rich.

At the end of the war, these two parallel universes suddenly merged into one. The air force returned to earth from the sky. Shouldn’t this be the best reunion? In fact, this is often not the case.The war and the army have shaped the unique character, ability and lifestyle of soldiers. These abilities and qualities tailored to the battlefield often have no room for display in peaceful life, and even are incompatible with ordinary citizens’ lives.. Jiang Weicheng, a former air force instructor and captain of a flight brigade, was first-class in flying skills. He was brave and decisive in fighting, but after leaving the plane and the battlefield, he became a useless man. The plane seems to have already become a part of his body, and it is the most flexible and powerful part that gives him the whole spirit. Leaving the plane, he seems to have lost his soul. This is not Jiang Weicheng’s personal problem, but a common problem faced by soldiers: what can they do when they return to civil society after leaving the army? American policy experience and statistical data in dealing with veterans’ problems show that the unemployment rate of veterans is often higher than that of the general population if there is no effective systematic support from society and government.

Not only are their professional skills useless in the civil society, but for those who are lucky enough to survive, the cruel war is often not really over. After Jiang Weicheng came back from the northeast, he was afraid to meet children because he had killed too many children. He often dreams of going back to the battlefield, hearing his comrades’ cries for help and seeing their tragic deaths. His memory is slowly fading, and sometimes he can’t even recognize his wife. The depiction of Jiang Weicheng’s post-war mental state in touch of green can be regarded as an artistic expression of what is called post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in modern medicine.PTSD is common among soldiers returning from the battlefield..

American veteran Charlie Grijalva served in Afghanistan for 18 months and in Iraq for one year. He was diagnosed with PTSD in the army and suffered from depression for a long time. After retiring, he lived in California with his wife Gloria. They have a two or three-year-old boy and a baby still in Gloria’s belly. Because of various problems in the American veterans’ medical system, Charlie’s PTSD failed to get timely and effective treatment. Christmas in 2014 is coming, and he insists on giving his children a wonderful Christmas, filling the room with Christmas music, decorating the Christmas tree and drinking hot chocolate.

Gloria said: "Although he suffered from depression at that time, he still hoped that his children could have such a Christmas", and lived a carefree Christmas like he did when he was a child. However, just a few days before Christmas approached, Charlie sent his wife a short message saying, "I love you!" " A few hours later, Gloria found her husband hanging himself.

In 2014, an average of 20 veterans committed suicide every day in the United States. For soldiers who return to civil society with all kinds of physical and mental trauma, love and affection are like silk threads tied to their normal lives, thin and fragile.

Fourth, how does the country treat the soul of the patriotic army well?

The suicide of veterans is not that they are irresponsible, nor that the love of their loved ones is not warm enough. Turning an ordinary person who is flesh and blood, painful and afraid into a soldier who does not run back without thinking, but rushes forward regardless of life and death in the face of bullets is a thorough transformation. And turning a soldier who rushed forward regardless of life and death in the face of bullets into an ordinary person whose wife and children are hot and remember to pay the electricity bill every month is another transformation. If a country is only willing to spend its resources and efforts on the first transformation of its soldiers, and throw their second transformation to themselves and their families, why should such a country ask its people to join the army and sacrifice for it?

Jiang Weicheng in "touch of green" did not receive medical services for veterans, but suffered more humiliation under the white terror of the Kuomintang. This taiwanese drama is sincere, and it shows the country’s debt to the soldiers to the point where it hurts to the bone.

These two video works show not only the China Air Force of that era, but also all the soldiers involved in the war, their honor, pain and suffocating helplessness behind the seemingly unrelenting feat. Ordinary people have no right to stop the war, but if thousands of us are full of sympathy and cherish for the soldiers and refuse to use them as tools for expanding ambitions, fighting for power and venting hatred, we are more likely to have a government that uses troops prudently.

I don’t agree with absolute pacifism that we can’t fight back under any circumstances, because sometimes we have to take up arms to defend our homeland or safeguard justice. Moreover, if every country only fights a just war, there will be no war; If every country that fights a just war can fight in a just way, soldiers will not be loyal and righteous.

But,have onlyEvery country that has fought a just war in a just way can treat its soldiers well, and the world is worthy of the peace they exchanged with their lives, blood and a life that might have been very happy..

　　　　　　　　Early spring of 1967, the second year of the "Cultural Revolution". The 19-year-old Lu Zhi was only in high school for one year, and the school closed and made a revolution. In that crazy era, everything related to traditional culture was dismissed as the "four olds". Depressed but eager to find out the future fate, Lu Zhiji was introduced by a good friend’s mother and came to the home of a fortune teller who lived in an alley at the intersection of Chongqing Road in Huaihai Middle Road, Shanghai. In the depressed years, Lu Zhiji hoped to see a little bit of the future.

　　　　　　　　"In the dim light, the old man with silver hair calculated the horoscope for me. At that time, I talked for more than half an hour, and I can’t remember the specific content. But there are two sentences that are deeply imprinted in my mind. He said with a strong Ningbo accent,’ Brother, study hard. Just be 30 years old, and you will go abroad to study in the future. " Lu Zhiji recalled the past 40 years ago to The Paper (www.thepaper.cn) reporter, "Traveling abroad was almost impossible for me at that time. At that time, whether the high school courses could be completed became a problem, not to mention going abroad for further study, and my family had no overseas relations at all. "

　　　　　　　　In 1977, the ten-year "Cultural Revolution" ended, and the country resumed the college entrance examination system. In 1978, the enrollment system of the institute was reopened. In this year, Lu Zhiji obtained a master’s degree in Chinese Department of Fudan University with "equivalent academic ability". In 1978, I was just 30 years old, which was an important turning point in my life. Five years later, Lu Zhiji went to the University of Illinois in the United States to study for a doctorate in language.

　　　　　　　　"When I was sitting on a plane to the United States and saw the vast ocean from the window, I remembered the words of the old fortune teller. His prediction more than ten years ago was actually realized, which was incredible. How did he calculate it? From this time on, my curiosity about China’s traditional numerology rose in my heart. "After Lu Zhiji went to the United States, he began to study numerology. In 2008, Lu Zhiji completed and was published by Shanghai People’s Publishing House, which completely reviewed the development history of China’s numerology.

Book Seal of Lu Zhiji’s History of China’s Numerology

What is eight-character numerology?

　　　　　　　　In ancient China, there were two main schools to study personal destiny through birth time: eight-character numerology and "Ziwei Doushu" fortune-telling technique. The origin of the divination is often related to ancient astronomy, or to ancient astrology. In ancient times, whether in China or in the West, astrology and astronomy were often difficult to distinguish. However, eight-character numerology is not astrology, and Lu Zhiji defined it as a calculation system based on the natural ecological model with Yin-Yang and Five Elements as the core formed in ancient China.

　　　　　　　　The ancients used heavenly stems and earthly branches to mark time. Tiangan and Dizhi are referred to as "Ganzhi" for short. According to legend, it was founded by Da Nao’s family in the Yellow Emperor’s era. In Xiao Ji’s "The Five Elements of Righteousness: On the Name of Ganzhi" in the Sui Dynasty, it was recorded that "those who support Ganzhi are established because of the five elements. At the time of Xuanyuan in the past, it was created by Da Nao. " The ancients first used the ten days of "A, B, C, D, E, Ji, G, Xin, Ren and Gui" to mark the day; Use the twelve branches of "Zi, Ugliness, Yin, Mao, Chen, Si, Wu, Wei, Shen, You, Xu and Hai" to record the moon. The ancients used the method of matching a heavenly stem and a earthly branch in order to record the date, which is the "dry branch discipline method". Since the least common multiple of the ten-day stem and the twelve-day branch is 60, according to the combination cycle, there are 60 stem-branch combinations from Jiazi to Guihai, which is commonly known as "Sixty-one Jiazi".

　　　　　　　　The year, month, day and hour of a person’s birth can be arranged into eight characters according to the discipline of cadres and branches, and the eight characters are also called "four pillars". The so-called "four pillars" take heavenly stems and earthly branches, the year of a person’s birth, as the first pillar, heavenly stems and earthly branches in the month as the second pillar, heavenly stems and earthly branches in the day as the third pillar and heavenly stems and earthly branches in the hour as the fourth pillar. Therefore, China’s traditional numerology calls the method of calculating a person’s life’s fate "Pai birthdates" or "Pai Si Zhu".

　　　　　　　　The eight characters are arranged at 7: 00 pm on February 18 this year. This specific time period is: B Wei, E Yin, B Ugly, and C Xu. "If at this time, a newborn was born. When he heard his first cry, his birthdates was: B Wei, E Yin, B Ugly, C Xu. These eight words are the marks of the baby’s birth time. Any time in China tradition (called’ time’ in ancient times) can be expressed by such a combination of heaven and earth, and there is no mysterious color here. " Lu Zhiji said.

　　　　　　　　In the field of traditional numerology in China, the "eight characters" in a person’s birth period marked the changing state of the universe at that time, while the ancients believed that everything had natural laws such as "punishment, rushing, merging, transforming" and "five elements interacting with each other". The so-called good or bad fate refers to the interaction between these eight characters, and from this, people’s life can be calculated.

Wuxing shengketu

Where is the basis for the eight-character deduction of fate?

　　　　　　　　"It is necessary to talk about the concepts of Qi, Yin and Yang, and Five Elements, which is a unique way of thinking for ancient people in China to understand the world. In the eyes of the ancients in China,’ Qi’ is a subtle substance, which fills the boundless space. It has two states: being and being. The so-called "gas accumulation leads to formation, and gas dispersion leads to death" means that the concrete objects we can see and touch are the relatively stable condensed state of "gas"; The physical object is destroyed and can’t be seen, that is, its’ tangible’ quality has returned to the’ intangible’ gas. In modern terms,’ Qi’ is a kind of hidden energy and the material source of everything in the world. Although we don’t know its specific structure yet, didn’t the atomic theory of ancient Greek philosophers be confirmed after two thousand years? " Lu Zhiji said.

　　　　　　　　The root of the change of qi in heaven and earth comes from the power of yin and yang. Lu Zhiji said that the original meaning of "yin and yang" is very simple: "Yang" facing the sun and "Yin" facing away from the sun. "In fact, here has implied the relative relationship between the sun and the earth. Without sun movement, there would be no yin and yang. Without the movement of the sun, there is no way to talk about yin and yang. "

Taiji diagram representing yin and yang

　　　　　　　　The interaction of yin and yang produces "five elements"-gold, wood, water, fire and earth. At first, the five elements refer to five indispensable material resources in people’s lives, and later they evolved into the internal attributes and motion states of the five materials. "With the concept of Yin-Yang and Five Elements, the movement of" Qi "is concrete, showing a periodic change movement, which was described by heavenly stems and earthly branches in ancient times. For example: A is a male wood and B is a female wood; C is yang fire, D is yin fire, and so on. The state of Yin and Yang and five elements in each time period can be described by a group of stem and branch structures (eight characters). For example, the New Year’s Eve in this time period: B Wei, E Yin, B Ugly, C Xu, roughly speaking, is composed of two yin trees (B), one yang fire (C) and two yang earth. Therefore,’ fortune telling’ actually begins with calculating the gas field when an individual is born. "

Eight-character numerology forms a vein

　　　　　　　　"The traditional numerology, which calculates one’s destiny by the time of birth, began to take shape in the Three Kingdoms period," Lu Zhiji introduced.

　　　　　　　　At present, Guan Lu, a warlock of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period, is the earliest record about the theory of fate that can be seen from ancient books and documents. "The History of the Three Kingdoms, Wei Shu" recorded his comments on his own destiny: "I have life’s core monuments in Yin, and I will be born at night with an eclipse of the moon. God bless the constant, you can’t violate it, but people don’t know it. Before and after my death, there were more than 100 people, and there was nothing wrong with it … I died in February next year, at the age of 48. "

　　　　　　　　Guan Lu wrote "life’s core monuments is in Yin", which means that he was born in the 15th year of Jian ‘an (209). He calculated his own time limit and predicted the death of more than 100 people, which is basically right. Guan Lu died in 256 at the age of 48.

　　　　　　　　The ancient people’s exploration of numerology was not slow. According to the biography of Dai Yang in the Book of Jin, Dai Yang saw Liu Yin, who was guarding Xunyang at that time, and told him not to see guests on Gengyin Day on December 22nd. He also told Liu Yin to take precautions, but Liu Yin didn’t take it seriously and was really killed by Guo Mo on that day. "We can already see the traces of inferring by using the animal year, the fleeting time and the relationship between the cadres and the branches of the days. Cha Liuyin was killed in the fifth year of Xianhe in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (220 years), and it was only more than 70 years since Guan Lu decided his life," Lu Zhiji said.

　　　　　　　　Lu Zhiji believes that in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, people have reached a consensus on the concept of destiny. "A large number of historical materials have been recorded, such as the’ Change of River and Yin’ in the Northern Dynasties." "Northern History Sun Shaochuan" records that Sun Shaoshan, who lives in a high position, pushes Lu’s life. One day I went to the early dynasty, but the east gate was not open, and the ministers waited in front of the door. Among many officials, Sun Shao pulled Xin Xiong, a doctor in the official department, aside and secretly told him: "All the people here are looking for death, but I and Qing still enjoy wealth" (everyone here will die, and only you and I can survive and enjoy wealth). Not long after, Hu Taihou of the Northern Wei Dynasty killed Emperor Xiaoming and gave birth to his youngest son, Yuan Zhao. Erzhurong, chieftain of Chihu tribe, used this as a reason to advance eastward, and Luoyang Shoujiang surrendered without fighting. Er Zhurong drowned Hu Taihou and his young emperor in Heyin (present-day Henan) and strangled more than 2,000 officials in the palace of the Northern Wei Dynasty, which is called "the change of Heyin" in history.

　　　　　　　　During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, there were also some numerology works. In Song Lian’s Debate on Lu Ming in the Ming Dynasty, it was pointed out: "Lin Xiaogong has Lu Ming Shu and Tao Hongjing has A Copy of Three Lives". "Tao Hongjing was a man between Qi and Liang in the Southern Dynasties, and Lin Xiaogong was circulated in the History of the North and Sui Shu. Both of them were proficient in Yin and Yang and the Five Elements, but it’s a pity that these two books have long been lost. Due to the lack of literature, although we can be sure that in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, there were activities of discussing fate in the sense of obedience, it is difficult to investigate what specific methods were used, "Lu Zhiji said.

　　　　　　　　During the Sui Dynasty, an important figure appeared in the history of numerology, that is, Xiao Ji, the founder of the Sui Dynasty, was born in the imperial clan of Qi and Liang Dynasties. After four dynasties and fifteen emperors, Xiao Ji was knowledgeable and knowledgeable, especially in yin and yang arithmetic. Xiao Ji’s main contribution lies in his book "Five Elements of Justice", which brings together the classics from pre-Qin to Sui Dynasty, Wei Shu and the ancient books of various schools of thought about the five elements theory and becomes an important document for future generations to understand and study the ancient five elements theory.

　　　　　　　　It was in the middle Tang Dynasty that numerology really formed a "model" and entered a new stage. Li Xuzhong is regarded as the first master in the field of numerology. In the first year of Li Xuzhong Tang Dezong, he was a scholar, and later an official went to the temple to advise the history. The epitaph written by Han Yu, a literary giant in the Tang Dynasty, for Li Xuzhong records that "(Virtual Middle School) is young and long, likes learning, and learning is all-pervasive. Deepest than the five-line book. Based on the year, month and day of a person’s life ….. pushing people to be premature, expensive and unfavorable, and never losing one or two. " It can be seen that Li Xuzhong is good at numerology deduction, and his name is heavy for a while.

　　　　　　　　"Li Xuzhong’s important contribution is that he created the first theoretical model of numerology. Because of this contribution, later generations regarded him as the originator of traditional numerology. Li Xuzhong’s Book of Destiny defines a basic framework for determining fate, and determines that the starting point for determining fate is based on years, and introduces the concepts of the fifth column’ fetal element’, Nayin Wuxing, Shensha, etc., in addition, it includes’ luck’, which can be divided into Universiade, Small Luck, Starting Luck, and Tai-sui fleeting time. I call this model’ the ancient method model’, which is different from the present one.

　　　　　　　　"At the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, the new numerology model began to show its outstanding head. In the early Ming Dynasty, it was the time when the ancient law model alternated with the new theory of life model in the later period. By the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the present law model had been formed and occupied the leading position in numerology, "Lu Zhiji introduced.

　　　　　　　　Eight-character numerology is also commonly known as "Zi Ping Shu" or "Zi Ping Numerology", which is named after another extremely important figure in the history of numerology-Xu Ziping. When and where Xu Ziping came from is still controversial. It is said that Xu Ziping once lived in seclusion in Huashan with Chen Tuan, a famous Taoist figure. "Through the textual research of historical materials, this kind of rumor may not necessarily conform to the facts. At present, it may be judged that he is a person of the Five Dynasties and the Early Song Dynasty. Xu Ziping’s contribution lies in the creation of a new model framework for numerology analysis, which I called’ Modern Law Model’ in China’s History of Numerology, and the basic framework of this model has been applied to today.

　　　　　　　　Li Xuzhong’s ancient law model, including the column of "fetal element", is actually a five-column theory of fate. Xu Ziping canceled this column and began to focus on the daily stem. The point of analysis was moved from the original annual column to the word "the daily stem", and a set of analysis programs was established based on this.

　　　　　　　　Lu Zhiji believes that this change from Nianzhu to Rizhu is also a projection of the realistic situation of historical evolution: "Since the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the China regime has been almost controlled by the aristocratic family, and the aristocratic family has a superior position in all aspects. The so-called’ top-grade cold family, inferior aristocratic family’ is such a portrayal, and personal background is of decisive significance. In numerology,’ Nianzhu’ stands for family origin. This reality is reflected in early numerology, and it is naturally based on’ Nianzhu’. After the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the gate valve was gradually destroyed, and the imperial examination system made it possible for civilians to enter the official career. Xu Ziping’s modern law model shifted the core of life to the’ Japanese column’ representing personal situation. "

Is the trajectory of life established?

　　　　　　　　"Eight-character numerology, in the final analysis, is to find and reveal the corresponding relationship between birth time, life potential and life trajectory of the birth person", Lu Zhiji emphasized: "We should pay attention to an important basic understanding: this corresponding relationship is not decisive, but only a probabilistic correlation, which is the result of a lot of observation, experience and statistics. There are many factors that affect a person’s growth and development, both innate and acquired. A person’s life course is closely related to his acquired environment: family, education, social politics and economic system. "

　　　　　　　　Lu Zhiji made an analogy with a moving car: Life seems to be a new car, and its specific performance and structure have been determined when it leaves the factory. For the individual’s "life", there is also "luck". "Yun" is the road the car will travel. The car running on the road is the interaction between fate and luck. In the eyes of the ancients, it is the interaction between fate and luck, showing a colorful trajectory of life ups and downs.

　　　　　　　　"Eight-character numerology is developed into a system to describe this correspondence under the thinking mode of the ancient theory of Yin-Yang and Five Elements, and there is no mystery. If this correspondence is exaggerated as a decisive relationship, it will lead to a fatalistic view, but it will lead numerology astray. Therefore, it is expected that the prediction of numerology will be accurate, which is either a commercial banner to set up a fortune teller to attract business, or an idiot’s dream. "Lu Zhiji said that the ancients in China were not so superstitious.

　　　　　　　　Wang Chong in the Eastern Han Dynasty wrote in "On the Balance of Life and Righteousness": "Song, Wei, Chen and Zheng suffered disasters on the same day, and the people of the four countries will have people who have prospered but have not declined. However, all disasters will bring disaster to the country. The life of the country is better than life, and life expectancy is better than life. " That is to say, the four countries of Song, Wei, Chen and Zheng suffered disasters on the same day. Are all the people of the four countries in bad luck? Obviously impossible, when the national destiny that dominates the big environment comes into play, the rise and fall of personal destiny is completely meaningless.

　　　　　　　　There are many people born at the same time in the same year, the same month and the same day in the world. Are their fates exactly the same? This is the most common question people have about horoscope fortune telling. Lu Zhiji said that Wan Mingying, the author of the Ming Dynasty numerology masterpiece "Three Fates Meeting", answered this question. "There are indeed differences. Wan Mingying collected a large number of life cases born at the same time for comparison. For example, officials born at the same time not only have different official positions, but also have different time and way of death."

　　　　　　　　"So Liang Xiangrun, a modern numerologist, wrote in A Brief History of Life that numerology only has a probability of 60% to 70%." Lu Zhiji said: "The space-time structure of human birth is related to life information, which is a great hypothesis of Chinese ancestors. The rational exploration of numerology in the past two thousand years is essentially an empirical study of this hypothesis. Traditional numerology has existed in folk culture for a long time, and it lacks systematic arrangement. In the process of development, it is inevitable to mix with some mysterious veil of superstition and deception methods of charlatans. Because of this, it is very important to reorganize the spiritual blood of our own ancient culture. "　 　 　 　

　　Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, July 24th, the State Council Press Office published a white paper entitled "China’s National Defense in the New Era" on July 24th. The full text is as follows:

　　China’s national defense in the new era.

　　People’s Republic of China (PRC)

　　the State Council Information Office

　　(July 2019)

　　catalogue

　　foreword

　　I. International security situation

　　Second, China’s defensive national defense policy in the new era

　　Third, fulfill the mission of the army in the new era

　　Fourth, China’s national defense and army in reform.

　　V. Reasonable and moderate defense expenditure

　　Sixth, actively serve and build a community of human destiny

　　Concluding remarks

　　foreword

　　In today’s world, mankind has increasingly become a community of destiny with mixed interests, safety and common prosperity. Today, China is in the critical stage of building a well-off society in an all-round way and starting a new journey of building a socialist modern country in an all-round way, and Socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era.

　　In order to declare China’s defensive national defense policy in the new era, introduce China’s practice, purpose and significance of building a consolidated national defense and a strong army, and enhance the international community’s understanding of China’s national defense, the China government published a white paper entitled "China’s National Defense in the New Era".

　　I. International security situation

　　Today, the world is experiencing a great change that has never happened in a century. World multipolarization, economic globalization, social informationization and cultural diversity are developing in depth. The trend of the times of peace, development, cooperation and win-win is irreversible, but the instability and uncertainty facing international security are more prominent, and the world is not peaceful.

　　The international strategic pattern has undergone profound evolution.

　　The international forces have accelerated the division and combination, the strength of emerging market countries and developing countries has continued to rise, and the strategic forces have become more balanced. Promoting peace, stability and development have become the universal demands of the international community, and the rise of peace forces far exceeds the growth of war factors. However, hegemonism, power politics and unilateralism have risen from time to time, regional conflicts and local wars have continued, and the international security system and order have been impacted.

　　International strategic competition is on the rise. The United States has adjusted its national security strategy and national defense strategy, pursued a unilateralist policy, provoked and intensified competition among major powers, substantially increased military spending, accelerated the upgrading of its capabilities in the fields of nuclear, space, network and missile defense, and undermined global strategic stability. NATO continued to expand its membership, strengthened its military deployment in Central and Eastern Europe and held frequent military exercises. Russia strengthens its nuclear and non-nuclear strategic containment capabilities and strives to safeguard its strategic security space and its own interests. The tendency of the EU to independently safeguard its own security has increased, and the integration of security and defense has been accelerated.

　　Global and regional security issues continue to increase. International arms control and disarmament have suffered setbacks, and the trend of arms race has emerged. The situation of preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is complicated, and the international non-proliferation mechanism is endangered by pragmatism and double standards and faces new challenges. Extremism and terrorism continue to spread, and non-traditional security threats such as cyber security, bio-security and piracy are increasingly prominent. There have been twists and turns in the settlement of the Iranian nuclear issue, and the political settlement of the Syrian issue still faces difficulties. The integration, relevance and interactivity of national security are constantly increasing, and no country can deal with it independently or be immune to it.

　　The security situation in the Asia-Pacific region is generally stable.

　　The awareness of the community of destiny of Asia-Pacific countries has increased, and handling differences and disputes through dialogue and consultation has become the main policy orientation, promoting the region to become a stable plate in the global pattern. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization builds a constructive partnership of non-alignment, non-confrontation and non-targeting at third parties, expands cooperation in the field of defense and security, and creates a new model of regional security cooperation. The China-ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Informal Meeting and the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Expansion Meeting have played an active role in promoting mutual trust by strengthening military exchanges and cooperation. The situation in the South China Sea has stabilized and improved, and countries in the region have properly managed risk differences. Cooperation in regional and national anti-terrorism coordination mechanisms has been deepened. A balanced, stable, open and inclusive security architecture with Asian characteristics is constantly developing.

　　The focus of the world economy and strategy continues to shift to the Asia-Pacific region, which has become the focus of the big country game, bringing uncertainty to regional security. The United States has strengthened its military alliance in the Asia-Pacific region, increased its military deployment and intervention, and added complicated factors to Asia-Pacific security. The deployment of the "Sade" anti-missile system by the United States in South Korea has seriously undermined the regional strategic balance and seriously damaged the strategic security interests of regional countries. Japan adjusted its military security policy, increased investment, sought to break through the "post-war system", and its military extroversion was enhanced. Australia continues to consolidate its military alliance with the United States and strengthen its military participation in the Asia-Pacific region in an attempt to play a greater role in security affairs.

　　Regional hot spots and controversial issues still exist. The situation on the Korean peninsula has eased, but there are still uncertainties. The situation in South Asia is generally stable, but conflicts between India and Pakistan occur from time to time, and political reconciliation and reconstruction in Afghanistan are difficult to advance. Disputes over territorial and maritime rights and interests among some countries, ethnic and religious contradictions and other issues still exist, and hot issues of regional security arise from time to time.

　　The risks and challenges facing national security cannot be ignored.

　　China continues to maintain a good situation of political stability, national unity and social stability, and its comprehensive national strength, international influence and ability to resist risks have been significantly enhanced. It is still in an important period of strategic opportunities for development, and at the same time, it faces multiple and complex security threats and challenges.

　　The situation of the anti-secession struggle is even more severe. The Democratic Progressive Party authorities stubbornly adhere to the "Taiwan independence" separatist stance, refuse to recognize the "1992 Consensus" which embodies the one-China principle, step up the implementation of "de-China" and "gradual Taiwan independence", and attempt to promote "legal Taiwan independence", strengthen hostile confrontation, and rely on foreign self-respect to go further and further on the road of secession. The "Taiwan independence" separatist forces and their activities have always been the biggest real threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the biggest obstacle to the peaceful reunification of the motherland. Foreign separatist forces such as "Tibet independence" and "East Turkistan" have frequent activities, which pose a threat to national security and social stability.

　　Homeland security is still threatened, land boundary disputes have not been completely resolved, island territorial issues and maritime delimitation disputes still exist, and ships and aircraft from some foreign countries frequently carry out close reconnaissance on China, and illegally invade China’s territorial waters and the sea and airspace adjacent to relevant islands and reefs for many times, endangering China’s national security.

　　China’s overseas interests are threatened by international and regional turmoil, terrorism, piracy and other real threats, and its overseas institutions, overseas enterprises and personnel have been attacked many times. The threat of space and network security is increasingly apparent, and the harm of non-traditional security issues such as natural disasters and major epidemics is rising.

　　International military competition is becoming increasingly fierce.

　　Major countries in the world have adjusted their security and military strategies, adjusted their military organizational forms, developed new combat forces, and seized the commanding heights of military competition strategy. The United States carries out military technology and system innovation to seek absolute military superiority. Russia has further promoted the "new look" military reform, and Britain, France, Germany, Japan, India and other countries are adjusting and optimizing their military power systems.

　　Driven by the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum information, big data, cloud computing and Internet of Things have been applied to the military field at an accelerated pace, and the international military competition pattern is undergoing historic changes. With the rapid development of military high-tech with information technology as the core, the trend of remote precision, intelligence, stealth and unmanned weapons and equipment is more obvious, and the war form is accelerating to evolve into information war, and intelligent war is beginning to emerge.

　　Significant progress has been made in the military reform with China characteristics, but the task of mechanization construction has not been completed yet, and the level of informatization needs to be improved urgently. Military security is at risk of technical surprise and the gap between military modernization and national security needs is still far behind, and there is still a big gap between the level of military modernization and the advanced military level in the world.

　　Second, China’s defensive national defense policy in the new era

　　China’s nature as a socialist country, its strategic choice of taking the road of peaceful development, its independent foreign policy of peace and the Chinese cultural tradition of "harmony is the most important thing" determine that China will always pursue a defensive national defense policy.

　　Resolutely defend national sovereignty, security and development interests.

　　This is the fundamental goal of China’s national defense in the new era.

　　Deter and resist aggression, safeguard national political security, people’s safety and social stability, oppose and contain "Taiwan independence", crack down on separatist forces such as "Tibet independence" and "East Turkistan", and safeguard national sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity and security. Safeguard national maritime rights and interests, safeguard national security interests in space, electromagnetism and cyberspace, safeguard national overseas interests and support national sustainable development.

　　China firmly upholds national sovereignty and territorial integrity. The South China Sea Islands, Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islands are China’s inherent territory. China’s infrastructure construction in the South Island Reef, deployment of necessary defensive forces and cruising in the Diaoyu Islands waters in the East China Sea are the exercise of national sovereignty according to law. China is committed to resolving relevant disputes through negotiation and consultation with the countries directly concerned on the basis of respecting historical facts and international law. China insists on maintaining peace and stability together with countries in the region, firmly safeguarding the freedom of navigation and overflight enjoyed by all countries in accordance with international law, and safeguarding the safety of sea lanes.

　　Solving the Taiwan Province question and realizing the complete reunification of the country are the fundamental interests of the Chinese nation and the inevitable requirement for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. China adheres to the principle of "peaceful reunification and one country, two systems", promotes the peaceful development of cross-strait relations and the process of China’s peaceful reunification, and resolutely opposes all attempts and acts to split China and any foreign interference. China must and must be unified. China has firm determination and strong ability to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and will never allow anyone, any organization or any political party to split any piece of China territory from China at any time and in any form. We don’t promise to give up the use of force, but reserve the option of taking all necessary measures. We are targeting at the interference of external forces and a handful of "Taiwan independence" separatists and their separatist activities, and we are definitely not targeting Taiwan Province compatriots. If someone wants to split Taiwan Province from China, China’s army will resolutely defeat it at all costs and defend national unity.

　　Insist on never seeking hegemony, never expanding and never seeking sphere of influence.

　　This is a distinctive feature of China’s national defense in the new era.

　　Although the country is big, belligerence will die. The Chinese nation has always loved peace. In modern times, the people of China have suffered from aggression and war. They deeply feel the preciousness of peace and the urgency of development, and they will never impose their tragic experiences on others. In the 70 years since the founding of New China, China has never initiated any war or conflict. Since the reform and opening-up, China has devoted itself to promoting world peace and has taken the initiative to reduce the number of military personnel by more than 4 million. China’s development from poverty to weakness into the second largest economy in the world is not due to charity from others, let alone military expansion and colonial plunder, but to the hard work of the people and the maintenance of peace. China not only creates favorable conditions for its own development by safeguarding world peace, but also promotes world peace through its own development. It sincerely hopes that all countries will choose the path of peaceful development and jointly prevent conflicts and wars.

　　China insists on developing friendly cooperation with other countries on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, respects the right of people of all countries to choose their own development path, advocates solving international disputes through equal dialogue, negotiation and consultation, and opposes interference in other countries’ internal affairs, bullying and imposing their will on others. China insists on partnership and non-alignment, does not join any military group, opposes aggression and expansion, and opposes the frequent use or threat of force. China’s national defense construction and development has always focused on meeting the legitimate needs of its own security and has always been the growth of world peace forces. History has proved, and will continue to prove, that China will never follow the old road of pursuing hegemony and "national power will dominate". No matter where it develops in the future, China will not threaten anyone and will not seek to establish a sphere of influence.

　　Implement the military strategic policy in the new era

　　This is the strategic guidance for China’s national defense in the new era.

　　The military strategic policy in the new era adheres to the principles of defense, self-defense and taking the initiative after the enemy strikes, implements active defense, adheres to the principle that "people will not attack me, and if they attack me, I will attack", and emphasizes the unity of containing wars and winning wars, and emphasizes the unity of strategic defense and offensive in campaigns and battles.

　　Implement the military strategic policy in the new era, obey the overall strategic situation of serving the party and the country, implement the overall national security concept, strengthen the sense of hardship, crisis and war, actively adapt to the new pattern of strategic competition, the new demand of national security and the new form of modern warfare, and effectively fulfill the military mission and tasks in the new era. According to the security threats facing the country, we should make solid preparations for military struggle, comprehensively improve the ability to prepare for war in the new era, and build a balanced and stable military strategic layout in the new era based on defense, multi-domain planning. Adhere to the national defense of the whole people, innovate the strategy, tactics and content of the people’s war, and give full play to the overall power of the people’s war.

　　China has always pursued a nuclear policy of not being the first to use nuclear weapons at any time and under any circumstances, and unconditionally not using or threatening to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon States and nuclear-weapon-free zones. It advocates the ultimate complete prohibition and thorough destruction of nuclear weapons, will not engage in a nuclear arms race with any country, and will always maintain its nuclear power at the lowest level required by national security. China adheres to the strategy of self-defense and nuclear defense, with the aim of deterring other countries from using or threatening to use nuclear weapons against China and ensuring national strategic security.

　　Adhere to the road of strengthening the army with China characteristics

　　This is the development path of China’s national defense in the new era.

　　Building a strong national defense and a strong army commensurate with international status and national security and development interests is the strategic task of China’s socialist modernization, the security guarantee for adhering to the road of peaceful development and the inevitable choice for summing up historical experience.

　　In the new era, China’s national defense and army building will thoroughly implement the supreme leader’s military strategic thought, adhere to the political army building, reform and strengthen the army, strengthen the army through science and technology, and govern the army according to law, focus on fighting and winning battles, promote the integration and development of mechanization and informationization, accelerate the development of military intelligence, build a modern military force system with China characteristics, improve and develop Socialism with Chinese characteristics’s military system, and constantly improve its ability to fulfill its mission in the new era.

　　In the new era, the strategic goal of China’s national defense and army building is to basically realize mechanization by 2020, make significant progress in information construction, and greatly enhance its strategic capabilities. In line with the process of national modernization, we will comprehensively promote the modernization of military theory, military organization, military personnel and weapons and equipment, strive to basically realize the modernization of national defense and the army by 2035, and build the people’s army into a world-class army in an all-round way by the middle of this century.

　　Serve and build a community of human destiny

　　This is the world significance of China’s national defense in the new era.

　　The dreams of the people of China are closely linked with those of the people of the world. A peaceful, stable and prosperous China is an opportunity and a blessing for the world. A strong China army is a staunch force for maintaining world peace and stability and serving to build a community of human destiny.

　　China’s armed forces adhere to the common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security concept, uphold the correct concept of justice and interests, actively participate in the reform of the global security governance system, deepen bilateral and multilateral security cooperation, promote coordination, tolerance and complementary cooperation among different security mechanisms, and create a security pattern of equality, mutual trust, fairness and justice, and joint construction and sharing.

　　China’s military adheres to its international responsibilities and obligations, always holds high the banner of win-win cooperation, provides more public safety products to the international community within its capacity, actively participates in international peacekeeping, maritime escort, humanitarian relief and other actions, strengthens international arms control and non-proliferation cooperation, constructively participates in the political settlement of hot issues, jointly safeguards the safety of international passages, works together to meet global challenges such as terrorism, cyber security and major natural disasters, and actively contributes to building a community of human destiny.

　　Third, fulfill the mission of the army in the new era

　　In the new era, China’s army has resolutely fulfilled the mission entrusted by the Party and the people according to the strategic requirements of national security and development, and provided strategic support for consolidating the Communist Party of China (CPC)’s leadership and socialist system, defending national sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity, safeguarding national overseas interests and promoting world peace and development.

　　Safeguard the country’s territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests

　　With a land border of more than 22,000 kilometers and a coastline of more than 18,000 kilometers, China is one of the countries with the largest number of neighboring countries, the longest land border and a very complicated maritime security environment. The task of safeguarding territorial sovereignty, maritime rights and interests and national unity is arduous and arduous.

　　China’s armed forces strictly guard against all kinds of encroachment, infiltration, destruction and harassment activities, and safeguard the security and stability of border defense. China has signed border defense cooperation agreements with nine neighboring countries, established a meeting mechanism for border defense talks with 12 countries, established a three-level foreign exchange mechanism for the Ministry of National Defense, war zones and border defense forces, and regularly carried out friendly exchange visits, working talks, joint patrol duty and joint drills to combat cross-border crimes. Carry out border disarmament compliance with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. Strengthen the border defense in the direction of China and India, and take effective measures to create favorable conditions for the peaceful settlement of the confrontation between Dong Lang and Lang. Strengthen border control between China and Afghanistan to prevent the infiltration of terrorists. Strengthen security control in the direction of China and Myanmar, and maintain peace and people’s safety in border areas. Since 2012, China’s border guards have conducted more than 3,300 joint patrols and held more than 8,100 border defense meetings with neighboring countries. About 58 square kilometers of border mines have been cleared in the direction of China, Vietnam and Myanmar, and about 25 square kilometers of minefields have been enclosed, and about 170,000 explosives such as mines have been removed.

　　Organize the vigilance and defense of important sea areas and islands and reefs such as the East China Sea, the South China Sea and the Yellow Sea, grasp the surrounding maritime situation, organize joint maritime rights enforcement, properly handle the sea and air situation, and resolutely respond to maritime security threats and infringement and provocation. Since 2012, it has organized more than 4,600 patrols of ships and more than 72,000 law enforcement activities to safeguard peace and good order in the ocean.

　　Organize air defense and air reconnaissance and early warning, monitor the air dynamics in national airspace and surrounding areas, organize air police patrol and combat take-off, effectively deal with all kinds of air safety threats and emergencies, maintain air order and air defense safety.

　　With a view to safeguarding national unity, we should strengthen preparations for military struggle focusing on the maritime direction, organize ships and planes to "cruise around the island" and issue a solemn warning to the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces.

　　Maintain a constant state of readiness.

　　Keeping the army in combat readiness is an important guarantee for effectively responding to security threats and fulfilling its mission. The Central Military Commission and the theater joint operations command organization strictly implement the combat readiness duty system, regularly organize combat readiness inspection and combat readiness pull, maintain a state of readiness to fight, continuously improve the joint operations command capability, command and handle all kinds of emergencies safely and efficiently, and effectively carry out all kinds of urgent and dangerous tasks. In 2018, the Central Military Commission organized a surprise inspection of the whole army’s combat readiness and the promotion of the whole army, covering 21 provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government and parts of the East China Sea and South China Sea.

　　The People’s Liberation Army and the Armed Police Force strengthened the concept of combat readiness, strictly enforced the combat readiness system, strengthened combat readiness duty, carried out combat readiness drills in a down-to-earth manner, established a regular combat readiness order, maintained a good combat readiness state, and effectively carried out combat readiness (combat) duty, patrol duty and other tasks.

　　Carry out actual combat military training

　　Military training is the basic practical activity of the army in peacetime. China Army insists on putting military training in an important position, firmly establishing the only fundamental standard of combat effectiveness, perfecting the system of military training laws and standards, establishing and perfecting the training supervision system, organizing the military training supervision of the whole army for emergency response, implementing the responsibility system for training and preparing for war, carrying out mass training and competition activities, and constantly improving the level of actual combat training.

　　The whole army has risen to grasp the upsurge of actual combat military training. Since 2012, the whole army has extensively carried out targeted training on mission topics in various strategic directions and exercises of various arms and services, and more than 80 joint military exercises above the scale of divisions and brigades.

　　Each theater has strengthened the main responsibility of joint training, carried out joint training in a down-to-earth manner, and organized a series of joint military exercises in the East, the South, the West, the North and the Central in combination with the missions in various strategic directions, in an effort to improve the joint operational capability.

　　The army has conducted extensive military training contests and carried out live-fire exercises such as "crossing" and "firepower". The navy expanded its offshore training. For the first time, the aircraft carrier formation carried out offshore combat drills in the western Pacific Ocean, held maritime military parades in the South China Sea and the sea and airspace near Qingdao, and organized a series of "mobile" combat drills and systematic all-factor exercises. The Air Force has strengthened systematic and practical territory-wide training, organized war patrols in the South China Sea, police patrols in the East China Sea, and went out to the West Pacific before, and regularly carried out a series of system confrontation exercises such as "Red Sword". The Rocket Army organized confrontational inspection training, practical training for the whole brigade and regiment, strengthened joint fire strike training, and carried out a series of "Tianjian" exercises in a normal way. The strategic support forces actively integrated into the joint operational system and solidly carried out confrontation drills and emergency response training in new fields. The joint logistics support force promoted its integration into the joint combat system and organized a series of exercises such as "Joint Logistics Mission-2018". According to the requirements of covering the whole country, efficient linkage, global response and multi-function, the Armed Police Force has carried out a series of exercises such as "Guardian".

　　Safeguard the interests in major security fields

　　Nuclear power is the strategic cornerstone for safeguarding national sovereignty and security. China’s army strictly manages the safety of nuclear weapons and related facilities, maintains a moderate state of alert, improves its strategic deterrent capability, ensures national strategic security and maintains international strategic stability.

　　Space is the commanding height of international strategic competition, and space security is the strategic guarantee for national construction and social development. Focusing on the peaceful use of space, China actively participates in international space cooperation, speeds up the development of corresponding technologies and forces, manages space-based information resources as a whole, keeps track of the space situation, safeguards the safety of space assets, and improves its ability to enter and leave space safely and use space openly.

　　Cyberspace is a key area of national security and economic and social development. Network security is a global challenge and a severe security threat facing China. China’s army speeds up the construction of cyberspace forces, vigorously develops cyber security defense means, builds cyberspace defense forces commensurate with China’s international status and network power, builds up national cyber border defense, promptly discovers and resists network intrusion, ensures information network security, and resolutely defends national cyber sovereignty, information security and social stability.

　　Carry out anti-terrorism and stability

　　China resolutely opposes all forms of terrorism and extremism. Chinese armed forces take part in actions to maintain social order in accordance with the law, prevent and crack down on violent terrorist activities, safeguard national political security and overall social stability, and ensure the people live and work in peace and contentment.

　　The Armed Police Force carries out tasks such as guarding important targets, on-site guarding, setting up checkpoints on main roads and urban armed patrols, cooperates with state organs to participate in law enforcement actions according to law, cracks down on illegal criminal gangs and terrorist activities, actively participates in social prevention and control, and makes efforts to prevent and deal with all kinds of hidden dangers endangering national political security and social order, thus making important contributions to the construction of "Safe China". Since 2012, every year, a large number of troops have been deployed to undertake tasks such as duty security, counter-terrorism and maritime rights enforcement, and participated in nearly 10,000 security tasks such as the G20 Leaders’ Summit, the APEC Leaders’ Informal Meeting, the "Belt and Road" International Cooperation Summit Forum, the BRICS Leaders’ Meeting and the Qingdao Summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, and participated in the handling of 671 hostage-taking incidents and serious violent terrorist incidents. Since 2014, it has assisted the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region government in destroying 1,588 violent terrorist groups and arresting 12,995 violent terrorists.

　　The People’s Liberation Army assists local governments in maintaining social stability, participates in major security operations and handles other emergencies according to law, and mainly undertakes tasks such as preventing terrorist activities, nuclear and biochemical tests, medical rescue, transportation security, eliminating hidden dangers in water areas, and safeguarding air safety in places where major events are held and surrounding areas.

　　Safeguard overseas interests

　　Overseas interests are an important part of China’s national interests. Effectively safeguarding the security and legitimate rights and interests of overseas citizens, organizations and institutions in China is the task of the China Army.

　　China’s armed forces actively promote international security and military cooperation, and improve the mechanism for protecting overseas interests. Focus on bridging the gap between overseas operations and support capabilities, develop ocean-going forces, build overseas supply points, and enhance the ability to carry out diversified military missions. Carry out maritime escort, maintain the safety of strategic maritime passage, and then carry out overseas evacuation and maritime rights protection.

　　In August 2017, the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Support Base in Djibouti was officially put into use. Since the opening of the camp, it has provided maintenance equipment for four batches of escort formations, provided medical support services for more than 100 escort officers and soldiers, conducted joint medical rescue drills with foreign troops, and donated more than 600 pieces of teaching equipment to local schools.

　　In March, 2015, the security situation in Yemen deteriorated seriously. The China naval escort formation went to the Gulf of Aden, Yemen, and for the first time directly berthed at the ports in the war zone, and safely evacuated 621 citizens from China and 279 citizens from 15 countries including Pakistan, Ethiopia, Singapore, Italy, Poland, Germany, Canada, Britain, India and Japan.

　　Participate in emergency rescue and disaster relief

　　Participating in national construction and defending the people’s peaceful labor is the mission entrusted to the Chinese armed forces by the Constitution. According to the Regulations on Military Participation in Emergency Rescue and Disaster Relief, the Chinese armed forces are mainly responsible for rescuing, transferring or evacuating people trapped, protecting the safety of important targets, rescuing and transporting important materials, participating in professional emergency rescue such as road (bridge and tunnel) emergency repair, maritime search and rescue, nuclear and biochemical rescue, epidemic control and medical rescue, eliminating or controlling other critical dangers and disasters, and assisting local people’s governments in post-disaster reconstruction.

　　Since 2012, the People’s Liberation Army and the Armed Police Force have dispatched 950,000 person-times, organized 1.41 million militiamen, used 190,000 vehicles and construction machinery, 26,000 boats and 820 aircraft (helicopters) to participate in rescue and disaster relief. He has participated in disaster relief operations such as the earthquake relief in Ludian, Yunnan, the flood fighting in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, and the rescue of the Yarlung Zangbo River dammed lake, assisting local governments to rescue, transfer and resettle more than 5 million people, making rounds to treat more than 210,000 patients, rushing to transport more than 360,000 tons of materials, and strengthening more than 3,600 kilometers of dams. In 2017, the troops stationed in Macao dispatched 2,631 troops and more than 160 vehicles to assist the government of the Special Administrative Region to carry out rescue after the typhoon "Tiange".

　　Fourth, China’s national defense and army in reform.

　　The development history of the people’s army is a history of reform and innovation. Entering a new era, adapting to the development trend of the new military revolution in the world and the demand of national security, China has comprehensively promoted the modernization of national defense and the armed forces, comprehensively deepened the reform of national defense and the armed forces, made great efforts to solve institutional obstacles, structural contradictions and policy issues, and made a historic step of strengthening and rejuvenating the armed forces.

　　Rebuild the leadership and command system

　　The reform of leadership and command system is an important measure to adapt to the requirements of modern military specialization and information age to fight and win battles, and to improve the operational efficiency and construction efficiency of the army. In accordance with the principle of "the military commission is in charge of the general affairs, the main battle of the theater and the main construction of the service", we will strengthen the functions of centralized and unified leadership, strategic command and strategic management of the military commission, break the long-standing headquarters system, the military region system and the continental army system, and build a new military leadership management and operational command system.

　　Adjust and form new organs and departments of the Central Military Commission. Optimize the functional allocation and institutional setup of the organs of the Military Commission, and adjust them from the past four headquarters of the General Staff Department, the General Political Department, the General Logistics Department and the General Armament Department to 15 functional departments of the organs of the Military Commission, serving as the staff organs, executive organs and service organs under the centralized leadership of the Military Commission. The path of command, construction, management and supervision is clearer, and the allocation of functions such as decision-making, planning, implementation and evaluation is more reasonable.

　　Improve the leadership and management system of services and arms. Integrate the army building functions of the original four headquarters and set up the army leading body; Integrate the strategic support forces of various services and military commissions and establish strategic support forces; The Second Artillery Corps was renamed Rocket Corps; Integrate the strategic campaign forces that mainly undertake general support tasks, set up joint logistics support forces, and build a leadership and management system of "Central Military Commission-services-troops".

　　Establish and improve the joint operational command system. We will improve the joint operational command organization of the Central Military Commission and set up a joint operational command organization in a theater to form a joint operational command system that integrates peacetime and wartime, operates normally, specializes in the main business, and is lean and efficient. Seven major military regions in Shenyang, Beijing, Lanzhou, Jinan, Nanjing, Guangzhou and Chengdu were abolished, and five war zones in the east, south, west, north and central regions were established. Through reform, the operational command system of "Central Military Commission-Theater-Army" has been established.

　　Establish and improve the supervision system of rule of law. Set up a new Military Commission Discipline Inspection Committee (Military Commission Supervision Committee), under the direct leadership of the Central Military Commission, and send discipline inspection teams to the organs and departments of the Military Commission and various war zones; Establish a new Political and Legal Committee of the Military Commission, and set up military courts and military procuratorates according to regions; Set up the Audit Office of the Central Military Commission, reform the audit supervision system, and all of them will be stationed for auditing, thus forming a power operation system in which decision-making power, execution power and supervision power are mutually restricted and coordinated.

　　Optimize the scale structure and strength compilation

　　The reform of scale structure and strength organization is a key step to promote the modernization of military organization and build a modern military strength system with China characteristics. In accordance with the requirements of adjusting and optimizing the structure, developing new forces, rationalizing major proportional relations, and reducing quantity and scale, we will promote the transformation of the army from quantity-scale to quality-efficiency, manpower-intensive to technology-intensive

　　Adjust the proportion of military scale and reshape the layout of power structure. 300,000 military posts will be reduced, and the total number of active posts will be reduced to 2 million. Expand the allocation scope of non-commissioned officers and civilian personnel, reduce the establishment of organs at all levels, reduce the internal institutions, leadership levels and personnel of organs at all levels, streamline the press and publication of literature, art and sports, service guarantee, institutions and personnel such as colleges, medical institutions, warehouses and scientific research institutes, reduce the staff of organs at or above the regimental level by about a quarter, and reduce the staff of non-combat units by nearly half. Significantly reduce the number of active posts in the army, keep the number of active posts in the air force stable, moderately increase the number of active posts in the navy and rocket army, and optimize the internal strength structure of various services and arms. Optimize the structure of reserve forces. Adjust the deployment of combat forces and form a strategic layout that is compatible with the need to safeguard national security in the new era.

　　Adjust the formation of combat troops and reconstruct new combat forces. The original 18 army groups of the Army were integrated and reorganized into 13 army groups. The "Army-Brigade-Battalion" system is implemented in the main combat troops of the whole army, which enriches the combat strength of arms, reduces the command level and lowers the synthetic center of gravity. Increase new combat forces such as special operations, three-dimensional attack and defense, amphibious operations, offshore defense, strategic delivery, etc., and promote the development of troops in the direction of enrichment, synthesis, versatility and flexibility.

　　Optimize the strength distribution of colleges and universities and reconstruct the military scientific research system. The original 77 colleges and universities of the People’s Liberation Army and the Armed Police Force were integrated into 44, reshaping the National Defense University and the National University of Defense Technology. Establish the Military Scientific Research Steering Committee of the CMC, adjust and set up new Academy of Military Sciences and Service Research Institute, and form the layout of military scientific research forces with Academy of Military Sciences as the leader, scientific research institutions of services and arms as the backbone, and scientific research forces of colleges and troops as the auxiliary.

　　Promote the reform of the military policy system

　　Adhere to the standard of combat effectiveness, focus on mobilizing the enthusiasm, initiative and creativity of military personnel, design and promote the reform of military policy system as a whole, and establish and improve Socialism with Chinese characteristics’s military policy system.

　　Deepen the reform of the party building system in the army, safeguard the authority of the Party Central Committee and centralize and unify leadership, and ensure the party’s absolute leadership over the army. Formulate the "Decision on Strengthening Party Building in the Army in the New Era" and other laws and regulations, and promote the improvement of the political, ideological, organizational, work style and discipline construction systems of the military party.

　　Innovate the policy system for the use of military forces to effectively guarantee the full implementation of military missions and tasks in the new era. Formulate the Regulations on Maritime Escort Action (Trial) and other laws and regulations, and promote the improvement of the military strategic guidance system, combat readiness regulations, and joint operations regulations.

　　Rebuild the policy system of military strength construction and better liberate and develop combat effectiveness. Formulate and revise the National Defense Traffic Law, the Military Facilities Protection Law, the Civilian Personnel Regulations and other laws and regulations, and promulgate and implement new military training regulations and military training programs. We will promote the establishment of a professional system for military officers, optimize the protection of military treatment, improve the honor system for military personnel, improve policy systems in military training, equipment development, logistics construction, military scientific research, and national defense mobilization, and accelerate the legislative process of the military officer law and military service law.

　　Reform the military management policy system, improve the operational efficiency of the military system, and promote the high-quality development of the military. Formulate and revise the internal affairs regulations (for Trial Implementation), discipline regulations (for Trial Implementation), queue regulations (for Trial Implementation), and regulations on military legislation, and promote institutional innovations such as strategic management, military expenditure management, and military justice.

　　Completely stop the paid service of the army. By June 2018, paid service activities in 15 industries, such as real estate leasing, agricultural and sideline production, recruitment and reception, which were engaged in by military organs, troops at all levels and their affiliated institutions, had basically stopped, and more than 100,000 paid service projects had been stopped on schedule, and the cumulative proportion of paid projects had reached 94%, and the goal of the military not engaging in business activities had basically been achieved.

　　Adjust the reformed services and armed police forces.

　　The army plays an irreplaceable role in safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests. Including mobile combat troops, border and coastal defense forces, security forces, etc., it has jurisdiction over five war zones, the Army, the Xinjiang Military Region and the Tibet Military Region. The Army of the Eastern Theater has the 71st, 72nd and 73rd Army, the Army of the Southern Theater has the 74th and 75th Army, the Army of the Western Theater has the 76th and 77th Army, the Army of the Northern Theater has the 78th, 79th and 80th Army, and the Army of the Central Theater has the 81st, 82nd and 83rd Army. In accordance with the strategic requirements of mobile operations and three-dimensional attack and defense, we will accelerate the transformation from regional defense to global operations, improve the capabilities of precision operations, three-dimensional operations, global operations, multi-energy operations and sustained operations, and strive to build a powerful modern new army.

　　The navy plays a very important role in national security and overall development. Including submarine forces, surface warships, aviation, marine corps, coastal defense forces, etc., it has jurisdiction over the Eastern Theater Navy (East China Sea Fleet), the Southern Theater Navy (South China Sea Fleet), the Northern Theater Navy (North Sea Fleet), and the Marine Corps. Battlefield naval bases, submarine detachments, surface ship detachments, aviation brigades and other units. In accordance with the strategic requirements of offshore defense and offshore defense, we will accelerate the transformation from offshore defense to offshore defense, improve strategic deterrence and counterattack, maritime mobile operations, maritime joint operations, comprehensive defense operations and comprehensive support capabilities, and strive to build a powerful modern navy.

　　The air force plays an important role in national security and overall military strategy. Including aviation, airborne troops, ground air defense troops, radar troops, electronic countermeasures troops, information and communication troops, etc., it has five theater air forces and one airborne army. Theater Air Force has bases, aviation brigades (divisions), ground-to-air missile troops brigades (divisions), radar brigades and other units. In accordance with the strategic requirements of air and space integration and both attack and defense, we will accelerate the transformation from national air defense to both attack and defense, improve the capabilities of strategic early warning, air strike, air defense and anti-missile, information countermeasure, airborne combat, strategic delivery and comprehensive support, and strive to build a powerful modern air force.

　　The rocket army plays a vital role in safeguarding national sovereignty and security. Including nuclear missile forces, conventional missile forces, support forces, and missile bases under its jurisdiction. In accordance with the strategic requirements of both nuclear and conventional capabilities and global deterrence, we will enhance credible and reliable nuclear deterrence and nuclear counterattack capabilities, strengthen the construction of medium-and long-range precision strike forces, enhance strategic checks and balances, and strive to build a powerful modern rocket army.

　　The strategic support force is a new type of combat force to safeguard national security and an important growth point of new combat capability. Including battlefield environment guarantee, information communication guarantee, information security protection, new technology test and other support forces. In accordance with the system integration and the strategic requirements of integration of defense and civilian technologies, we will promote the leap-forward development of key areas, accelerate the development of new combat forces, and strive to build a powerful modern strategic support force.

　　Joint logistics support force is the main force to implement joint logistics support and strategic campaign support, and it is an important part of modern military force system with China characteristics. Including warehousing, medical service, transportation and delivery, oil pipelines, engineering construction management, reserve assets management, procurement and other forces, it has five joint logistics support centers in Wuxi, Guilin, Xining, Shenyang and Zhengzhou, as well as the PLA General Hospital and the PLA Center for Disease Control and Prevention. In accordance with the requirements of joint operations, joint training and joint support, we should speed up our integration into the joint operation system, improve the integrated joint support capability, and strive to build a powerful modern joint logistics support force.

　　The Armed Police Force shoulders great responsibilities in safeguarding national security and social stability and safeguarding people’s better life, and implements the leadership and command system of "Central Military Commission-Armed Police Force-Army". The fundamental functional attributes of the Armed Police Force have not changed and are not included in the PLA sequence. Public security frontier forces, public security fire fighting forces and public security guards were retired from active service, the marine police team led and managed by the State Oceanic Administration was transferred to the Armed Police Force, and the gold, forest and hydropower units of the Armed Police Force as a whole were transferred to relevant state functional departments and reorganized into non-active professional teams, and the customs duty forces of the Armed Police Force were withdrawn, completely rationalizing the relationship between leadership, management and command and use of the Armed Police Force. After the adjustment, the armed police force includes internal security forces, mobile forces and marine police forces. In accordance with the strategic requirements of multi-functional integration and effective stability, we will strengthen the capacity building of duty, handling emergencies, counter-terrorism, maritime rights protection and administrative law enforcement, emergency rescue, and strive to build a powerful modern armed police force.

　　Promote the all-round construction of national defense and the army

　　Always put ideological and political construction in the first place in all aspects of military construction. Firmly establish the guiding position of the supreme leader’s thought of strengthening the army, resolutely safeguard the core position of the CPC Central Committee and the whole party, resolutely safeguard the authority of the CPC Central Committee and centralize and unify leadership, implement the responsibility system for the chairman of the Central Military Commission, and further enhance political awareness, overall situation awareness, core awareness and conformity awareness. In December 2014, the "Decision on Several Issues in Military Political Work under the New Situation" was issued to promote political consolidation and training, and the army reorganized its luggage and set out again. In August 2018, a party building meeting of the Central Military Commission was held to comprehensively strengthen the leadership and party building of the military in the new era. Efforts will be made to cultivate revolutionary soldiers with soul, ability, blood and morality in the new era, and forge excellent troops with iron general beliefs, iron general beliefs, iron general discipline and iron general responsibility.

　　Promote the innovation and development of national defense science and technology and military theory. We will speed up the implementation of the strategy of developing the army through science and technology, consolidate and strengthen advantageous fields, and intensify innovation in emerging fields. Some strategic, cutting-edge and subversive technologies have made important progress in independent innovation, and a number of high-tech achievements such as Tianhe-2 supercomputer have been successfully developed. Focus on war and combat issues to promote military theoretical innovation, and launch a series of theoretical achievements such as strategy, joint operations, and information construction to provide theoretical support for national defense and army building.

　　Build a modern weapon and equipment system. Improve and optimize the system structure of weapons and equipment, promote the development of weapons and equipment of all services and arms as a whole, coordinate the development of main battle equipment, information systems and support equipment, and comprehensively improve the level of standardization, serialization and generalization. Intensify the elimination of old equipment and gradually form a weapon and equipment system with high-tech equipment as the backbone. Type 15 tanks, 052D destroyers, J-20 fighters, Dongfeng-26 medium-and long-range ballistic missiles and other equipment are installed.

　　Build all modern logistics for war. We will establish a support system with the joint logistics department as the mainstay, the services as the supplement, the combination of unification and separation, and the integration of expertise. We will build a joint, lean and efficient logistics force system with strategic campaign forces as the mainstay, team-owned forces as the supplement, and social security as the support. We will promote the integration of logistics forces into joint training in war zones, cross-regional training of services and arms, and joint training of Chinese and foreign outreach, and promote the integration of front and rear training, initially forming the ability of rapid response, all-round participation in war and accurate support.

　　Strengthen strategic management. Adhere to demand-driven planning, planning leading resource allocation, and establish and improve the strategic management link of "demand-planning-budget-implementation-evaluation". Formulate military development strategies and development strategies for important areas, services and arms, and armed police forces, and form a strategic planning and planning system. Standardize the strategic planning of the armed forces, promulgate and implement the Outline of the 13th Five-Year Plan for the Construction and Development of the Armed Forces, and improve the system and mechanism of evaluation, supervision and regulation.

　　坚持依法治军从严治军。构建完善中国特色军事法治体系，推动治军方式根本性转变。强化练兵备战监督监察，深入纠治和平积弊。广泛开展法治宣传教育，建立健全法律咨询服务保障机制，推进法治军营建设。全面从严加强部队管理，贯彻落实条令条例，恢复和完善军队司号制度，组织全军安全大检查，加强重大安全隐患排查整治，加大警备纠察工作力度，开展军车管理专项整顿，建立警备工作定期通报机制，维护军队良好形象。

　　深入推进党风廉政建设和反腐败斗争。严明政治纪律政治规矩，严肃查处郭伯雄、徐才厚、房峰辉、张阳等严重违纪违法案件。严格依纪依法惩治腐败，开展重大工程建设、装备物资采购等行业领域专项整治。建立基层风气监察联系点制度，查纠官兵身边“微腐败”和不正之风。深化政治巡视，完成对军委机关部门、大单位巡视和回访巡视全覆盖。着力推进审计全覆盖，加大重点领域、重大项目、重要资金审计力度，严格领导干部经济责任审计，积极推行经费绩效审计、全程跟踪审计、军地联合审计。2012年以来，共审计3.9万个（次）单位（部门）、1.3万名团以上领导干部。反腐败斗争取得压倒性胜利，风清气正的良好政治生态基本形成。

　　Promote the modernization of national defense mobilization. Straighten out the leadership system of national defense mobilization organizations, strengthen the construction of reserve forces, streamline the scale of the national backbone militia, deepen the reform of the scale structure and strength of the militia reserve forces, promote the integrated construction and application of reserve forces and active forces, and accelerate the transformation from ensuring the army as the mainstay to ensuring multiple services and arms.

　　In combination with deepening the reform of the party and state institutions, the Department of Veterans Affairs was established to promote the construction of the service guarantee system for veterans in provinces, cities, counties, towns (streets) and villages (communities), and a series of preferential treatment measures were introduced. Solidly do a good job in supporting the army and its dependents, supporting the government and loving the people, actively participate in poverty alleviation, continuously consolidate the unity between the military, the government and the people, and form a social atmosphere of respecting and giving preferential treatment to soldiers.

　　V. Reasonable and moderate defense expenditure

　　China adheres to the balance between development and security, the unification of enriching the country and strengthening the army, the coordinated development of national defense construction and economic construction, the policy of building the army through diligence and thrift, reasonably determining the scale structure of defense expenditure according to the country’s economic development level and national defense demand, and managing and using defense expenditure according to law.

　　Since the reform and opening-up, China’s national defense expenditure has experienced a development process from maintenance investment to moderate growth, and generally maintained a moderate and coordinated growth in step with the national economic and financial expenditure. The proportion of defense expenditure in gross domestic product (GDP) dropped from the highest 5.43% in 1979 to 1.26% in 2017, and remained within 2% for nearly 30 years. In 1979, defense expenditure accounted for 17.37% of the national fiscal expenditure, and in 2017 it was 5.14%, a decrease of more than 12 percentage points, and the overall downward trend was obvious.

　　In the new era, in line with the process of national modernization, with the focus on building a consolidated national defense and a strong army commensurate with China’s international status and national security and development interests, further narrowing the gap with the world’s advanced military level, and solving the problem of the army’s insufficient ability to fight modern wars, China’s defense expenditure scale has maintained a steady growth, and its expenditure structure has been continuously optimized.

　　China’s defense expenditure is divided by purpose, mainly consisting of personnel’s living expenses, training maintenance expenses and equipment expenses. Personnel living expenses are used for salaries, allowances, meals, clothing, insurance, welfare and pensions of officers, civilian cadres, soldiers and employed non-active personnel, as well as retired cadres supported by the army. Training maintenance expenses are used for military training, college education, construction and maintenance of engineering facilities and other daily consumption expenses. Equipment costs are spent on research, testing, procurement, maintenance, transportation and storage of weapons and equipment. The scope of defense expenditure includes active troops, reserve troops and militia.

　　The increase in defense expenditure since 2012 is mainly used for: (1) adapting to the country’s economic and social development, improving the living and welfare benefits of officers and men, implementing the mechanism of regular wage increase for military personnel, and continuously improving the working, training and living security conditions of grass-roots units. (2) Increase investment in weapons and equipment construction, eliminate and update some backward equipment, upgrade some old equipment, research and purchase new weapons and equipment such as aircraft carriers, combat aircraft, missiles and main battle tanks, and steadily improve the modernization level of weapons and equipment. (3) Deepen the reform of national defense and the army, and ensure major reforms such as the leadership and command system of the army, the size structure and strength of the army, and the military policy system. (4) Ensure actual combat training, strategic training, joint training in war zones, and training in services and arms, and strengthen the construction of simulated, networked and confrontational training conditions. (5) Ensuring diversified military tasks and ensuring international peacekeeping, escort, humanitarian rescue, emergency rescue and disaster relief.

　　From 2012 to 2017, China’s defense expenditure increased from 669.192 billion yuan to 1,043.237 billion yuan. China’s gross domestic product (GDP) increased by 9.04% at the current price, the national fiscal expenditure increased by 10.43%, the defense expenditure increased by 9.42%, and the defense expenditure accounted for 1.28% of the GDP and 5.26% of the national fiscal expenditure. The proportion of defense expenditure in GDP is stable, and it keeps pace with the national financial expenditure.

　　China implements strict financial allocation and budget management system for defense expenditure. The use of defense expenditure should be guided by demand and planning; we should live within our means; we should strengthen centralized and unified management; we should make overall plans for the incremental stock; we should gradually implement performance management of defense expenditure; and we should promote the reform of military expenditure management with efficiency as the core. Improve and strengthen budget management, deepen the reform of centralized payment and receipt system of military funds, speed up the pace of standardization of funds, and improve the management methods of military assets and funds.

　　International comparison of defense expenditure

　　Among the countries with the highest defense expenditure in the world in 2017, China’s defense expenditure is at a low level in terms of the proportion of GDP and national fiscal expenditure, as well as the per capita national and military figures.

　　China has become the second largest economy in the world. The scale of national defense expenditure ranks second in the world, which is determined by China’s national defense demand, economic volume and defensive national defense policy. In terms of total expenditure, China’s defense expenditure in 2017 was less than a quarter of that of the United States.

　　In terms of the proportion of defense expenditure in GDP, from 2012 to 2017, the average proportion of defense expenditure in GDP in China was about 1.3%, that in the United States was about 3.5%, that in Russia was about 4.4%, that in India was about 2.5%, that in Britain was about 2.0%, that in France was about 2.3%, that in Japan was about 1.0% and that in Germany was about 1.2%. The average proportion of China’s defense expenditure in GDP ranks sixth among the countries with the highest defense expenditure in the world and the lowest among the permanent members of the UN Security Council.

　　In terms of the proportion of defense expenditure in fiscal expenditure, from 2012 to 2017, the average proportion of defense expenditure in fiscal expenditure in China was about 5.3%, that in the United States was about 9.8%, that in Russia was about 12.4%, that in India was about 9.1%, that in Britain was about 4.8%, that in France was about 4.0%, that in Japan was about 2.5% and that in Germany was about 2.8%. China’s defense expenditure ranks fourth in the average proportion of fiscal expenditure.

　　From the level of per capita defense expenditure, in 2017, the per capita defense expenditure of China citizens was 750 yuan RMB, which was about 5% of that of the United States, 25% of that of Russia, 231% of that of India, 13% of that of Britain, 16% of that of France, 29% of that of Japan and 20% of that of Germany. China’s per capita defense expenditure is 521,600 yuan, which is about 15% of that of the United States, 119% of Russia, 166% of India, 27% of Britain, 38% of France, 35% of Japan and 30% of Germany. China ranks seventh in national defense expenditure per capita and sixth in military defense expenditure per capita.

　　China adheres to the system of reporting and publishing defense expenditure. Since 1978, the China Municipal Government has submitted a budget report to the National People’s Congress every year, and announced the total annual defense budget. In 1995, the Government of China issued a white paper entitled "Arms Control and Disarmament in China", which announced the defense expenditure to the world. Since 2007, China has participated in the United Nations military transparency system, and submitted the basic data of defense expenditure in the last fiscal year to the United Nations every year. According to the categories of active troops, reserve troops and militia, it submitted the amount of personnel’s living expenses, training maintenance expenses and equipment expenses, and the total defense expenditure, and explained the main purpose and proportion of China’s defense expenditure to GDP.

　　On the whole, China’s defense expenditure is open and transparent, and its expenditure level is reasonable and moderate. Compared with major countries in the world, the proportion of defense expenditure in GDP and fiscal expenditure and the per capita defense expenditure are low. China is the only big country in the world that has not yet achieved complete reunification, and it is one of the countries with the most complicated security situation around the world. It faces severe challenges in safeguarding national sovereignty, territorial integrity and maritime rights and interests. China is approaching the center of the world stage, and the international community’s expectations for China’s military to provide international public safety products are increasing. China’s army is in the stage of information transformation, and the task of adapting to the development trend of the new military revolution in the world and promoting military transformation with China characteristics is arduous and arduous. There is still a big gap between China’s national defense expenditure and the demand for safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests, and the demand for fulfilling the international responsibilities and obligations of big countries, and the demand for its own construction and development. China’s defense expenditure will be coordinated with the national economic development level and will continue to maintain moderate and steady growth.

　　Sixth, actively serve and build a community of human destiny

　　Building a community of human destiny conforms to the trend of peaceful development and reflects the common expectations of people of all countries. China’s armed forces faithfully practice the concept of a community of human destiny, actively fulfill the international responsibilities of big-country armed forces, comprehensively promote international military cooperation in the new era, and strive to contribute to building a beautiful world of lasting peace and universal security.

　　Firmly uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.

　　As a founding member of the United Nations and a permanent member of the Security Council, China firmly upholds the central role of the United Nations in international affairs, international law and basic norms of international relations based on the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, multilateralism, democratization of international relations, extensive participation in global security governance, active participation in arms control and disarmament, and contribution to China’s plan for solving major problems and formulating important rules.

　　China constructively participates in the political settlement of hot issues in the region, such as the Korean Peninsula issue, the Iranian nuclear issue and the Syrian issue, opposes hegemonism, unilateralism and double standards, promotes dialogue and consultation, and fully and conscientiously implements UN Security Council resolutions. China actively participates in multilateral dialogues and negotiations in the fields of internet and outer space, and promotes the formulation of universally accepted, fair and reasonable international rules.

　　China has always actively participated in international arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation efforts, opposed the arms race and maintained global strategic balance and stability. It has signed or acceded to dozens of multilateral arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation treaties, including the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. In 2015, China announced the establishment of the China-United Nations Peace and Development Fund with a total amount of US$ 1 billion for 10 years, which was officially put into operation in 2016.

　　Promote the construction of a new security partnership featuring equality, mutual trust and win-win cooperation.

　　China actively develops constructive military relations with foreign countries and forms a new pattern of all-round, wide-ranging and multi-level military diplomacy. So far, China has carried out military exchanges with more than 150 countries, set up 130 military attaché s abroad in embassies (missions), set up military attaché s offices in China in 116 countries, and established 54 defense consultation and dialogue mechanisms with 41 countries and international organizations. Since 2012, high-level military delegations of the China Army have visited more than 60 countries, and more than 100 national defense ministers and army commanders have visited.

　　The relationship between the Chinese and Russian armed forces continues to maintain a high level of operation, constantly enriching new connotations for the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two countries in the new era, and is of great significance to maintaining global strategic stability. The exchange mechanism between the Chinese and Russian armed forces at all levels has been continuously and healthily promoted, with in-depth cooperation in the fields of high-level exchanges, military training, equipment technology and counter-terrorism, and good interaction and cooperation in international multilateral occasions. Since 2012, the Chinese and Russian armed forces have held seven rounds of strategic consultations. From August to September, 2018, at the invitation of China, the Russian army participated in the Russian "Oriental" strategic exercise for the first time.

　　In accordance with the principles of non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation, China actively and steadily handles its military relations with the United States, strives to make the relations between the two militaries a stabilizer for the relations between the two countries, and contributes to the promotion of Sino-US relations based on coordination, cooperation and stability. In 2014, the defense ministries of the two countries signed two memorandums of understanding, namely, the mechanism of mutual notification of trust measures for major military operations and the code of conduct for maritime and air encounters. In 2015, the two sides reached a consensus on adding the annexes of "military crisis notification" and "air encounters". In 2017, the two countries established diplomatic security dialogue and joint staff dialogue mechanisms to actively strengthen strategic communication and control risk differences. The two sides have carried out institutional exchanges in defense departments, army, navy and air force, and carried out pragmatic cooperation in the fields of humanitarian relief and disaster reduction, anti-piracy and exchanges between colleges and universities. China resolutely opposes the wrong practices and provocative actions of the United States, such as arms sales to Taiwan, sanctions against the Equipment Development Department of China’s Central Military Commission and the head of the department, trespassing into China’s territorial waters and the sea and airspace adjacent to relevant islands and reefs, and conducting large-scale high-intensity approach reconnaissance. In Sino-US relations, the relations between the two armies have remained generally stable.

　　China aims to build a community of peripheral destiny and deepen its military partnership with neighboring countries. Maintain close contacts with the top military officials of neighboring countries. Every year, there are more than 40 batches of delegations above the commander level, basically achieving full coverage of high-level exchanges around the country and continuously strengthening strategic mutual trust. Establish defense security consultation and working meeting mechanisms with 17 neighboring countries, and keep communication channels open. In recent years, China has regularly organized a series of joint exercises and trainings with neighboring countries on counter-terrorism, peacekeeping, rescue, services and tactics, and extensively carried out exchanges on border defense and coastal defense, think tanks in colleges and universities, education and training, medical treatment, equipment and technology, and deepened pragmatic cooperation. The level of defense cooperation with ASEAN has been continuously improved, and military relations with neighboring countries have been generally stable.

　　China has actively developed military relations with European countries, and maintained a positive development momentum in exchanges and cooperation in various fields. Focusing on building the four partnerships of peace, growth, reform and civilization between China and Europe, China held security policy dialogues, joint anti-piracy drills and personnel training with the EU. In 2016, China and the United Kingdom held a joint indoor deduction for evacuating overseas Chinese, and held a joint medical service exercise with Germany. In 2018, China and the EU held the third China-EU high-level security policy seminar.

　　China has strengthened military exchanges with developing countries in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, the South Pacific and other regions, conducted personnel training and exchanges between young and middle-aged officers, and helped the countries concerned to strengthen their army building and improve their defense capabilities. In 2018, China-Africa Defense Security Forum, China-Latin America Advanced Defense Forum and China-Canada (Lebi) South (Pacific) Advanced Defense Seminar were held in Beijing.

　　China’s armed forces adhere to the principle of mutual trust and mutual benefit, win-win cooperation and carry out pragmatic exchanges and cooperation with the armed forces of other countries. Since 2012, China has held more than 100 joint exercises and trainings with more than 30 countries. The content of the exercises has developed from the non-traditional security field to the traditional security field, the exercise area has extended from the periphery of China to the distant sea, and the participation strength has expanded from the army to the multi-arms of the army, navy and air force. China’s military actively organizes personnel training exchanges and cooperation. Since 2012, it has sent more than 1,700 military students to more than 50 countries, and more than 20 military academies have established and maintained inter-school exchange relations with universities in more than 40 countries, accepting tens of thousands of military personnel from more than 130 countries to study in China military academies.

　　Improve the military news release mechanism, and comprehensively and objectively introduce and explain China’s national defense and army building at home and abroad. In April 2011, the Ministry of National Defense established a monthly routine press conference system to regularly release important information on national defense and army building. Since 2012, a number of special press conferences have been held around major issues such as deepening national defense and military reform and reducing military posts. Organized nearly 100 Chinese and foreign media to visit and interview troops and military academies for many times. In May 2015, the official Weibo WeChat released by the Ministry of National Defense was officially launched, with more than 6 million followers.

　　Promote the construction of regional security cooperation framework

　　In June 2001, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan jointly initiated the establishment of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization has become a comprehensive new regional cooperation organization with the widest territory and the largest population in the world. It has formed the "Shanghai Spirit" of mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality, consultation, respect for diverse civilizations and seeking common development, promoted the building of a community of destiny of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, promoted the building of new international relations, and made new contributions to regional peace and development. In June 2017, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization expanded its membership for the first time, and India and Pakistan became members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. In April 2018, the first meeting of defense ministers after the expansion of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization was held. The member States of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization continue to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the field of defense and security, hold a series of "Peace Mission" exercises, hold a "Horn of Peace" military music festival, deepen good-neighborly friendship and strategic mutual trust, strengthen military cultural exchanges, and enhance the unity and friendship of member States.

　　China actively supports the mechanism construction of the Conference on Mutual Cooperation and Confidence Measures in Asia, and advocates the establishment of a common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable Asian security concept, which has played an important role in building the security cooperation framework in Asia.

　　Based on the principle of openness, inclusiveness and pragmatic cooperation, China actively participated in multilateral dialogue and cooperation mechanisms such as the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Enlargement Meeting, the ASEAN Regional Forum, the shangri-la dialogue Conference, the Jakarta International Defense Dialogue, and the Western Pacific Naval Forum, held informal China-ASEAN Defense Ministers’ meetings regularly, and constructively put forward initiatives to strengthen regional defense and security cooperation. In October 2018, the China-ASEAN "Joint Performance at Sea-2018" exercise was held, which was the first time that the armies of China and ASEAN countries held a maritime exercise, demonstrating the confidence and determination of China and ASEAN countries to maintain regional peace and stability.

　　China adheres to the spirit of equality, openness, tolerance and mutual learning, and builds the exchange platform of Beijing Xiangshan Forum. In 2014, Xiangshan Forum was upgraded to a "one track and a half" international security and defense dialogue platform. In October 2018, Xiangshan Forum was renamed Beijing Xiangshan Forum. More than 500 representatives from 67 countries and 7 international organizations attended the forum to discuss new ideas and new ways to deal with regional security threats and challenges, which played a positive role in promoting security dialogue and mutual trust and cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.

　　Properly handle territorial issues and maritime delimitation disputes.

　　China adheres to the neighboring diplomatic concept of sincerity and tolerance, and persists in being a good neighbor and partner, and peacefully resolves territorial issues and maritime delimitation disputes through negotiation and consultation. China has settled land border issues with 12 of the 14 land neighbors, and signed treaties of good-neighborliness, friendship and cooperation with 8 neighboring countries.

　　China regards managing differences and enhancing mutual trust as an important part of maintaining stability in the surrounding areas, and proposes to set up a China-ASEAN defense chiefs hotline, establish direct telephone lines with Vietnam and South Korea respectively, and conduct regular or irregular telephone and fax contacts, border talks and meetings, joint patrols, etc. with the armies of countries bordering the land. Since 2014, China and Viet Nam have held five high-level border meetings. The Chinese and Indian armed forces have implemented the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, conducted high-level visits and communication, and promoted the establishment of border hotline and border control and border exchange mechanisms. Since the second half of 2016, China and the Philippines have strengthened maritime security dialogue, and the two sides have returned to the correct track of handling the South China Sea issue through friendly consultations. In May 2018, the defense departments of China and Japan signed a memorandum on the air-sea liaison mechanism and started the operation of the mechanism in June.

　　China and ASEAN countries have fully and effectively implemented the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea, actively promoted consultations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, strengthened practical cooperation on maritime security, promoted the construction of regional security mechanisms, and strived to make the South China Sea a sea of peace, friendship and cooperation.

　　Actively provide international public safety products.

　　China actively supports UN peacekeeping operations, is one of the major contributors to UN peacekeeping operations, and is the largest troop contributor among the permanent members of the Security Council. By December 2018, China’s army had participated in 24 UN peacekeeping operations, dispatched more than 39,000 peacekeeping military personnel, and 13 China soldiers died in the front line of peacekeeping. China’s army built and repaired more than 13,000 kilometers of roads in the peacekeeping mission area, and cleared 10,342 mines and various unexploded ordnance; Delivered more than 1.35 million tons of materials, with a total transportation mileage of more than 13 million kilometers; More than 170,000 patients were admitted; Completed more than 300 tasks such as armed guards and long-distance and short-distance patrols.

　　In September 2015, China joined the new standby mechanism of United Nations peacekeeping capacity, and built an 8,000-person peacekeeping standby force. In September 2017, China completed the first-level standby registration of peacekeeping standby forces in the United Nations. In October 2018, all the 13 first-level standby units passed the assessment and evaluation organized by the United Nations and were promoted to the second-level standby state. In February 2019, the United Nations upgraded five of the above-mentioned 13 second-level standby units to the third-level standby state. China actively trains peacekeepers for various countries, and has trained more than 1,500 peacekeepers for dozens of countries. In December 2018, 2,506 officers and men from China performed their duties in seven United Nations mission areas and the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations.

　　According to the relevant resolutions of the UN Security Council, the government of China sent naval vessels to the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters to carry out regular escort operations in December 2008, and cooperated with multinational escort forces to jointly safeguard the safety of international sea lanes. In the past 10 years, China Navy has normally deployed three or four ships to carry out escort missions, sending 31 batches of more than 100 sub-ships and more than 26,000 officers and men, providing safety protection for more than 6,600 Chinese and foreign ships, and rescuing, taking care of and rescuing more than 70 ships in distress.

　　China’s armed forces actively participated in international disaster relief and humanitarian assistance, sent professional rescue forces to disaster-stricken countries to rescue and reduce disasters, provided relief materials and medical assistance, and strengthened international exchanges in rescue and reduction. Since 2012, we have organized or participated in the search and rescue of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, typhoon Haiyan rescue in the Philippines, fighting against Ebola epidemic in West Africa, water shortage rescue in Maldives, earthquake relief in Nepal, and dam-break rescue in Laos. China Navy’s hospital ship "Square Boat" has been in service for 10 years, and has carried out seven "harmonious missions", visiting 43 countries in total, providing medical services and organizing medical exchanges for people in visiting countries, benefiting more than 230,000 people.

　　China has actively carried out international and regional anti-terrorism cooperation. Strengthen international anti-terrorism cooperation within the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, organize joint anti-terrorism exercises, crack down on illegal trafficking in weapons, ammunition and explosives, cooperate to identify and cut off personnel infiltration channels, and promote international anti-terrorism information exchange and sharing. Hosting the Great Wall International Forum with the theme of counter-terrorism, and actively participating in multilateral counter-terrorism mechanisms such as the APEC Counter-Terrorism Working Group and the Global Counter-Terrorism Forum. Hold bilateral anti-terrorism consultations with relevant countries. We will promote the establishment of a coordination mechanism for anti-terrorism cooperation among the armed forces of Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and Tajikistan, hold two meetings of senior military leaders, carry out anti-terrorism exchanges and cooperation, and actively safeguard regional security.

　　Concluding remarks

　　Peace is the common aspiration of people of all countries, and development is the eternal theme of human society. In the face of increasingly complex global security challenges and the choice of where human development should go at the crossroads, China firmly believes that hegemony and expansion will eventually fail, and security and prosperity should be shared. China will stick to the path of peaceful development and work with people of other countries to safeguard world peace and promote common development.

　　China’s national defense in the new era, under the guidance of the supreme leader’s thought of strengthening the army, will March forward courageously towards the grand goal of building a world-class army in an all-round way along the road of strengthening the army with China characteristics. China’s army has the determination, confidence and ability to overcome all threats and challenges, provide strong strategic support for realizing the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and make new and greater contributions to serving and building a community of human destiny.