The Information Office of the State Council published a white paper titled "China's National Defense in 2006" on December 29, 2006. Chen Zhou, a noted researcher with the warfare theory and strategy research department under the Academy of Military Sciences of the People's Liberation Army, analyzed the 2006 white paper on China's national defense in an exclusive interview with People's Daily.

Excerpts follow:

People's Daily: The newest white paper on China's national defense is the fifth of its kind the Chinese Government has issued since 1998. Could you please tell us the most salient features of this year's white paper?

Chen: The new white paper focuses on new changes in the international security situation, China's defense policy and progress made in developing the national defense and army in the past two years.

Its most salient features are as follows:

First, it fully embodies the basic concept of China's national defense policy to maintain peaceful development. This is in line with China's basic national policy to take the road of peaceful development, to build a harmonious society at home and to promote the building of a harmonious world. So China has to implement its national policy as part of its defense policy.

Second, it gives prominence to the all-round, coordinated and sustained development of the national defense and armed forces.

Third, it increases the transparency of China's defense policy and strategic intention. The purpose in increasing such transparency is to build up mutual trust between nations. The new white paper enunciates in an open way many aspects with regard to the judgment of security environment, security strategic concepts, as well as the country's defense policy and military strategy.

Q: What changes are represented in this white paper?

A: Another four chapters—China's Leadership and Administration System for National Defense, the People's Liberation Army, People's Armed Police Force and Border and Coastal Defense—are added to the new white paper, and an additional chapter on defense expenditure is offered with an explicit aim to further increase the transparency of the national defense and armed forces.

On the exposition of China's national defense policy, the new white paper for the first time presents China's self-defensive nuclear strategy. That is, China remains firmly committed to the policy of not using nuclear weapons first; it upholds the principles of counterattack in self-defense and limited development of nuclear weapons; and it aims at building an effective nuclear force capable of meeting national security needs and maintains a credible nuclear deterrent force.

The new white paper also releases for the first time China's goal for a three-step development strategy in modernizing the national defense and armed forces: The first step is to lay a solid foundation by 2010, the second is to make major progress by 2020, and the third is to basically reach the strategic goal of building hi-tech armed forces and being capable of winning modern wars by the mid-21st century.

Q: The 2002 and 2004 white papers are devoted to a description of the security situation both at home and abroad in their first chapter, and the white paper this year has again set aside space for the same purpose. What differences between the new white paper and the previous ones in terms of its description and judgment of the security situation?

A: First of all, the white paper's judgment on the global security situation and that of the Asia-Pacific region fully reflects a new situation and new changes in the past two years. For instance, the new white paper spells out the basic views of the Chinese Government on the international security situation, looking at it from three important points. That is to say, the opportunity outweighs the challenge concerning world peace and security, a security threat faced by the international community has become increasingly synthetic, varied and complex, and the information-based  military competition.

Second, it gives a comprehensive analysis of the security environment. It underscores that the overall national security environment is favorable to China while also acknowledging that the national security still faces challenges. The growing links between domestic and international factors and interconnected traditional and non-traditional factors have made maintaining national security a more challenging task. The struggle to oppose and contain the separatist forces calling for "Taiwan independence" and their activities remains a difficult issue.

Finally, the new white paper summarizes for the first time the national security strategic thinking. This strategic concept calls for a harmonious society internally and a harmonious world externally, and seeks a comprehensive national security and lasting peace globally.

Q: In presenting the policy for China's national defense, the new white paper provides the following provision, "creating a security situation that facilitates the security development of the nation," whereas the corresponding clause of the white paper in 2002 reads, "safeguarding world peace and opposing aggression and expansion," and the relevant clause of the white paper in 2004 reads "maintaining a sound international environment and adjacent environment." What is significant about the change in this wording?

A: It is a crucial task for China's national defense to safeguard world peace and to oppose aggression and expansion. And it is also one of China's fundamental national interests to attain a good international environment and neighboring environment for as long as possible. Nevertheless, the international community is confronted with increasingly comprehensive, varied and complex security threats. Moreover, with new circumstances and new characteristics emerging in the national interest, it is essential to prioritize a security environment favorable to China's peaceful development, as the national defense has to comply with and serve the national development strategy and security strategy. In addition, China's national defense should also play an active role in safeguarding global and regional peace and stability.

Q: There is an additional clause in the new white paper on "realizing the all-round, coordinated development of the national defense and army building."  Will you please brief us on the scientific development of national defense and army building, with respect to actual circumstances?

A: A scientific concept of development is a guiding principle not only for action in constructing a relatively affluent society, but also for national defense and army building. The new white paper makes clear the guiding position of a scientific concept of development in the national defense policy in the new era of the 21st century.

In carrying out and implementing the scientific concept of development, all efforts should be made to promote the coordinated development of national defense construction and economic growth. This is in order to merge national defense and armed forces' modernization into the system of socio-economic development and also to arrange in an all-round and  scientific way building the army in various fields, in an effort to press ahead with innovation in the military organization and increase efficiency through army modernization.

Q: The new white paper repeatedly underlines the national defense policy of a defensive nature and the implementation of the military strategic principle of "active defense." What are the intrinsic ties between the "defensive" defense policy and the strategic principle of "active defense?"

A: The nature of China's defense policy is to defend the motherland and the peaceful labor of its people, as specified in the Chinese Constitution. The defensive nature of China's national defense is manifested in its basic purpose to safeguard the security and unity of the nation, to ensure the materialization of a relatively affluent society. The growth of China's national defense and military strength will absolutely not pose a threat to the peace and security in the country's surrounding areas.

China adheres firmly to its strategic defense and self-defense policies and to its policy of striking only after the enemy or adversary has attacked. "We will not attack unless we are attacked; if we are attacked, we will certainly counterattack" as a popular Chinese saying goes. But this kind of defense is not passive, since there are also attacks involved when people are on the defensive.

Q: Could you elaborate your understanding of China's national defense policy of a defensive nature, in the light of the national road for peaceful development?

A: In implementing China's defense policy of a defensive nature, due consideration should be given to the backdrop of globalization, which has deepened the ties of interest forged among nations, Every nation has to consider the interests of other nations as well as the common interests of all nations in the course of pursuing its own interests. And in this case, China is no exception.

China has never been related so closely to the world as it is today. China will be impacted by the international strategic environment to a greater extent, while also being expected to contribute still more positively to the defense of global peace and stability. The great revitalization of the Chinese nation can be materialized only when it is capable of integrating the fundamental interests of its people with that of the people worldwide. China shall never seek expansion or pursue hegemony either at present or in the future, no matter how developed it becomes.

(China.org.cn)