PLA naval hospital ship Peace Ark conducts dills of "Mission Harmony-2022" in South China Sea on November 5. Photo: VCG

Editor's Note:

From many perspectives, the world is in danger of being drawn into long-term trouble right before our eyes. Greater risk of outbreak of new conflicts bubbles amid a lingering pandemic, the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict and the plague of soaring inflation and an energy crisis. Against this complex backdrop, what will 2023 look like? Who should we look toward as the anchor of stability in the world?

Global Times (GT) recently interviewed He Lei (He), a deputy to the 13th National People's Congress, People's Liberation Army (PLA) lieutenant general and former vice president of the PLA Academy of Military Sciences. This is first piece of the series - "Looking for anchor of stability in 2023."

GT: What has the Chinese army done in 2022 to maintain world peace and regional stability in terms of peacekeeping and naval escort?

He: This year, the Chinese army has always faithfully practiced the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind and adhered to the international responsibility of a great power's army. Amid the serious and complex international situation and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the PLA has actively participated in operations including the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping, international rescue, naval escort, joint exercises, and training. It has outstandingly completed the task and made remarkable contribution to maintaining world peace and regional stability.

At present, there are more than 2,000 Chinese military officers and soldiers in seven peacekeeping mission areas and the UN headquarters to carry out international peacekeeping tasks. The 42nd Chinese naval escort taskforce of the PLA implements regular escort operations in the waters of the Gulf of Aden and around Somalia. The hospital ship Peace Ark of the Chinese navy, carrying out the "Mission Harmony-2022," has successfully completed the mission of visiting and providing medical services in Indonesia.

The PLA has held several multilateral activities for military exchange this year, such as the 7th Great Wall International Military Medicine Forum, the webinar on the security situation in the Gulf of Guinea, the Second China-Africa Peace and Security Forum Ministerial Meeting, the first "Shared Vision" international peacekeeping forum, the "Great Wall-2022" International Forum on Counter-Terrorism, a China-Arab States seminar on military higher learning institutions, the Second China-Africa Peace and Security Forum Military Medicine Conference, the Beijing Xiangshan Forum Webinar 2022 and the Fifth Defense Forum China-Latin American and the Caribbean States. 

It has also participated in international conferences, including the 19th Shangri-La Dialogue, the 13th China-ASEAN Defense Ministers' Informal Meeting, the meeting of defense ministers of SCO member states and the 9th ASEAN Defence Ministers' Meeting Plus. 

During these events, the PLA raised the Chinese voice, advanced Chinese solutions, and contributed Chinese wisdom. It has further strengthened international military cooperation and exchanges, expanding the global influence of the Chinese military.

GT: As the Chinese military takes firmer steps to enter the world stage and takes on more responsibility, does the power of the Chinese military to maintain world peace see any change?

He: As China continues to open up to the world, the country sees growing overseas interests. Moreover, the Chinese army needs to fulfill its mission and tasks in the new era. Against this backdrop, the Chinese army is going global at an increasingly firm pace, assuming a more significant responsibility and playing a more important role in maintaining world peace and regional stability.

First, providing strategic support for safeguarding China's overseas interests and promoting world peace and development has become an important mission of the Chinese military in the new era. On the new journey, the Chinese military will perform its mission and tasks in the new era more forcefully and effectively.

Second, since the 18th CPC National Congress, the PLA has resolutely implemented Xi Jinping Thought on Strengthening the Military and carried out the military strategic guideline for a new era. It has also accelerated the modernization of China's defense and military, continuously developing and improving its weapons and equipment. As a result, the PLA's modernization level and actual combat capability have significantly increased. The army has become more powerful and reliable in its ability to defend the country's sovereignty, security and development interests and achieve the complete reunification of the motherland. It has more "confidence and the ability to make yet greater contributions to world peace and development."

Third, the world today is undergoing more major changes unseen in a century and has entered a new period of turbulence and change. The Chinese military firmly upholds the UN Charter and its purposes, promotes the building of a new security partnership and structure for regional security cooperation, and actively participates in global security rules-making. It will strengthen global security cooperation, actively participate in UN peacekeeping operations, strive to provide more international public security products, and make greater contributions to maintaining world peace and regional stability and helping build a community with a shared future for mankind.

GT: What are the concepts and proposals behind the actions of the Chinese military to maintain world peace and regional stability?

He: In recent years, the Chinese military has played an important role and positively contributed to maintaining world peace and regional stability. This has been widely praised by the international community.

First, it is determined by the nature of the PLA. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Chinese president, pointed out in the report to the 20th National Congress of the CPC that the Party is "dedicated to pursuing happiness for the Chinese people and rejuvenation for the Chinese nation. It is also dedicated to human progress and world harmony." The PLA is the people's army under the absolute leadership of the CPC. It takes the Party's banner as its banner, the Party's goal as its goal and the Party's mission as its mission. The CPC's pursuit of human progress and world harmony has given the PLA the mission and responsibility to maintain world peace and regional stability. 

Second, it is determined by the defensive nature of China's national defense policy. As a socialist country, our strategic choice of peaceful development, our independent foreign policy of peace, and the Chinese cultural tradition of advocating for harmony, all determine that China will always pursue a defensive national defense policy. China's development and the strength of the Chinese military are a growing force for world peace. No matter how developed China becomes, it will never seek hegemony, expansion, or sphere of influence, engage in arms race, nor threaten other countries.

Third, it is determined by the concept of building a community with a shared future for mankind. Xi put forward the concepts of building a community with a shared future for mankind, Global Development Initiative, and Global Security Initiative, and is committed to building an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, universal security and common prosperity. Under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Strengthening the Military, the Chinese military has always been a strong force for maintaining world peace and regional stability, and serving the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

GT: In the future, what plans or actions does the Chinese military have to make greater contributions to maintaining world peace and regional stability?

He: Maintaining world peace and regional stability is the sacred mission of the Chinese military. As the saying goes, "It takes a good blacksmith to make good steel." In a bid to maintain world peace and regional stability, first, we need to build a consolidated national defense and a powerful army commensurate with China's international status and in line with its national security and development interests. 

At the present and future stages, it is necessary to thoroughly study and implement the spirit of the 20th CPC National Congress, closely focus on the central task of our army's construction in the next five years, and ensure achieving the PLA's centenary goals of strengthening the military as scheduled, comprehensively strengthen the military training and war preparedness of the armed forces, and improve its capability to win wars, accelerate efforts to build the PLA into world-class armed forces, effectively boost the strategic capability in defending national sovereignty, security and development interests and achieve the complete reunification of the motherland, and lay a solid foundation for safeguarding world peace and regional stability.

The second is to continue adhering to the common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security concept and the Global Security Initiative, faithfully implement the concept of building a community of a shared future for mankind, and further strengthen strategic mutual trust, military mutual trust, and cooperation and exchanges with militaries around the world. Within the framework of the UN, we should continue to proactively participate in UN peacekeeping, international rescue, maritime escort, joint exercises and training, combating terrorism and other operations, hold and take part in multilateral and bilateral military forums and meetings, fulfill international security obligations, and provide the world with more international public security products. 

The third is to unswervingly pursue a defensive national defense policy, implement the military strategic guideline for a new era, unequivocally oppose hegemonism and power politics, unswervingly reject Cold War mentality, unilateralism, interference in other countries' internal affairs and bullying practices, object to double standards and exclusive small circles, resolutely safeguard the basic norms of international relations and international fairness and justice, firmly safeguard the country's overseas interests, and strive to continue to play a bigger constructive role in maintaining world peace and regional stability.