China tells troops: Get ‘war ready’
CHINA president Xi Jinping has told troops to “focus on war preparedness”, in a move experts have described as “worrying”.
The communist leader, 67, signed an order last week to “implement Xi Jinping’s thinking on strengthening the military”, “focus on war preparedness” and make better use of advanced technologies in training and weapons systems.
Xi had already told troops to be “ready to assemble at the first call” and to be capable of “fighting and winning”.
He has previously signed similar orders but analysts say the belligerent behaviour of the regime over the past year rings alarm bells.
The move comes as outgoing US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo marked the end of “Chinese appeasement” by lifting a decades-old convention and allowing US diplomats to communicate directly with Taiwan, which China sees as a province.
Last year the Sunday Express revealed a similar policy shift over formally recognising Taiwan is being considered by the UK government in the wake of the crisis in Hong Kong.
China expert Matthew Henderson last night said Beijing’s threat was also significant for this country.
The UK is deploying the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier to lead a multinational task force to the Far East.
This is part of a show of strength against Chinese attempts to control parts of the South China Sea, a vital trading route. The former diplomat, who served with the Foreign Office in both China and Hong Kong, said: “Xi has signed orders like this before but, in the context of the past 12 months, it does take on a worrying new importance.
“His chosen persona has morphed from ‘benign spokesman for a win-win new world order’ to a military hard man whose forces club Indian border guards to death and carry out aggressive fly-by operations over Taiwan.”
Xi has already decreed that China should be a “strong socialist nation” which can boast world-class military capabilities. Mr Henderson also noted that while the UK poses no great threat to China in itself, becoming a significant part of an alliance by virtue of sending the carrier is a sign that we are part of the fight.
Meanwhile, the Sunday Express has learnt that Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee is looking at the problem of “useful fools” around the world being used as agents of the Chinese.
There has been alarm over New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden breaking ranks with the Five Eyes security partnership in refusing to condemn the ending of democracy and arrest of communist opponents in Hong Kong.
And privately, there are also concerns about the EU signing a deal with China this month.