Top Chinese leader Hu Jintao has called for faster progress in
national defense and military modernization in light of the
country's economic development and scientific advancement.
Hu, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central
Committee, made the call Friday afternoon during a lecture for
members of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, who
were briefed about the new military changes in the world by two
researchers from the Military Academy of Sciences of the Chinese
People's Liberation Army.
Hu
said it is the central task of the country to take advantage of the
opportunities of the first two decades of this century to
concentrate efforts on economic and social development, and to
strive for the goal of building a well-off society in an all-around
way.
The general secretary said that under no circumstance should China
waver on the task, but reliable national defense capability is also
needed for China to ensure its reform, opening-up and modernization
drive in a complicated and changing international situation.
The global development of new and high-technology has had a subtle
impact on people's life and on international political, economic
and cultural relations, and it has also greatly facilitated new
military changes in the world, said Hu.
He
said China must improve its research into the change so as to
constantly improve national defense and military modernization to
safeguard the building of a more affluent society and to promote
the nation's modernization drives.
Hu
urged Party committees and governments at all levels to better
understand the great significance of improved national defense and
military modernization.
(People's Daily May 25, 2003)