The large-scale troop reduction conforms to China's national and military conditions. The troop cut will reduce the country's military to a scale that can be more scientifically structured and more easily molded into an effective modern military force with Chinese characteristics. Such a military force will help realize the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation with development at its core. The more than 10 percent personnel reduction in the PLA is also a show of China's growing confidence in its national defense capability.

But as a developing country facing complicated and diverse security threats, China still needs a military commensurate with its population and economic development. The security and development issues China faces, combined with the looming non-traditional security issues and the arduous task of maintaining national unity, territorial integrity and development interests, also underscore China's need to maintain a cutting-edge military.

And since Chinese troops are also tasked with disaster relief, international peacekeeping, and rescue and escort missions, they have to be well prepared to deal with the threats posed by terrorism, separatism and extremism. The existence of a military which is proportional in size to the country's population is not only necessary, but will also help China better fulfill its self-defense responsibilities.

Compared with Japan which has a population of 120 million but 230,000 personnel in its Self-Defense Forces, China's 2 million troops for a population of more than 1.3 billion should not be a source of concern for anybody.

The author is a researcher at the Navy Institute of Military Science. The article was first published in the overseas edition of People's Daily on Friday.

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