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China urged to speed up self-reliance in military tech as Western sanctions render old model ‘unsustainable’
- ‘Core technologies’ for modern weaponry can no longer be bought or waited for in a fast-changing world, Academy of Military Sciences researcher warns
- Speedy and low-cost production is key to achieving modernisation goals for the PLA, Zhao Xun writes in state-backed magazine
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Amber Wangin Beijing
China should reduce red tape and cut costs to achieve self-reliance in weapons development, as Western sanctions on hi-tech components render the old ways “unsustainable”, a researcher at Beijing’s Academy of Military Sciences has advised.
“The pace of major global changes unprecedented in the past century is accelerating … and some Western countries continue to increase their efforts to suppress and contain the development of our country’s hi-tech industries,” Zhao Xun, a researcher at the academy’s Institute of Systems Engineering, wrote in an article for a state-backed magazine.
“The old path of following and imitating others for the development of our military’s weapons and equipment has become unsustainable,” he warned, calling for independent innovation and development to urgently achieve self-reliance in the fast-changing global scenario.
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China’s stated aim is to have a fully modernised military by 2035 and become a world-class military power by 2049.
Zhang’s article, published in the ruling Communist Party mouthpiece Study Times on Monday, comes as those aims are challenged – with the US-China trade and tech war reaching new heights.
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Biden tours new Taiwanese chip-making plant in Arizona, fans US-China semiconductor rivalry
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Washington has in recent years stepped up efforts to hobble strategic rival China’s hi-tech sector with sanctions and export restrictions, especially with regard to advanced semiconductors.
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