New Delhi: According to state news agency of China, Xinhua, Chinese president Xi Jinping has called on troops to “put all (their) minds and energy on preparing for war” during his visit to a military base in the Southern province of Guangdong on Tuesday.
The news agency says that during an inspection of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Corps in Chaozhou City, Xi told the soldiers to “maintain a state of high alert” and called on them to be “absolutely loyal, absolutely pure, and absolutely reliable”.
Xi’s visit to Guangdong was aiming to deliver a speech on Wednesday commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, which was established in 1980 to attract foreign capital and played a vital role in helping China to become second-largest economic power in the world.
Experts say that the remarks of Xi is not specifically directed at India, though it came amid border dispute in Ladakh
At the same time the visit attract global attention, amid the rising tension between Washington and Beijing over Taiwan and the Coronavirus pandemic. US was planning to move ahead wity the sale of three advances weapon systems to Taiwan including the advanced High Mobiity Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). But Beijing had called on Washington to “immdiately cancel any arms sales plans to Taiwan”, and cut all “US-Taiwan military Ties”.
A Global Times report had claimed that PLA is monitoring US warship transiting in Taiwan straits. Eastern Theater Command of PLA tracked and monitored the USS Barry destroyer for the entire course when the US warship sailed through the Taiwan Straits, it says.
In recent days, the US has been frequently sending wrong signals to “Taiwan independence” forces, seriously damaging peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits, said Senior Colonel Zhang Chunhui, spokesperson of the PLA’s Eastern Theater Command in a statement.
“We sternly urge the US to stop making trouble-stirring statements and moves. The command forces are always on high alert in resolutely safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits,” Zhang said.
Meanwhile, the PLA’s Tibet Military Command conducted live-fire test training exercises with its latest truck-based multiple rocket-propelled mine launchers at a high altitude. This type of weapon is expected to allow a rapid regional lockdown during combat, and it is much more efficient than manual work, says experts.
According to a Global Times report, a brigade under the PLA Tibet Military Command dispatched several truck-based multiple rocket-propelled mine launchers to a training ground at an elevation of more than 4,300 meters and conducted a test shooting exercise under simulated combat scenarios, the command said in a statement released on Wednesday.
The test achieved its goal of remotely setting up obstacles and placing mines across a whole region, and it comprehensively examined and boosted the troops’ capability to set up obstacles with advanced weapons and equipment in an environment where temperatures and oxygen levels are low, the statement said.
According to a video attached to the statement, one truck carries 40 rocket-launching barrels, and the rocket-propelled mines are fired at short intervals, just like a standard multiple rocket launcher system, Global Times reports.
It says that the statement did not give further details about the weapon, including its designation and specifications.
The truck-based rocket-propelled mine launcher is characterized by its high mobility, and the mines it fired are scattered on the surface of the ground instead of buried in the ground, Weihutang, a program on military affairs under China Central Television (CCTV), reported
It can set up a temporary mine field in the path of an enemy army and slow its advance, or it can be used to temporarily secure a perimeter and lock down a breach in a defense line, the report said.