A YU-20 aerial tanker performs mock aerial refueling for a J-20 fighter jet and a J-16 fighter jet, escorted by another J-20 and another J-16, at the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force open-day event held in Changchun, Northeast China's Jilin Province, on July 26, 2023. Photo: Li Hao/GT

Vessels of the Russian and the Chinese navies take part in the joint naval and air drills North/Interaction-2023 in the Sea of Japan on July 21, 2023. The drills involve sea and air escorts, and repulsion of trespassing vessels from areas closed for navigation. Photo: VCG

The PLA Eastern Theater Command Rocket Force launches live-fire assaults with multiple types of conventional missiles at several designated sea areas to the east of Taiwan island on August 4, 2022. Photo: IC

As China's Army Day comes on Tuesday, the Chinese armed forces are called for to continue to modernize and accomplish entrusted tasks at a time when China's security situation is facing rising instability and uncertainty.

Ahead of the Army Day, Chinese President Xi Jinping has stressed the need to speed up efforts to boost the modernization of the armed forces.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), made the remarks on Wednesday in Southwest China's Sichuan Province while inspecting the air force of the Western Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), the Xinhua News Agency reported on Sunday. 

On behalf of the CPC Central Committee and the CMC, Xi extended sincere greetings to all the officers and soldiers of the air force of the command, as well as festival greetings to service personnel of the PLA and the People's Armed Police Force, civilian personnel posted in the military, and members of militia and reserve forces.

Xi demanded an accelerated pace of pushing new equipment and forces to form combat forces. The new equipment and forces should be integrated into the current combat systems, he added.

It is imperative to remain committed to accomplishing the various tasks entrusted by the Party and the people, said Xi, who also called for continuous efforts to carry out training under real combat conditions.

On Sunday, the five-day PLA Air Force Open-Day Event and the Changchun Aviation Exhibition held in Changchun, Northeast China's Jilin Province, wrapped up with celebrations for the upcoming Army Day.

During the air force event, some of China's most advanced warplanes including the J-20 stealth fighter jet, the YU-20 aerial tanker and the Z-20 utility helicopter were displayed to the public in a very transparent manner, including flight performances and ground displays, in a move that the visitors and experts told the Global Times at the exhibition site not only showed the PLA Air Force's rapid modernization, but also its confidence and will in safeguarding China's national sovereignty, security and development interests.

In recent years, these advanced aircraft have gradually been commissioned into the combat units of the PLA Air Force in large numbers, as they are expected to further elevate the comprehensive combat capability of the PLA Air Force, enabling it to better accomplish its duties, observers said.

At the moment, there are potentially at least five PLA Navy units sailing beyond the first island chain around the world, namely the flotilla consisting of destroyers and frigates that is participating in the China-Russia joint naval patrol in the North Pacific, the amphibious group led by a Type 075 amphibious assault ship in the West Pacific, the Peace Ark hospital ship in the South Pacific, the 43rd escort task group in the western coast of Africa, and the 44th escort task group in the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia. The Shandong aircraft carrier group recently also held drills in undisclosed waters.

More warships are being commissioned into the PLA Navy and are becoming active in far sea voyages, which reflects the PLA Navy's strides in becoming a blue-water navy, analysts said.

The modernization of the armed forces means not only the development of advanced new weapons and equipment, but also their rapid commissioning in large numbers, Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Monday.

China is facing multiple security threats at a time when the world is at unease, so it is important that the Chinese armed forces form combat capabilities with the new weapons and equipment and be ready for potential military conflicts against a world-class power under modern and informationized conditions, Song said.

The Party and the people entrusted the PLA to safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests, which are being threatened because of troubles caused mainly by the US, including the Taiwan question and the South China Sea issue, Song said.

The US military has been pouring its resources in an attempt to compete with and contain China, ganging up allies and forming cliques including QUAD and AUKUS targeting China, promoting an eastward expansion of NATO into the Asia-Pacific region, arming the island of Taiwan, provoking the Taiwan question and the South China Sea issue, and leaning toward India over the China-India border conflict.

Conflicts in other parts of the world like the Ukraine crisis are also having a spillover effect to the global security situation.

Together with the Air Force and the Navy, other PLA services and branches including the Army and the Rocket Force participated in key missions over the past year, including two large-scale encirclement exercises around the island of Taiwan countering collusions between "Taiwan independence" secessionist forces and external interference forces in August last year and April this year.

Last year's Army Day was a special one, as it was celebrated at the eve of then US House speaker Nancy Pelosi's provocative visit to the island of Taiwan under high tensions, as the PLA raised alert and prepared countermeasures.

Immediately after Pelosi landed on August 2, the PLA announced large-scale military exercises, which saw the island completely blocked down through joint drills by the PLA Army, Navy, Air Force and Rocket Force, with ballistic missiles flying over the island for the first time.

The drills demonstrated the PLA's firm will and strong capability to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and thwart secessionist attempts by "Taiwan independence" and external interfering forces, Zhang Junshe, a senior research fellow at the Naval Research Academy of the PLA, told the Global Times.

Future to come

Tuesday marks the 96th founding anniversary of the PLA, and there are only four years to go until its centennial.

To achieve the centennial goal, the Chinese armed forces are expected to continue to make concrete steps in modernization and complete their missions and tasks.

China's third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, which is the country's first 80,000 ton-class electromagnetic catapults-equipped carrier, was launched on June 17, 2022. Experts expect the vessel to hold its first sea trial this year, after official reports said its mooring trials went smoothly.

Other warships, including additional Type 052D destroyers as well as China's next-generation frigate allegedly called the Type 054B, could also be launched this year, according to foreign media reports.

With the successful development of domestically made engines, the production and delivery of J-20 stealth fighter jets are expected to increase.

Other surprising developments could also come out anytime, observers said.