Amid Taiwan Strait Tensions, China Marks 95th Army Anniversary Focusing on Troop Morale Boost

People's Daily Reports "From the Gobi Desert to the Frontline, President Xi's Attention Focused on the Military"
Also Releases Live-Fire Footage of a Missile Presumed to be a Hypersonic Missile

Source=People's Daily

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] Amid rising tensions between the U.S. and China over the Taiwan Strait, China is focusing on boosting military morale as it marks the 95th anniversary of the founding of its armed forces. In particular, state-run media are being mobilized to showcase enhanced military strength while emphasizing President Xi Jinping's attention and trust in the military.

According to local media including the online edition of the state-run People's Daily and Xinhua News Agency on the 1st, the Chinese People's Liberation Army celebrated its 95th anniversary on this day, and the Ministry of National Defense held a banquet at the Great Hall of the People the day before to commemorate the occasion.

State media unanimously reported that the 15th issue of Qiushi (Seeking Truth), the Communist Party's theoretical journal published on this day, would include a speech by President Xi Jinping commemorating the 90th anniversary of the founding of the armed forces five years ago. This is interpreted as an effort to boost military morale and emphasize control ahead of the 20th Party Congress scheduled for October.

At that time, President Xi stressed that the People's Liberation Army must be absolutely loyal to the Party and become a military focused on actual combat. He particularly emphasized, "To carry out the strong military cause, we must not waver even a little and must follow the Party's absolute leadership over the military," adding, "We must be able to respond when called upon, fight when engaged, and win when fighting."

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

The People's Daily also devoted significant space to detailed reports on President Xi's visits to military units nationwide since he became General Secretary of the Communist Party in 2012. The People's Daily explained, "From the winding Gobi Desert to the frontline defending sovereignty, President Xi's gaze was fixed," and "President Xi placed great importance on and deeply considered the grassroots military and frontline officers and soldiers." It also reported that "the people President Xi greeted and spoke with most during his inspections were soldiers," noting that he took off his gloves to shake hands with soldiers one by one even in subzero temperatures.

Prior to the 95th anniversary of the founding of the armed forces, China released about 81 seconds of live-fire footage presumed to be of the DF-17 hypersonic missile through state-run CCTV. If the footage is indeed of the DF-17, it would be the first time live-fire footage related to it has been released since its appearance at the 70th anniversary military parade in 2019, interpreted as a demonstration of strengthened military power.

Meanwhile, according to local media, the Chinese military issued a navigation warning and conducted live-fire training on the 29th in the waters near Pingtan Island, which is closest to Taiwan. Pingtan is located 185 km from Taipei, the capital of Taiwan.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.