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Chinese air

force preparing

for high-tech

warfare

SINGAPORE: China's air force is boosting its offensive and high-tech capabilities in line with the needs of the increasingly information-driven future, its commander told a military forum here on Monday.

Lieutenant General Liu Shunyao said the People's Liberation Army (PLA) air force "is shifting from national air defence towards defence plus offence" to implement the policy of "active defence," while upholding world peace.

"It is only with both offensive and defensive capabilities that we can effectively deter aggression and realise what Sun Tsu, a Chinese pioneer military strategist, said: 'Achieve victory without fighting,'" Liu said.

He was speaking at a forum being held on the sidelines of Asian Aerospace 2000, the region's premier aviation and defence show.

Liu repeated Chinese pledges not to invade or threaten "any sovereign state" and urged more military exchanges to promote trust, saying Beijing's defence policy holds "national economic construction as the fundamental objective."

But he stressed that in the 21st century, the PLA air force will be guided by the active defence policy as well as the aim of "winning local wars directed against China under high-tech conditions on short notice."

"It is difficult to conduct its missions and tasks without striking capability in future air defence operations," Liu said.

He said that in the information-based 21st century, air operations will be conducted in a more complex manner, the frontiers of war will stretch to outer space, and there will be "profound changes in air operational theory."

"Integration of land, air, space, electronic, real time and multi-sources intelligence and fighting first for seizure of information superiority have become the basic features of joint operations," he said.ÑAFP