2015年CRI China to Finish Military Cuts by 2017

 

"Here today, I'm announcing that we will be cutting the number of PLA troops by 300-thousand."

Chinese President Xi Jinping making the announcement of a reduction of the Chinese military over the next 2-years.

Yang Yujun with the Ministry¹ of Defense² says the reduction is in-line with the overall philosophy of the Chinese government.

"It is a significant political decision and declaration of the Communist Party of China and the government. It shows China always wants to show the banner of peace, development and cooperation. We have a mandate³ to adhere to the path of peaceful development. We only have a defense policy that is defensive⁴ in nature. China will remain a staunch force in maintaining regional stability and global peace."

Yang Yujun says the cuts announced by Xi Jinping are also a practical move.

"The move will mainly target troops equipped with outdated⁵ armaments, administrative⁶ staff and non-combatant personnel, to optimize⁷ the structure of Chinese forces. The reform will adopt a step-by-step approach and will be completed by the end of 2017."

Xi Jinping's announcement of a military cut is the 4th since the Reform and Opening Up process first began in the early 1980s.

Back in 1985, more than a million soldiers were released by the PLA, the largest-ever cut in China.

Once again in 1997, another 500-thousand PLA positions were eliminated, reducing the total number of soldiers in the military to 2.5-million.

Another 200-thousand military positions were eliminated between 2003 and 2005, putting the PLA ranks at 2.3-million.

Yang Yujun says the cut will help accelerate the progress in information technology and boost military quality and that the country will maintain a moderate size of defense budget.

The Chinese government announced earlier this year that the Defense budget has been increased by 10-percent to around 145-billion U.S. dollars.

That's less than 1.5-percent of GDP.

The world average is 2.6-percent.

Chinese military spending is still less than one-fifth the amount the United States spends every year on its military.

For CRI, I'm Qi Zhi.

1 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

2 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

3 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

4 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

5 outdated   

adj.旧式的，落伍的，过时的；v.使过时

参考例句：

• That list of addresses is outdated,many have changed.那个通讯录已经没用了，许多地址已经改了。
• Many of us conform to the outdated customs laid down by our forebears.我们许多人都遵循祖先立下的过时习俗。

6 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

7 optimize   

v.使优化 [=optimise]

参考例句：

• We should optimize the composition of the Standing Committees.优化人大常委会组成人员的结构。
• We should optimize our import mix and focus on bringing in advanced technology and key equipment.优化进口结构，着重引进先进技术和关键设备。