Seventy-one military attaches with 57 foreign embassies to China
on Friday attended a briefing on the political work of the Chinese
People's Liberation Army (PLA).
The briefing is the 8th organized by the Foreign Affairs Bureau
of the Chinese Defense Ministry this year to help foreign military
officers gain better knowledge of the PLA.
Zhang Gongxian, a major general and the vice secretary-general
of the General Political Department (GPD) of the PLA chaired the
briefing and elaborated on the duties of the GPD and the structures
of the political organs in the PLA.
Foreign military attaches raised questions on the relationship
between the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and
the PLA, the requirements and the selection of qualified political
or military commanders.
Military attaches from Austria, New Zealand and Bangladesh said
the briefing expanded their knowledge of the PLA and was conducive
to enhancing communication and cooperation between Chinese and
foreign armed forces.
Other briefings organized in 2006 have covered the topics of
China's foreign policy, security policy, national defense science
and technology industry, aircraft maintenance, import and export of
aviation technologies, the security preparation for the 2008
Beijing Olympic Games and the reserve military units.
The Foreign Affairs Bureau of the Chinese Defense Ministry said
the briefings were aimed at deepening the foreign military
attaches' understanding of the national and military conditions of
China.
(Xinhua News Agency December 15, 2006)