On this episode of China Uncensored,
Should we be afraid of China's military after looking at this?
Welcome back to China Uncensored.
I’m Chris Chappell.
You know, nothing screams confidence
like driving down the street in your brand-new,
bright red Lamborghini.
Unless it’s driving down the street
with your brand-new,
intercontinental missiles.
On July 30,
this was broadcast on Chinese state-run media.
“The commencement of the military parade
marking the 90th anniversary of the founding
of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.”
Who did they get to do that voiceover?
The guy from The Warriors?
“Warriors, come out to play!”
12,000 troops, 129 aircraft,
and more than 500 tanks,
missile launchers,
and other weapons
lined up rank and file.
All part of the PLA—
the People’s Liberation Army that was formed
on August 1, 1927.
Typically, military parades are held
in the heart of Beijing,
in front of large crowds,
under blue skies—blue skies that disappear after the CCP
allows people to start driving their cars again.
But this military parade
was held in the middle of nowhere,
at the Zhurihe military base
in the region of Inner Mongolia—
which is part of northeast China.
You may remember Zhurihe military base
from an episode we did two years ago.
That’s where they have a replica
of Taipei’s presidential palace,
so troops can practice invading Taiwan.
Anyway, this time there were no adoring crowds
watching the parade live,
but state-run TV solved that problem
by broadcasting the footage
at the top of every hour.
Holding the parade at a base
instead of in Beijing was a stylistic choice.
You know, a little grittier,
a little tougher.
A little more...
rap music video.
Never compromise
The dignity of the great nation is inviolable
Never give an inch
Not an inch of territory will be occupied
But the biggest change in style
had to go to Xi Jinping.
He rocked this full combat uniform.
I’ve always wondered though...
why do they have four microphones?
Anyway, the soldiers seemed to be
pretty into it.
Xi...not so much.
The soldiers also wore combat outfits
instead of ceremonial uniforms—
I guess to show they’re combat-ready,
following Xi’s recent instructions.
But should this display of China’s military
might worry the rest of the world?
Don’t be silly.
Everyone knows what a giant
military parade in China means!
It means, peace!
Peace, peaceful one, and peace…
World peace, peace, peaceful, peace
peaceful...peace, peace
Peaceful development, peaceful rise
Peaceful,
Peaceful development, peaceful development
Peace, Peace, Peace
The parade ended with a nuclear missile formation.
I’m sure it was a nuclear missile formation
of peace.
So how terrified should we be?!
Under Xi Jinping,
the budget for the military has swelled.
He’s laid off redundant troops,
and he’s been spending money
for an upgraded, modern army.
According to the Ministry of Defense,
almost half of the equipment seen at this week’s parade
was on display for the first time.
Xi has also created a new branch of the military
modeled after DARPA in the US.
Its goal is to work on high-tech weaponry,
like stealth aircraft and electromagnetic cannons.
And Xi has given himself some big new titles—
Core Leader, and Commander in Chief.
So is World War III imminent?
Probably not.
Despite the pageantry,
China’s army isn’t exactly ready for war.
For one,
a lot of that new military hardware
is just knockoffs of stolen Western tech.
And the average Chinese soldier
is not very well equipped.
He carries only about 1,500 dollars worth of equipment.
Compare that to the average US soldier,
who carries 18,000 dollars worth of equipment.
Also, China also has no seasoned joint command—
because the military lacks combat experience.
A war isn’t the same as a parade.
And the history of the PLA is not,
shall we say,
the stuff of legend.
Ninety years ago on August 1,
the Chinese Communist Party
set up a guerrilla force called
the People’s Liberation Army—
the PLA.
It barely survived its first 15 years,
and then pretty much sat out World War II.
It let the Chinese army controlled
by the KMT government fight the Japanese.
After the war,
the PLA started a civil war
by attacking the weakened KMT army.
It won,
forcing the Chinese government
to flee to Taiwan.
This is what Mao Zedong meant when he said
the Communist Party “liberated” China.
It was straight out of The Art of War.
Let your enemy fight another enemy.
And when he’s tired,
sucker punch!
What’s that, Shelley?
Sucker punch is not in the Art of War?
Well, I’m just paraphrasing.
Anyway, then there was the Korean War—
where Mao favored the strategy
of another great military leader,
Zapp Brannigan.
Yes, Mao threw wave after wave
of his own men at American troops,
succeeding in killing 10 of his own PLA soldiers
for every 1 American soldier they killed.
But that was just one of many
shining victories for the PLA.
There was also the early 1950s
when they killed a bunch of people in Tibet,
so they could claim Tibet
had been part of Chinese territory
since ancient times.
And then there was the time in 1989
when PLA crushed all those students
in Tiananmen Square.
But the most damning weakness for the PLA
is that it is, and always has been,
primarily a political tool,
rather than a fighting force.
Buried in this week’s hour-plus long military parade
was the real message Xi wanted to give to troops.
“All comrades, soldiers and commanders of the PLA,
you should unswervingly follow the absolute leadership
of the Communist Party of China,
listen to the directions set by the Party,
and follow its command.
Wherever the Party points,
and you shall go to battle.”
And there’s something just a little too
spot-on about that.
This photo shows the troops carrying
the flags of the PLA,
the People’s Republic of China,
and the Communist Party.
You see, technically,
the Chinese military doesn’t belong
to the government of China.
It belongs to the Communist Party of China.
That’s why they’re also carrying
the communist hammer and sickle.
It would be like if the Republican party,
or the Democratic party—
whichever one you dislike more—
had its very own army,
and that army was loyal to the party
before the nation or the people.
Well, that’s these guys.
If you noticed in an earlier clip of the parade,
Xi called all of the soldiers “comrades”
and they called him “chairman.”
Instead of making the PLA
China’s national army,
Mao Zedong kept it
as the Communist Party’s army.
Because the most important thing
was that they be loyal to him.
And Xi Jinping is carrying out that legacy.
The PLA is supposed to be loyal
to the Communist Party,
and thus to Xi Jinping,
the head of the Communist Party.
The parade happens ahead of a major meeting
of the Communist Party later this year,
the 19th Party Congress.
You see, Xi Jinping isn’t trying to send
a message to foreign countries
that the Party’s military is powerful.
Xi is sending a message
to the Party itself—
that the military is powerful,
and he controls it.
This is useful information
in case anyone in the Party
was thinking of maybe trying to oppose him.
As longtime viewers know,
Xi is in the middle of a life-or-death struggle
for control of the Communist Party
with a faction tied together loosely
by former Chinese leader Jiang Zemin.
You know, loosely,
like the way the skin hangs off his face.
At the 19th Party Congress this November,
several positions in top Party leadership
will open up as officials retire.
Xi wants to ensure
that the Jiang faction people are out,
and that his own people are in.
Xi also will most likely not name
a successor to himself,
implying that he’d like to stay on a little longer
than others might feel comfortable with.
And having a strong military right under his thumb
might make his opposition
think twice about arguing.
Now part of the reason Xi has done this
is because Jiang had way more power
over the Party than Xi did.
If Xi did not amass power for himself,
he would have suffered the same fate
as former leader Hu Jintao,
surrounded and crippled by the Jiang faction.
Or possibly an even worse fate.
In 2012,
ahead of the previous Party Congress,
there were widespread rumors
of an attempted coup
from members of Jiang’s faction
that would have replaced Xi Jinping
with one of their own.
But is holding a military parade
and dressing in a combat uniform
a sign that Xi Jinping now has ultimate control
over the Communist Party?
Or is it just giving people Xi fatigue?
We’ll find out at this November’s Party Congress.
It will be less of a party than the name suggests.
And coming up,
we’ll take you south of the border!
Like, really far south.
Venezuela.
By way of China.
Well, that military parade was really something else.
I wonder what else Xi Jinping had to say.
Resolutely visit the website of hostile foreign force, Chris Chappell.
at ChinUncensored.tv
for full half-hour episodes each week!