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	Document reveals PLA stats China Tuesday released its biennial white paper on the country's armed forces, highlighting the protection of its overseas interests and for the first time revealing the number of its army, navy and air force servicemen.

China's Armed Forces

China's armed forces are composed of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the People's Armed Police Force (PAPF) and the militia. They play a significant role in China's overall strategies of security and development, and shoulder the glorious mission and sacred duty of safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests.

The PLA Army (PLAA)
Itis composed of mobile operational units, border and coastal defense units, guard and garrison units, and is primarily responsible for military operations on land.

The PLAA mobile operational units include 18 combined corps, plus additional independent combined operational divisions (brigades), and have atotal strength of 850,000. The combined corps, composed of divisions and brigades, are respectively under the seven military area commands (MACs): Shenyang (16th, 39th and 40th Combined Corps), Beijing (27th, 38th and 65th Combined Corps), Lanzhou (21st and 47th Combined Corps), Jinan (20th, 26th and 54th Combined Corps), Nanjing (1st, 12th and 31st Combined Corps), Guangzhou (41st and 42nd Combined Corps) and Chengdu (13th and 14th Combined Corps).

The PLA Navy (PLAN)
It is China's mainstay for operations at sea, and is responsible for safeguarding its maritime security and maintaining its sovereignty over its territorial seas along with its maritime rights and interests.

	Currently, the PLAN has a total strength of 235,000 officers and men, and commands three fleets, namely, the Beihai Fleet, the Donghai Fleet and the Nanhai Fleet. Each fleet has fleet aviation headquarters, support bases, flotillas and maritime garrison commands, as well as aviation divisions and marine brigades.

The PLA Air Force (PLAAF)
It is China's mainstay for air operations, responsible for its territorial air security and maintaining a stable air defense posture nationwide.

	The PLAAF now has a total strength of 398,000 officers and men, and an air command in each of the seven Military Area Commands (MACs) of Shenyang, Beijing, Lanzhou, Jinan, Nanjing, Guangzhou and Chengdu.In addition, it commands one airborne corps. Under each air command are bases, aviation divisions (brigades), ground-to-air missile divisions (brigades), radar brigades and other units.

The PLA Second Artillery Force (PLASAF)
It is a core force for China's strategic deterrence. It is mainly composed of nuclear and conventional missile forces and operational support units, primarily responsible for deterring other countries from using nuclear weapons against China, and carrying out nuclear counterattacks and precision strikes with conventional missiles.

	The PLASAF has under its command missile bases, training bases, specialized support units, academies and research institutions. It has a series of "Dong Feng" ballistic missiles and "Chang Jian" cruise missiles.

People's Armed Police Force (PAPF)
In peacetime, the PAPF's main tasks include performing guard duties, dealing with emergencies, combating terrorism and participating in and supporting national economic development. In wartime, it is tasked with assisting the PLA in defensive operations.

The PAPF is composed of the internal security force and other specialized forces. The internal security force is composed of contingents at the level of province (autonomous region or municipality directly under the central government) and mobile divisions. Specialized PAPF forces include those guarding gold mines, forests, hydroelectric projects and transportation facilities. The border public security, firefighting and security guard forces are also components of the PAPF.

Militia
The militia is an armed organization composed of the people not released from their regular work. As an assistant and backup force of the PLA, the militia is tasked with participating in the socialist modernization drive, performing combat readiness support and defensive operations, helping maintain social order and participating in emergency rescue and disaster relief operations.

	The militia falls into two categories: primary and general. The primary militia has emergency response detachments; supporting detachments such as joint air defense, intelligence, reconnaissance, communications support, engineering rush-repair, transportation and equipment repair; and reserve units for combat, logistics and equipment support.

Comments

White paper more direct about China’s overseas interests
This is the latest step China has taken toward military transparency. But many Chinese defense analysts  believe that the West will not feel satisfied as it will demand details such as information on China's military hardware.

China's development of blue-water navy a must: expert
Since its establishment six decades ago, the country's navy has gone through stages of coastal defense, inshore defense and offshore defense. In the new century, it is a must-taken road for the navy to go to blue waters

China's defense white paper had become increasingly transparent since its first edition in 1998, but it was "regrettable" that some people refuse to walk out of the shadow of the Cold War and insist on stereotypes about China's military threat.------Meng Xiangqing, a senior colonel and deputy director of the Institute for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University

Chinese military is an important force for safeguarding world peace and regional security. By protecting China's overseas interests, we are not aiming to increase our overseas military presence, nor to seek hegemony.------Wu Xihua, a senior officer from the PLA General Staff Headquarters

The interests mentioned in the white paper are just one part of the country's ever-increasing overseas interests, therefore the military must keep pace in terms of its capabilities.------Li Jie, a military expert in Beijing

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News Vocab

白皮书 báipíshū    Audio

政府、议会等公开发表的有关政治、外交、财政等重大问题的文件，因封面为白色，所以叫白皮书。

White paper. An official report from a government or Parliament, explaining their ideas and plans concerning particular political, diplomatic, financial or other major issues.

新闻例句     Audio

国务院新闻办公室于今天发表《中国武装力量的多样化运用》白皮书。这是中国政府自1998年以来发表的第8部国防白皮书，也是首部专题型国防白皮书。  

China issued a white paper on national defense named “The Diversified Employment of China's Armed Forces.” The document, the eighth of its kind issued by the Chinese government since 1998, is the first special coverage white paper on national defense.

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