US Defense Secretary Robert Gates’s visit to China restores military exchanges; The General Staff Headquarters issues directives regarding military training in 2011; The General Armaments Department promulgates the table of Military Standard Systems;
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    • The United States Defense Secretary Robert Gates paid a four-day visit to China. The visit was aimed at improving military ties after frictions last year. During the visit, he met Chinese President and Chairman of China's Central Military Commission Hu Jintao, Vice President and Vice Chairman of the commission Xi Jinping, Vice Chairman of the commission Xu Caihou, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and his Chinese counterpart Liang Guanglie separately.1 During his meeting with Gates, Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie remarked that China's military hardware development is not targeting any country. It does not pose threat to any country either. He made these remarks at a joint press conference with visiting United States Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Monday. He was responding to a U.S. reporter who asked if China wanted to counter the U.S. military engagement in Asia by developing weapons. Liang admitted that China had made progress in building its military might and developed weapons to meet its sovereignty and security requirements, however, it still lagged far behind developed nations in terms of weaponry.2 During Gates’s visit, the two countries agreed to restore high-level military exchanges.3 Gates also visited the Second Artillery Force of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) on Wednesday.4

    The General Staff Headquarters (GSH) of the PLA has issued a directive to deepen reform of military drill, to press ahead with training on mission subjects, to intensify troops’ basic training, to attach importance to the joint training of arms and services, to deepen education reform of military academies, to improve training support in the year 2011.5

    The General Armaments Department (GAD) of the PLA, recently, promulgated the Table of Military Standard Systems recently to advance the national defense and military modernization drive, strengthen unified management of military standards, and to promote military-civilian integration in the field of standardization. Reports noted that the table unifies and coordinates the national, departmental and industrial standards for military use, covering operation command, political work, logistics support, armaments development, defense technology and other areas concerning national defense and military modernization drive. It has included standards for new equipment and new technologies and highlighted the standards for general-purpose products, common technologies and information technology.6

    The General Political Department (GPD) of the PLA and the Discipline Inspection Commission of the CMC jointly organized a working conference of the PLA on military discipline inspection in Beijing on 9 January 2011. At the conference, Tong Shiping, Deputy Director of the GPD and secretary of the CMC Discipline Inspection Commission, delivered a report entitled “Recognize the Situation and Tasks and Increase Prevention Efforts to Effectively Promote Anti-corruption and Clean Army Building of the People’s Liberation Army” at the conference. According to the report, the Party committees, discipline inspection commissions and political institutions of the PLA at all levels firmly implemented the decisions and arrangements made by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the CMC and President Hu Jintao in 2010 to curb the corruption in the army. They enhanced administrative supervision in order to ensure a favorable situation and positive development of the anti-corruption and clean army building in the military.7

    The special operation force of the “Zhoushan” warship and the “Qiandaohu” warship of the 7th Chinese naval escort taskforce, stationed in the Gulf of Aden, carried out a live-firing drill at the night of January 10, 2011 in the Gulf. The exercise was undertaken when the visibility was less than 10 meters over the less sea.8

    In other developments, a 9-member delegation from the NATO Task Force 508 visited the “Zhoushan” warship of the 7th Chinese naval escort taskforce. The visiting delegation held talks and exchange with Rear Admiral Zhang Huachen, commander of the Chinese taskforce. The two sides discussed the security situation in the Gulf of Aden and the waters off the Somali coast.9

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