If we look back at the 95-year history of the PLA, we would conclude that it is the armed forces that have grown from strength to strength and China's military is now among the best, says Zhou Bo, a senior fellow at the Center for International Security and Strategy with Tsinghua University, in an interview with China Daily.
Every country in the world needs armed forces for territorial defense and national defense, said Zhou. While for a major power, armed forces are also needed for overseas interests and international responsibilities. China's naval forces have exemplified how a big power shoulders greater responsibility. "Because although we spent great efforts in escorting Chinese ships, we have also spent efforts escorting foreign ships, and actually of all the ships that we have escorted so far, half of them have been foreign ships," said Zhou when speaking of how China's armed forces are committed to providing the international community with more public security goods to the best of their capacity.
Zhou also said that China is trying its best to safeguard world peace. "It is very difficult to find in history a major power like China who actually enjoys longstanding peace without resorting to wars with any other country."
Speaking of the China-US ties, Zhou says that the US must readjust its mindset, given its "Indo-Pacific strategy" driven by Cold War mentality, and think about how to coexist with China.
