Lieutenant General He Lei Photo: Xinhua

Editor's Note:

August 1, 2025 marks the 98th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA). Over the past 98 years, the people's army under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has made indelible contributions to national independence, liberation of the people and national prosperity. It has fought in the Agrarian Revolutionary War, the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, the War of Liberation, and the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. It has fulfilled its defense duties in Hong Kong and Macao in accordance with the law, effectively responded to various threats to national security, resolutely cracked down on all forms of separatist and sabotage activities, and actively participated in foreign military exchanges and cooperation as well as UN peacekeeping operations. Practice has fully proved that the people's military is a strong pillar for safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests, and a staunch force for maintaining world peace.

The book series of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China includes several important speeches on adhering to the path of strengthening the military with Chinese characteristics. In the article "Continue to Strengthen Our Military" included in Volume II of the book series, Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, said that the military must resolutely safeguard the Party's leadership and our socialist system, our sovereignty, security and interests, and regional and world peace.  

In Volume IV of the book series, Xi said when delivering an important speech during a ceremony marking the Centenary of the CPC that the achievements of the people's military on behalf of the Party and the people have been remarkable. It is a strong pillar that safeguards our socialist country and preserves national dignity, and a powerful force for protecting peace in our region and beyond. 

In the ninth installment of the special series "Decoding the Book of Xi Jinping: The Governance of China," the Global Times, along with People's Daily Overseas Edition, explores the theme: following a Chinese path to military development, the Chinese military has always been a staunch force for world peace. We continue to invite Chinese and foreign scholars, translators of Xi's works, practitioners with firsthand experience, and international readers to discuss how, in the new era, the people's army fulfills its mission of building a strong military, practices the Global Security Initiative with concrete actions, takes on the responsibilities of a major country's military, and continuously makes greater contributions to maintaining world peace and stability.

In the eighth article of the "Scholars' Perspectives" column, Global Times talked to Lieutenant General He Lei, former vice president of the Academy of Military Sciences of the People's Liberation Army (PLA). 



GT: Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, stressed "a strong country must have a strong military; only then can it guarantee the security of the nation," on July 1, 2021 when he addressed a ceremony celebrating the CPC centenary. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, China has deepened reforms in national defense and its military. What are the goals of these reforms? What have changed and what remain unchanged? Can you share your experience in this regard? 

He: Under the strong leadership of President Xi, the CPC Central Committee, and the Central Military Commission, the deepening of national defense and military reform in the new era has been closely focused on building a consolidated national defense and a powerful people's army that are commensurate with China's international status and compatible with its national security and development interests. It aims to achieve the Party's goal of strengthening the military in the new era, with a focus on resolving institutional obstacles, structural contradictions, and policy-related issues that restrain the development of national defense and the military.

Three "major campaigns" have been carried out successively: reform of the command system, reform of the troop scale, structure and strength composition, and reform of military policies and systems. These efforts have yielded significant, historic achievements, resulting in a series of theoretical, institutional, and practical outcomes. The fundamental principle of the Party's absolute leadership over the people's armed force has been significantly strengthened; the nature, purpose, and fine traditions of the people's army have been further consolidated; the combat effectiveness and capacity to win battles have been unprecedentedly enhanced; the deep-seated contradictions and prominent problems in national defense and military development have been basically resolved; and the people's army has taken on a new look in terms of system, structure, pattern, and visage.

The PLA Academy of Military Science, which I am affiliated with, used to mainly consist of research units focusing on military strategy, operational theory, and military history. During the reforms, it has incorporated some military science and technology research institutions, realizing the integration of theory and technology in organizational structure. The significance of such reforms is that it has equipped military theoretical research with the "wings" of modern science and technology, enabling military theoretical innovation to soar higher and go further; it has installed a navigator of theories for military science and technology research, making the development direction clearer and the goals more definite. Thus a new situation has been formed featuring dual-wheel drive and collaborative innovation in military scientific research.


GT: President Xi had iterated at the Conference Marking 70th Anniversary of Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence that "We will never take the trodden path of colonial plundering, or the wrong path of seeking hegemony when one becomes strong. We will stay on the right path of peaceful development." He also noted "Every increase of China's strength is an increase of the prospects of world peace." What is your understanding of this remark as the world has entered a period of turbulence and transformation?  

He: China is a socialist country that loves and upholds peace. Adhering to an independent foreign policy, pursuing a path of peaceful development, promoting the building of a community with a shared future for humanity, and safeguarding world peace and promoting the cause of human progress have been clearly enshrined in China's Constitution and the Constitution of the CPC, becoming the supreme legal and regulatory principles guiding China's foreign relations.

Since the 18th CPC National Congress, President Xi has put forward the vision of building a community with a shared future for humanity and the three major global initiatives. These ideas, which are both in line with the fundamental spirit of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and represent innovations and developments, constitute the fundamental guidance for China's diplomacy in the new era.

China always pursues a defensive national defense policy, implements active defense, safeguards world peace, opposes aggressive and expansionist behaviors, and adheres to an overall national security concept. These have been clearly stipulated in the national defense law and remain China's basic national defense policy to be upheld for a long time.

The Chinese people have never bullied, oppressed, or enslaved people of other countries, and will never allow any foreign forces to bully, oppress, or enslave us. Over the more than 70 years since the founding of the People's Republic of China, it has never invaded any country or occupied an inch of land of other countries.

Against the backdrop of accelerating great changes unseen in a century, a chaotic and intricate global situation, confrontational major-country games, with local wars seeing ups and downs, and the international strategic landscape undergoing profound adjustments, China actively fulfills its responsibilities and obligations to safeguard world peace. It is the second-largest contributor to the UN's regular budget and peacekeeping budget, and the largest troop-contributing country for peacekeeping among the permanent members of the UN Security Council. Within the UN framework, China undertakes and actively participates in important tasks such as international peacekeeping, far-sea escort, and humanitarian relief, providing more high-quality public security goods to the international community, which has been widely praised by the countries concerned and the international community.

Facts fully show that China's development is the development of the force for world peace, and the increase of China's military strength is the enhancement of the force to defend national interests, safeguard world peace, and serve the building of a community with a shared future for humanity. 

In June 2018, during my attendance to the 17th Shangri-La Dialogue, a senior Singaporean military officer made a vivid analogy between the characteristics of China's and Western countries' defense policies from the perspective of traditional culture: China uses wooden chopsticks for eating, relying on cooperation and joint efforts; Western countries use knives and forks for eating, relying on cutting and tearing.

GT: You have participated in both the Beijing Xiangshan Forum and the Shangri-La Dialogue multiple times. At the Beijing Xiangshan Forum, China focuses on building consensus and promoting international cooperation, in sharp contrast to the highly confrontational attitude of some Western countries at the Shangri-La Dialogue. Why are the atmospheres of the two events so distinct? What visions on peace and security does China uphold?

He: The Shangri-La Dialogue is an Asia-Pacific security and defense dialogue platform dominated by the US and the West. In recent years, they, particularly the US, have used the platform to form cliques and engage in confrontation, stir up frictions and conflicts among Asia-Pacific countries, with a clear target on China and Russia. While the Beijing Xiangshan Forum adheres to the tenets of equality, openness, inclusiveness and mutual learning, and promotes the building of a community with a shared future for humanity. It treats all countries as equals regardless of their sizes, wealth or strength, and aims to pool wisdom, expand consensus, enhance mutual trust, and deepen understanding and friendship. 

Having participated in both events multiple times, I have not only experienced moments when the Chinese delegation engaged in heated discussions with those of the US and Western countries in a bid to safeguard China's national interests, but also witnessed the intense collision and contest between the different global security visions of China and the US. 

The speeches delivered by then US secretary of defense Lloyd Austin at the 20th and 21st Shangri-La Dialogues clearly and comprehensively reflected the US' global security view and basic policies. The core idea is that security in the "Indo-Pacific" region can only be achieved under US leadership; and the US leadership in the "Indo-Pacific" can only be realized by forming alliances, building cliques and engaging in bloc confrontation.

While the speeches by the Chinese side have focused on promoting the concept of building a community with a shared future for humanity and the three major global initiatives put forward by President Xi. China advocates a vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, and calls for a new path to security that features dialogue over confrontation, partnership over alliance, and win-win cooperation over zero-sum game.

No wonder a representative from a Western country pointed out sharply at the 11th Beijing Xiangshan Forum: "When China holds a conference, it talks about peace and cooperation; when the US holds a conference, it talks about confrontation and war."


GT: Since 2000, the US Department of Defense has issued its "China Military Power Report" almost every year. In the East China Sea and South China Sea, some US allies have continued to hype the so-called "China threat theory." You have participated in multilateral events such as the Shangri-La Dialogue many times. Based on your own experience, what do you think is the biggest Western misunderstanding about China's military development? Why do you think this misunderstanding exists?

He: The US Department of Defense's "China Military Power Report" is nothing more than a hodgepodge of distortions, groundless speculation, and outright lies. Its true purpose is to spread the so-called "China threat theory" and the "Chinese military threat theory," to smear and vilify China, and to mislead and deceive the international community, including the American public, all in service of the US government's political agenda to contain and suppress China.

I have three sentences in response to the "China threat theory" spread by the US: First, this is nothing new. As long as China develops and its military grows stronger, some people with ulterior motives will keep repeating the same old clichés. 

Second, it is pure fabrication. The fundamental purpose of China's development and military strength is to safeguard national sovereignty, security, unity, and development interests, to contribute to global peace and stability, to serve the building of a community with a shared future for humanity, and to fulfill the responsibilities and obligations of a major country. No matter how far China develops, it will never seek hegemony, expansion, or spheres of influence, nor will it engage in arms races or pose a threat to any other country. 

Third, this is a classic case of "a thief crying thief," shifting blame and manipulating public opinion. The US treats China as a "strategic competitor," spares no effort in suppressing China, frequently threatens other countries with force, provokes confrontations, and even initiates wars. That is the real and serious threat to other countries' security.

China is committed to the path of peaceful development and is striving to achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. It will never slow down its development due to the so-called "China threat theory" propagated by the US and other Western countries. At the same time, China must strengthen its communication efforts, actively voice its position, articulate its stance, and tell China's story well. By presenting facts, China can effectively refute the "China threat theory" and help more countries gain a correct and objective understanding of China.