With handshakes and smiles, China’s military put its best foot forward on Monday as it opened a secretive base to a rare visit by journalists, in an effort to allay Asia’s growing fears about the country’s strategic intentions.
China has advertised its military ambitions with displays of new hardware, from its first test flight of a stealth fighter jet in early 2011 to its launch of a fledgling aircraft carrier – both technologies that need further years of development.
The moves come as China jangles nerves in Asia and the United States with increasingly bold moves to assert territorial claims in the East and South China Seas.
China does have territorial disputes with some neighbours but the government and military are quite restrained in dealing with them
But on an annual trip to a Chinese military base – this year, for the first time, one outside of Beijing – officers were at pains to show they had nothing to hide and the world had nothing to fear.
“The Chinese people and the People’s Liberation Army are peace loving,” said Chen Xifeng, the commander of the base in Lintong, which is close to the northern tomb where the famed Terracotta Warriors were discovered.
“China does have territorial disputes with some neighbours but the government and military are quite restrained in dealing with them,” Chen, whose base houses an air defence brigade, told reporters.
“As soldiers, we are happy to see the development of our military, but we love peace even more.”
The base is grouped under the Lanzhou Military Region, one of China’s seven military regions, and is strategically important because the restive far western region of Xinjiang falls within its boundaries. Xinjiang itself borders Central Asia, Pakistan and Afghanistan.