Military Exchange

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Speech delivered by MG Wu Xiaoyi, Defense Attaché of the Chinese Embassy in Thailand, on the occasion of the 93rd anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army

2020/07/31

Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends,

August 1st of this year marks the 93rd anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA). Over the past years, PLA has grown and developed steadily, and has made indelible historical contributions to the cause of the liberation of the Chinese nation, to the cause of national construction and reform, to the safeguarding of national sovereignty, security and development interests, and to the safeguarding of world and regional peace and stability. In recent years, under the guidance of Xi Jinping's thought on strengthening the military, the PLA has made a series of major adjustments and optimizations in terms of military's composition and function, military force structure and military system. The level of PLA's combat readiness training has been continuously improved. PLA has also played an important role in the military-civilian coordinated fight against the epidemic and floods, and in all out efforts to alleviate poverty. China is committed to peaceful development, sharing development opportunities with other countries, and resolving disputes through dialogue. China is willing to work with other countries to support multilateralism and the democratization of international relations, jointly respond to various global security challenges, and strive to build a community with a shared future for all mankind. We want peace rather than war, development rather than poverty, cooperation rather than confrontation, and win-win rather than win-for-all.

During the world's fight against COVID-19, China had exported or assisted epidemic prevention materials to nearly 200 countries. The Chinese military had also provided anti-epidemic assistance to the armed forces of dozens of countries, including free medical supplies, dispatching medical expert teams and holding video conferences to exchange experience in epidemic prevention. The Chinese government, people and military are willing to work with the international community, including Thailand, to advance global anti-epidemic cooperation, promote global economic recovery and jointly build an "open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world of lasting peace, universal security and common prosperity."

"China and Thailand are one family" has lasted thousands of years. The peoples of our two countries have always shared weal and woe and helped each other through thick and thin. In the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak in China, His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun, King of the Kingdom of Thailand, sent a consolation letter to President Xi Jinping at the earliest, and all sectors of Thailand were eager to help and provided emergency medical supplies to China. After the outbreak of COVID-19 in Thailand, China also extended a helping hand. The Chinese government has provided the Thai government with epidemic prevention material aid in two batches, with a total of 1.4 million medical surgical masks, 80,000 N95 medical protective masks, 72,000 medical protective coveralls and 170,000 detection reagents. The PLA dispatched the Y-20 transport aircraft of PLA Air Force to provide the Thai military with ventilators, ECG monitors, temperature detectors, COVID-19 nucleic acid testing reagents, medical masks and medical protective overalls, with a total value of about 30 million baht. Relevant departments of the two governments and militaries have held video conferences to exchange experience in fighting COVID-19. The two militaries will also hold a meeting to exchange experience in poverty alleviation and continue to make due contributions to national development and people's well-being. This year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Thailand. China and Thailand will continue to support each other, respond to the challenges together, and take concrete actions to illustrate the profound friendship between our two countries as one family.